One of the seminal figures of Baroque music, Arcangelo
Corelli was the first master of the modern violin, and
the predominance of that instrument in the music of the
following three centuries is his technical and
pedagogical legacy. He managed to extract from it a
beauty of tone and singing lyricism that were
previously unknown; these qualities brought him
international fame, both for his own performances and
for those of his many students who began to disseminate
his techniques. It would not be...(+)
One of the seminal figures of Baroque music, Arcangelo
Corelli was the first master of the modern violin, and
the predominance of that instrument in the music of the
following three centuries is his technical and
pedagogical legacy. He managed to extract from it a
beauty of tone and singing lyricism that were
previously unknown; these qualities brought him
international fame, both for his own performances and
for those of his many students who began to disseminate
his techniques. It would not be an overstatement to say
that the fundamentals of modern string playing --
including issues of both bowing and fingering --
descend directly from Corelli.
Falling at the end of Corelli's great Op. 5 collection
of violin sonatas is a series of 24 variations on the
Portuguese tune (or rather, chord sequence) La Follia
(or Folia). The source material was popular for more
than a century before Corelli took it on, but this
sonata linked the melody so closely to Corelli's name
that Rachmaninov would later call his own musings on
the tune Variations on a Theme of Corelli. The
moderately paced, triple-meter melody lays itself out
over the course of eight measures, maintaining an
implacable emphasis on the second beat. Corelli first
offers it in its bare form, although many violinists to
freely ornament this first statement. (Some performers
also include a guitar-like instrument in the continuo
section to bring out the music's Iberian character.)
Corelli next strips the melody down to a skeleton of
paired notes, fleshing out the melody only toward the
end of phrases. He then takes the opposite course with
a pair of variations that pile more and more notes onto
the melodic framework. The following variation comes
down hard on the melody's downbeats. From here, Corelli
goes for maximum contrast: sparse notes marking only
the melodic contour; rapid passagework first for violin
and then for continuo; a gently rocking and pastoral
treatment followed by short, descending fragmentary
phrases; a spastically syncopated variation preceding a
sequence of slow double stops that merely follow the
melody's outline; a spiky treatment followed by a
variation that impatiently rolls through each phrase
and then pauses; an operatic lament; an increasingly
intense complaint; a sequence that beings with a
good-natured treatment but takes on increasing urgency;
and so on. The piece ends in a brilliantly jagged
variation without prettifying the tragic character
Corelli has maintained throughout this work.
Although originally written for Violin and Continuo , I
created this Arrangement of the "La Folia" Sonata in D
Minor (Op. 5 No. 12) for Flute & Strings (2 Violins,
Viola & Cello).
PARTITION