Italy from before baroque's being on to the buds of the classic era. A summery of a concert program played by Israelis Adi Silberberg - recorders, Riki Peled Or - cello & Dafna Gan – cembalo.
The baroque period lasted formally from 1600 to 1750. its routs in the past, its influences are still dominant today. Italy played at that time a key rule in the development of the style. The concert program demonstrate the Italian baroque from the instrumental angle, solo & in a compact ensemble, with its virtuosic, chanting & rationalistic aspects, viewing as well beyond its boundaries from before it existed & on to the buds of the developments that had followed it.
Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani (168? – 1757) – Sonata g-moll op.3 nr.4
Bellinzani represents in the program the typical late baroque. Almost evanescent today, at the time he worked in varied cities in Italy including Odina, Pesaro, Ferrara, Bologna & Urbino, & composed mainly sacred music. In addition he taught priests polyphony & chants. This work of his is from 1720, & present a typical example for a sonata for recorder & thorough bass in the style & medium that were so common then.
Domenico Gabrielli (1651/9 -1690) – ricercar no.7
Gabrieli, middle baroque representor, is known as the 1st eminent cello player, & especially as a composer for this instrument, in a time when it was very rare. This includes that work of his from the year 1789. notable as well is his writing for violin & trumpet. Composed sacred & secular music, including operas. Cello & trumpet parts are noticeable also in his big works. Worth to mention as well are his contributions to the development of the sonata, & to the expend of use of keys with more then a pair of sharps or molls. He was active mainly in Bologna.
Dario Castello (c.1590 – c.1630) - Sonata Prima a Sopran Solo
Was active in Venice. Of his work 29 compositions had survived. In it there are plenty of ingeniousness, virtuosity, & use of various styles, traditional as the canzona or modernistic for the time such as the sonata. In his pieces strict polyphony passages are often confronted against free & agile recitative phrases. This piece of his of the year 1629 demonstrates the above clearly. His work was very influential & salient in its uniqueness. It is worth mentioning that his work continued to be published in the baroque posthumously, as far as we know – at least till the 1650's.
Aurelio Virgilano (+-1600) – Ricercata from 'Il Dolcimelo'
Virtually not much is known about Virgiliano, but around 1600 he published a collection composed mainly of solo pieces & containing also a short instructor for the different instruments that supposed to play them, including a fingering chart for the recorder. The ricercars characterized with an high sophistication, combined with a nearly improvised virtuosic nature, & a rich stylistic differentiation packed tight in them. This piece is chronologically the earliest in this program.
Girolamo Frescobaldi – (1583 – 1643) Toccata 4, Primo Libro
Frescobaldi is one of the most important figures in the history of keyboard players & composers. His fame in his life time was enormous. He was active mainly in Rome, & many admirers pilgrimage to hear him there. His writings influenced generations of composers. J.S. bach was among those who hand copied one of his major works. His pieces, & especially his toccatas, characterized in sharp & rapid passes between different styles, both traditional & modern, & also in high virtuosity, regarding which Frescobaldi himself wrote, in the preface to the book of which this toccata is taken, which was published in 1615, that the performers may play just part of the toccatas, & it is not necessary to play them as a whole.
Arcangelo Corelli –(1653 – 1713) La Folia (op. 5)
Corelli, located age before the picks of the high baroque, is one of the most important influencers on the development of the style after him. He was known as a violinist with magnificent sound (the best in Europe), & his compositions were popular, & contributed a lot to the development of the concerto grosso. This piece of his is taken from op. 5 from 1700 – the last he issued in his lifetime, which includes sonatas for violin & thorough bass. The collection was a big success, & transcriptions for other instruments were made during the 18th century. Especially is known of this op. is the set of variations for the theme of la folia. This theme was handled by many composers, but one can dare to determine that correli's version is the most known & beloved of all.
Giuseppe Sammartini – (1693 – 1750) Concerto in F
Sammartini, who was known also as an oboe player, is the most posterior of the composers in the program. Although Italian by birth, most of his career was in England. During that time there the music began to get lighter characteristics, & this was very influential for the development of the music which followed. In Sammartinis case it's worth mentioning the visit young Hayden paid him. In this concerto you can hear the apparently simplicity, familiar from the classic period, but still surrounded with the characteristics & the style of the baroque. Of cause – the cembalo plays here a reduction of the small orchestra that was originally casted versus the recorder.
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