Corelli, "Christmas Concerto"

The baroque violinist and composer Arcangelo Corelli, born and died in the Papal States, today Italy, was a fortunate man from the cradle to the grave. Born into a wealthy family, he studied violin with the best teachers, and at the age of 17, he entered the Philharmonic Academy in the city of Bologna, where he had moved from his native Fustignano. He then traveled to Rome where he emerged as one of the most outstanding violinists, joining the service of Queen Christina of Sweden, who had settled there after abdicating the throne, to Corelli's good fortune.

The patrons
After the queen's death, one patron after another succeeded the other, with no compromise on salaries or the kindness of the lodging. His last patron was the young Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, recipient of the office by the grace of his uncle Pope Alexander VIII. Ottoboni and Corelli became great friends. An admirer of his music, Ottoboni favored him with even more generous stipends, which was entirely fair because Corelli was already a great celebrity, enjoying fame throughout Europe. Not many musicians in history have enjoyed such a lucrative and profitable relationship with their patrons. Permanently housed in their palaces, at the end of his life, Corelli became rich. So, at his death, he earned a place in the Pantheon in Rome.

Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1713)

The concerto grosso and the publishing industry
Creator of the concerto grosso, according to some, and a wise precursor according to others, Arcangelo Corelli was able to add to his talent and good star the historical circumstance that while he was composing, the music publishing industry was emerging and flourishing in Europe, mainly in Venice, and later in Holland and Germany. This explains why in the course of his life Corelli saw a large part of his work published and disseminated internationally. It was not very extensive but enough so that after his death his scores were available to musicians and composers for a long period, thus encouraging the subsequent transformations in the field of concerto grosso by Vivaldi, Haendel or Bach.

Corelli's concerto grosso
Corelli's contribution to the development of the form was rather cautious, without delving into the exploration of its possibilities. In his concerti grossi, the two blocks into which the ensemble of instruments had begun to split, concertino and ripieno, are very well balanced. The concertino, of course, acts as a unit carrying the melody, usually very brief; then the rest of the orchestra (the ripieno) enters to reaffirm the material presented by the small group, but the latter never adopts the character of a cohesive group opposed to the rest of the orchestra as a collective protagonist, as it will happen later, in the work of later baroque composers.

Concerti grossi Opus 6, No 8 - Christmas Concert
The twelve concerti of opus 6 were published posthumously in Amsterdam in 1714. The most popular, to this day, bears the number 8. Commissioned by Cardinal Ottoboni, it has become known as the Christmas Concerto – it bears the entry "fatto per la notte di Natale". It is written for a concertino of two violins and cello, in dialogue with a larger group of strings and basso continuo, the ripieno.

The traditional fast-slow-fast-slow sequence of movements is here turned upside down by Corelli. Thus, for example, the third movement, adagio (4:17), incorporates a lively allegro passage.

The best-known section, Pastorale, is the last (10:38), and, unusual for the time, it is approached without a pause.

The rendition is by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, conducted by Dutch maestro Ton Kupman.