# how do you view coreli's legacy and current stature?



## kanishknishar

i find the abundance of js bach and the lack of corelli in concert hall and on record appaling



what do you think of corelli's chamber music.........? any favorite works.....? favorite recordings....? work that led you to fall in love with corelli...?


----------



## brotagonist

I am very ignorant of Corelli's works. I have one album:








Opus 5

While I really enjoy this greatly and consider it to be one of my treasured Baroque albums, I haven't been greatly motivated to get more Corelli albums or to greatly expand my Baroque collection (I have a ton of Bach albums and they serve me very well, when I'm baroque ).


----------



## scratchgolf

I find much of Corelli's music runs together in my head, much like Albinoni and Vivaldi. I've never heard anything I didn't like but rarely find something that grabs me. I still give his sonatas a spin every few months (I only own a 4 disc set of Sonatas for Strings). Sadly, if I never treat it more than wallpaper music, it never will be.


----------



## chesapeake bay

My current favorite by Corelli 




What are some of your favorites Herrenvolk?


----------



## Art Rock

scratchgolf said:


> I find much of Corelli's music runs together in my head, much like Albinoni and Vivaldi. I've never heard anything I didn't like but rarely find something that grabs me.


This. You can throw in Telemann in the mix as well.

The fact that in general I don't care for baroque, yet consider Bach my favourite composer, says enough how much higher I rate Bach than his contemporaries.


----------



## Guest

I don't think his music is quite as distinctive or inventive as Bach's, but it's highly enjoyable nonetheless. His Op.6 really comes alive in these electrifying performances:


----------



## elgar's ghost

Isn't Corelli's op. 6 the earliest set of published Concerti Grossi to survive complete? If so, I would have thought this was historically significant in itself - although published in 1714 some of them were composed before 1700. I reckon they are distinctive enough to hold their own without my comparing them with those of J.S. Bach etc. - I don't think they wouldn't have sounded out of place had they been written 20 or so years later, so if anything maybe they could be credited for actually sounding advanced for their time?


----------



## kanishknishar

chesapeake bay said:


> My current favorite by Corelli
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What are some of your favorites Herrenvolk?


i find his reputation from the posts here most appalling. to each to their own..........

my favorite work of corelli is his op.1....... all of them......


----------



## Bulldog

I listened to a lot of Corelli's music back in the 1990's during my Baroque phase; it was very enjoyable although not really memorable to me. Have not heard a note of his for the last ten years or so.


----------



## scratchgolf

I remember reading about Corelli a few years ago and recall him having an aversion to high notes, refusing to play them or write them. If I recall correctly, he thought the violin sounded too shrill and screechy to play higher notes. Perhaps this adds to my inability to take much interest in his works. Some of my favorite Vivaldi certainly goes well beyond what Corelli would write or play, if this is true. I do have some Vivaldi and Albinoni I love but not a single Corelli work immediately comes to mind.

Edit: Curiosity got the better of me so here's a quote from Listverse.

He was born in 1653, and his spot on this list may make you ask, "How do you know how well he played?" Well, even today, almost every violinist can trace his or her performance training back to Corelli. The techniques you hear performers using, fingering, bowing form and posture are all thanks to Corelli. He was famous throughout western Europe in his own day as a performer of the highest order. He did not like the idea of playing very high notes. Not to say he couldn't, but he thought it always sounded screeching, however well anyone played. His own music almost never goes above D on the highest string. The story goes that Handel wrote an A above this in one of his oratorios, which the visiting Corelli refused to play. He thought it sounded terrible. Handel, an organist, proceeded to play it on his own violin, and Corelli was offended. "I didn't say, Herr Handel, that I couldn't play it. I said it shouldn't be played." Handel himself remarked at the "voracity" with which Corelli could run through scales, faster than anyone else he had heard, and strike the perfect leaps, from octaves to 12ths, 15ths and more.


----------



## Johnnie Burgess

Corelli wrote good music, but in to me falls under the music of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi.


----------



## ArtMusic

Herrenvolk said:


> i find the abundance of js bach and the lack of corelli in concert hall and on record appaling
> 
> what do you think of corelli's chamber music.........? any favorite works.....? favorite recordings....? work that led you to fall in love with corelli...?


