A. Marcello: Oboe Concerto - Adagio

An absolute contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi, the Venetian composer Alessandro Marcello (1673 - 1747) stood out in life, more than because of his music, because of his professional career and social activity as a member of the Venetian nobility. He and his brother Benedetto, both sons of a senator, were two great dilettantes of the time who, given their comfortable social position, were able to indulge in the study of the most diverse disciplines, with a lust for life.

Once finished his law studies, Alessandro also dabbled in poetry, philosophy, mathematics and music. Benedetto was also a musician and until the mid-twentieth century, much of their work was attributed only to him, perhaps because Alessandro came up with a bad idea, ​​publishing his works with a pseudonym, with which he was known in the art circle where he would participate, the famous Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi.

Oboe Concerto - Adagio
The complete work of Alessandro Marcello is reduced. Just over a dozen cantatas, sonatas for violin and concertos are counted. His best-known work is the Oboe Concerto for Oboe, Strings and continuo which, thanks to the transcription of JS Bach for keyboard, obtained acceptable dissemination for the time, although it later generated reasonable doubts about its authorship. The romantic love story addressed by the 1970 film Anonimo Veneziano finally brought it closer to our days, by incorporating the second movement of the concerto, the adagio, into its soundtrack.