Barton Pine Corelli

This disc in the Avison Ensemble’s project to record the complete Corelli chamber music is devoted to his Op. 5 collection of violin sonatas – works that swept Europe by storm when they were first published in 1700. Recent recordings include Accademia Bizantina, Purcell Quartet, Trio Corelli, Trio Sonnerie, and a particularly charismatic version from Andrew Manze with harpsichordist Richard Egarr. One of the most immediate differences between these versions is their approach to the continuo, the Avison Ensemble favouring the varied timbres and textures of an ensemble (variously harpsichord or organ, archlute, Baroque guitar and cello) rather than solo harpsichord.

The tune known as 'La Folia' has fascinated many composers since the seventeenth century. Portuguese in origin, the word means 'mad' or 'empty-headed' and until the 1670s it indicated a fast and noisy dance in which the participants seemed to be 'out of their minds'. By the end of the century a new, slower form had developed which threw the accent from the first beat on to the second every other bar and slightly adjusted the harmonic structure to form the perfect symmetry which inspired Corelli to use it in the twelfth of his Violin Sonatas, Op 5. That famous work further inspired Vivaldi, C P E Bach, Alessandro Scarlatti and other composers to write variations on 'La Folia'—including even Rachmaninov (though his 'Variations on a theme of Corelli' seem to indicate that he thought the tune was by that composer).

There is nothing surprising in the fact that Amandine Beyer and her ensemble Gli Incogniti should tackle Arcangelo Corelli's Concerti Grossi, Op. 6. Indeed, the 12 concerti making up this opus represent a form of apogee of this musical genre in the Baroque era and, at the same time, testimony to the great Italian composer's exceptional talent as a violinist and conductor.

The UK's leading period instrument ensemble, The Avison Ensemble, presents the first recording in their series celebrating the chamber music of Arcangelo Corelli. Directed by Pavlo Beznosiuk the ensemble explores the inspirational works of the Italian composer, including a captivating interpretation of the much-loved Christmas Concerto.
Corelli: Opus 6: Concerti Grossi is the third album in The Avison Ensemble's critically acclaimed series of recordings with Linn, and the first in their celebration of Corelli's chamber music. Released to mark the 300th anniversary of the death of the composer the ensemble's greatly anticipated set will explore the six opera of the eminent Italian's chamber music: the concerti grossi, violin sonatas, chamber sonatas and church sonatas.

The rich, beautiful violin tone, and unhurried yet thoughtful tempi of Enrico Gatti have been heard often in the music of Arcangelo Corelli. For Glossa he has now recorded the “Assisi” Sonatas for violin, 12 Sonate da camera à violino e violoncello solo, which it is believed that Corelli wrote prior to committing his Op 1 Trio Sonatas for publication in 1681, and quite possibly when the composer was still in Bologna.

Pentatone Studio Masters devoted to music of Archangelo Corelli was recorded during concerts at the Vredenburg, Utrecht in January 2003, produced by Carl Schuurbiers with Erdo Groot as recording engineer. The recording has superb, full-bodied sound with sonorous string textures (unheard on the previous CD/ SACD). Conductor Simon Murphy points out there is a similarity between jazz and Corelli's music as in the Corelli's' music performers are expected to improvise and add elaborate ornamentation. The result is Corelli with a vibrant sound not to be heard in most other recordings of the composer's music.

These dozen sonatas fully constitute one-sixth of Corelli's published output and strongly influenced the form of the violin sonata in the early decades of the eighteenth century. The collection is in many ways a condensation of Corelli's four earlier volumes of trio sonatas; here are solo sonatas (front-and-center violin, accompanied by a continuo section of at least a keyboard and usually cello or gamba, sometimes with the addition of theorbo or some other member of the lute family), with the works divided between six church sonatas (sonate da chiesa, the format of Corelli's Opp. 1 and 3 trio sonatas) and five chamber sonatas (sonate da camera, in the manner of Opp. 2 and 4).