Corelli Trio Sonatas

If Michel Corrette was a little over-enthusiastic in crediting Corelli with the invention of both sonata and concerto form as it was known and understood in the mid-eighteenth century, Roger North had only to judge by the enormous popularity of the Italian master's works in England in the 1720s to deduce that they would be immortal… Monica Huggett…brings a sweetness of tone and a perfection of technical control that cannot but inspire admiration on their own count, but in combination with such unerring musical insight as is to be found here makes these into quite masterly interpretations… The continuo members of Trio Sonnerie are unerringly tasteful in their playing, while Nigel North on theorbo and other plucked instruments is quite stunningly imaginative.

Listening to this recording you feel as if Corelli was the greatest composer in the world, and that this music is the finest ever written. The artistry, interpretation, and complete understanding of Corelli's string trios elevate this music beyond its purely historical stature. The SCP are incomparable: Jaap Schroeder, Konrad Junghaenel, Kenneth Slowik, etc. The recording is perfectly judged.

This is music from Norway, from Bergen specifically, written in the early eighteenth century. Composer Georg von Bertouch has an interesting biography; a German-born musician of French extraction, he was also a military leader who participated in 22 battles in Denmark (of which Norway was a part), Germany, and France. A bit older than Bach and Telemann, and geographically even farther removed from the fonts of Italian innovation, he did not (on the evidence of the music here) engage with Vivaldi or with Telemann's galant styles.

Arcangelo Corelli is a remarkable figure in music history. He belongs to the most famous composers of the baroque era, but his oeuvre is very small in comparison with that of his peers, such as Handel or Telemann: just six collections published with an opus number and some pieces which have been preserved in manuscript. Most composers of his time contributed to more than one genre: vocal music - sacred or secular -, chamber music, orchestral works and keyboard music. Corelli confined himself to chamber music and one set of 'orchestral' music, although that term is probably not the most appropriate to characterise his concerti grossi.

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.

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).

The only available complete recording, newly made by a stylish Italian early-music ensemble, of a landmark collection of Baroque chamber music.