Arcangelo Corelli was a great composer. His opus six concerti grossi and other published opus music are wonderful Baroque pieces. I think the opus six was one of the most influential concerti grossi published from the Baroque.


----------



## Vaneyes

*Corelli* rocks. 

It's seemed to me for some time, that less Baroque is played in symphonic halls. Fortunately, this slack has been picked up by others. Such as amateurs or professional societies. The repertoire is often wider, to easily include *Corelli*. Churches, schools, small halls are usually their venues, at most affordable prices.

I suggest looking further afield, if these offerings aren't available in your neighborhood. Cheers. :tiphat:


----------



## Chronochromie

His concerti grossi are the best I've heard in that genre.


----------



## Mandryka

Der Leiermann said:


> His concerti grossi are the best I've heard in that genre.


That maybe right, though clearly Handel and Bach give him a run for his money, I found the release with Armandine Beyer such a revelation that I had the same thought as you.

I don't know enough about Vivaldi to comment.


----------



## JosefinaHW

Is it true that this recording includes all of Corelli's extant works? If not, do you have a recommendation?

(An aside, once again PrestoClassicalUK has this recording at half the price of Amazon. I do not understand what is going on with Amazon US and baroque, classical and romantic music and books.... I have had to purchase many recordings from Presto.)

http://www.amazon.com/Corelli-Compl...e=UTF8&qid=1460958779&sr=1-2&keywords=Corelli

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Brilliant+Classics/94112


----------



## Vaneyes

JosefinaHW said:


> Is it true that this recording includes all of Corelli's extant works? If not, do you have a recommendation?
> 
> (An aside, once again PrestoClassicalUK has this recording at half the price of Amazon. I do not understand what is going on with Amazon US and baroque, classical and romantic music and books.... I have had to purchase many recordings from Presto.)
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Corelli-Compl...e=UTF8&qid=1460958779&sr=1-2&keywords=Corelli
> 
> http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Brilliant+Classics/94112


Amazon US Marketplace is very high for international CD shipping. $14.95. Shipping must always be factored in, when assessing an online purchase.

Personally, I interchange four online services for new and used classical product. Whichever is cheaper usually wins. :tiphat:


----------



## JosefinaHW

Thank you for replying, Vaneyes! I am located in the US and I'm a member of Amazon Prime, so I do get free shipping most of the time even in the marketplace. Something is definitely changing at Amazon US; they are carrying less baroque, classical and romantic music, the costs are frequently twice that of PrestoUK, and their wonderful search engine is not so wonderful anymore. I don't mind ordering from PrestoUK--I value the additional background info and videos they include, but if we are talking about making this kind of music accessible to more people (at least in the US) the changes in Amazon are disturbing.

P.S. I want to immerse myself in the early, experimental instrumental music of the Baroque. I am going to purchase this Corelli box I mentioned, possible the Frescobaldi, do you have any additional recommendations? The TC-recommended works (i.e., masterpieces) is not what I'm looking for right now. Thank you very much!



Vaneyes said:


> Amazon US Marketplace is very high for international CD shipping. $14.95. Shipping must always be factored in, when assessing an online purchase.
> 
> Personally, I interchange four online services for new and used classical product. Whichever is cheaper usually wins. :tiphat:


----------



## chesapeake bay

You could check out Jan Dismas Zelenka


----------



## JosefinaHW

chesapeake bay said:


> You could check out Jan Dismas Zelenka


:Chesapeake Bay, thank you very much for this recommendation. It is great to discover another music library that was important during the Baroque and the mutual connections between Bach and Zelenka (I love discovering these libraries--I strongly believe that I will eventually really learn the history of music via the connections among these libraries and who used them!). Also, realized the identity of one of our member's avatar (don't remember the name, though). Sorry it took me a bit to respond back.


----------



## chesapeake bay

There's always so much more to discover in baroque and classical music and its so easy to do via the internet and of course with the help of sites like talk classical


----------



## clavichorder

Georg Muffat's Concerti Grossi are just as good to me as Corelli's. I esteem them both very highly.


----------



## Vaneyes

JosefinaHW said:


> Thank you for replying, Vaneyes! I am located in the US and I'm a member of Amazon Prime, so I do get free shipping most of the time even in the marketplace. Something is definitely changing at Amazon US; they are carrying less baroque, classical and romantic music, the costs are frequently twice that of PrestoUK, and their wonderful search engine is not so wonderful anymore. I don't mind ordering from PrestoUK--I value the additional background info and videos they include, but if we are talking about making this kind of music accessible to more people (at least in the US) the changes in Amazon are disturbing.
> 
> P.S. I want to immerse myself in the early, experimental instrumental music of the Baroque. I am going to purchase this Corelli box I mentioned, possible the Frescobaldi, do you have any additional recommendations? The TC-recommended works (i.e., masterpieces) is not what I'm looking for right now. Thank you very much!


Thank you for elaborating, J. I think you may be on the right track with European ordering. My main go-tos there are Amazon UK Marketplace, MDT, and Presto. Re Amazon UK Marketplace, I don't mind used--"very good" or "like new". Determination of seller reliability is done through trial & error.

*Corelli*, I value highly. I don't have many recs. of, but what I do, remain to be pleasing on frequent replays: Violin Sonatas, Op. 5 - Avison Ens. (Linn); Trio Sonatas, etc. - London Baroque/Medlam (EMI); Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 - Brandenburg Consort/Goodman (Hyperion).

Re your box acquisition, and possible supplements, you may like to compare what Avison is doing with *Corelli* on the Linn label. Cheers. :tiphat:


----------



## Guest

Corelli is fun for what he is, but fairly MEH when one attempts to compare him to the greats.

And yes, to answer your question, there are precisely 34 greats.


----------



## clavichorder

Well, that's more dismissive of him than I would be. He has a certain gem like quality, and also was very original in his style and form. I think he IS a great. But I also think Muffat is at a similar level to Corelli, and I personally enjoy Georg Muffat more, so there you go.


----------



## chesapeake bay

I just got a box set of Edwin Fischer's work from 48-53 and he was apparently an advocate of a few baroque composers here are the liner notes that pertain to that.


----------



## clavichorder

Chronochromie said:


> His concerti grossi are the best I've heard in that genre.


They are great, but I actually prefer those of Georg Muffat. And Handel's are at least even. Geminiani also wrote some very good ones.


----------



## Chronochromie

clavichorder said:


> They are great, but I actually prefer those of Georg Muffat. And Handel's are at least even. Geminiani also wrote some very good ones.


Handel's are excellent, Geminiani's pretty good. I'll have to check out Muffat.


----------



## clavichorder

Chronochromie said:


> Geminiani's pretty good.


Give this complete op 2 set a whirl and see if you don't bump up pretty good to excellent:




Number 2 might be the best of that set.

The essential Georg Muffat orchestral works(12 concerti grossi):




There isn't a weak one in this bunch, each has their own thing to offer. It's rare that I find a less known composer who wrote a set of works that are all worth individually knowing. A major(2), or D minor(1) are great ones to start with.

And here is the bonus: these are some of the best concerti grossi I know and it is frustrating to not definitively know who wrote them, but the best guess of many scholars is Alessandro Scarlatti. I have a pet theory that it could have been a younger Domenico, but I don't take it seriously.




That first F minor one is smoking! These are almost of a caliber of Vivaldi's Four Seasons(though they aren't helped by a little program), so good that they need to just be known.


----------



## Chronochromie

clavichorder said:


> Give this complete op 2 set a whirl and see if you don't bump up pretty good to excellent:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Number 2 might be the best of that set.
> 
> The essential Georg Muffat orchestral works(12 concerti grossi):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There isn't a weak one in this bunch, each has their own thing to offer. It's rare that I find a less known composer who wrote a set of works that are all worth individually knowing. A major(2), or D minor(1) are great ones to start with.
> 
> And here is the bonus: these are some of the best concerti grossi I know and it is frustrating to not definitively know who wrote them, but the best guess of many scholars is Alessandro Scarlatti. I have a pet theory that it could have been a younger Domenico, but I don't take it seriously.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That first F minor one is smoking! These are almost of a caliber of Vivaldi's Four Seasons(though they aren't helped by a little program), so good that they need to just be known.


Thanks for this, I'll give them all a go.

Listening to the A. Scarlatti (?) right now, seems promising.


----------

