Editing Arcangelo Corelli (section)

==Life==
===Childhood===
Baptismal records indicate that Corelli was born on 17 February 1653 in the small [[Romagna]] town of [[Fusignano]], then in the [[diocese of Ferrara]],<ref>Allsop, p. 14</ref> in the [[Papal States]]. His ancestors had been in Fusignano and land-owners there since 1506, when a Corelli moved to the area from Rome. Although apparently prosperous, they were almost certainly not of the nobility, as several fanciful accounts of the composer's genealogy subsequently claimed.{{efn|group=n|Some family trees even attempted to trace Corelli's ancestors back to Noah. Contemporary documents in the [[Piancastelli]] collection in [[Forlì]] provide valuable background information about the genealogy and character of the Corelli family. Maps indicate that the Corellis owned a conspicuous quantity of agricultural land around Fusignano. Despite their religious piety, the Corellis appear to have been embroiled in a conflict with the Calcagnini family, the established [[feudal]] rulers of Fusignano; in 1632, the papal executioner beheaded and quartered a certain Rodolfo Corelli after a failed uprising in which his family house was torn down.<ref name=Buscaroli1983/>}} Corelli's father, from whom he took the name Arcangelo, died five weeks before the composer's birth. Consequently, he was raised by his mother, Santa (''née'' Ruffini, or Raffini), alongside four elder siblings, inclunding Don Ippolito Corelli (1643–1727), Domenico Corelli (1647–1719) and Giacinto Corelli (1649–1719).<ref name=Buscaroli1983>{{cite web|last=Buscaroli|first=Piero|title=Corelli, Arcangelo|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/arcangelo-corelli_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/|work=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 29|publisher=[[Treccani]]|year=1983}}</ref>

The wealth of anecdotes and legends attached to Corelli contrast sharply with the paucity of reliable contemporary evidence documenting events in his life. This gap is especially pronounced for his formative years, including his musical education; traditional accounts of a highly idealized childhood have long been debunked.{{efn|group=n|Most famously, Abbot Cesare Felice Laurenti's late eighteenth century "History of Fusignano" had Corelli born into a family of noble descent. As a young child, he is said to have been so transfixed by the violin playing of his local priest that he begged for lessons, which were conceded by another priest in the neighbouring town of San Savino, where the boy walked every day, come rain or shine. While sheltering from the sun along the road, so the story goes, his magnificent violin playing would leave the locals entranced. Having rapidly surpassed his teacher, Corelli is said to have defied the wishes of his father (who in this account is still alive) to study in [[Faenza]], where the young genius is casually discovered by [[Cardinal Ottoboni]], who recommends him to the pope, who in turn promptly summons him to Rome. Fictitious accounts such as this were comprehensively exposed in the pioneering biographies of Carlo Piancastelli (1914) and [[Marc Pincherle]] (1933).}}<ref>Allsop, pp. 3–14</ref>

===Musical education===
According to the poet [[Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni]], who presumably knew the composer well, Corelli initially studied music under a priest in the nearby town of [[Faenza]], and then in [[Lugo, Emilia-Romagna|Lugo]], before moving in 1666 to [[Bologna]]. A major centre of musical culture of the time, Bologna had a flourishing school of violinists associated with Ercole Gaibara and his pupils, {{ill|Giovanni Benvenuti (violinist)|lt=Giovanni Benvenuti|it|Giovanni Benvenuti (violinista)}} and Leonardo Brugnoli. Reports by later sources link Corelli's musical studies with several master violinists, including Benvenuti, Brugnoli, Bartolomeo Laurenti and [[Giovanni Battista Bassani]]. Although historically plausible, these accounts remain largely unconfirmed, as does the claim that the papal contralto Matteo Simonelli first taught him to write in the "[[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina|Palestrina]] style".<ref name=Talbot2007>{{cite web|last=Talbot|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Talbot (musicologist)| title=Corelli, Arcangelo |url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/06478 |work=[[Grove Music Online]]|publisher=Oxford Music Online| access-date=31 January 2013}} {{subscription required}}</ref>{{efn|group=n|The plausible notion that Corelli was taught by Benvenuti was fostered by [[Padre Martini]] in 1748 in his capacity as official chronicler of the [[Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna]]. Martini also states that Corelli secretly learnt Brugnoli's distinctive performance style. The tradition that Laurenti taught Corelli was transmitted by the eighteenth-century English music historian, [[Charles Burney]]. The claim that Corelli was taught by Bassani was contained in a poem published in 1693 dedicated to [[Henry Purcell]] and then picked up by both Burney and his rival, [[John Hawkins (author)|Sir John Hawkins]]. Previously considered chronologically implausible, the knowledge that Bassani was active in Ferrara from 1667 has led to a reassessment of this possibility (though a story of an amorous connection between Corelli and Bassani's daughter is almost certainly an invention). The presumed link with Matteo Simonelli in Rome derives from the writings of the castrato [[Andrea Adami da Bolsena]].<ref name=Buscaroli1983/><ref name=Talbot2007/> Opinions regarding the historical credibility of such claims vary.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Barnett|first=Gregory|title=[Review]|journal=Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music|year=2000|volume=6|issue=2|url=http://www.sscm-jscm.org/v6/no2/barnett.html|access-date=2 February 2013|issn=1089-747X}}</ref>}} A remark Corelli later made to a patron suggests that his musical education focused mainly on the violin.<ref name=Buscaroli1983/>{{efn|group=n|Replying in 1679 to a request by Count Fabrizio Laderchi from Faenza for Corelli to compose a sonata for violin and lute, the composer acknowledges that hitherto his ''Sinfonie'' have been written merely to exalt the violin.}}

Chronicles of the [[Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna]] indicate that Corelli was accepted as a member by 1670, at the exceptionally young age of seventeen. The credibility of this attribution has been disputed.<ref>Allsop, p. 25</ref> Although the nickname ''Il Bolognese'' appears on the title-pages of Corelli's first three published sets of works (Opus 1 to 3), the duration of his stay in Bologna remains unclear.<ref name=Talbot2007/>

===Early career===
Anecdotes of travels outside Italy to France, Germany, and Spain lack any contemporary evidence. For example, the anecdote that Corelli's continental fame stemmed from a trip to Paris at the age of nineteen, where he was chased away by an envious [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], seems to have originated with [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]].<ref>Allsop, p. 5</ref> It was also claimed that Corelli spent time in Germany in the service of [[Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria]] (supposedly in 1681), as well as in the house of his friend and fellow violinist-composer [[Cristiano Farinelli]] (between 1680 and 1685).<ref name=EB1911/>

Although it is unclear quite when Corelli arrived in Rome, he was certainly active there by 1675, when "Arcangelo Bolognese" (as he was referred to) was engaged to play as one of the supporting violinists in [[Lent]]en oratorios at the church of [[San Giovanni dei Fiorentini]], as well as in the French national celebrations held each year on 25 August at [[San Luigi dei Francesi]] and during the ordination of a member of the powerful [[House of Chigi|Chigi family]] at [[Santi Domenico e Sisto]]. In August 1676, he was already playing second violin to [[Carlo Mannelli]] at San Luigi dei Francesi. Although Rome did not have any permanent orchestra providing stable employment for instrumentalists, Corelli rapidly made a name for himself, playing in a variety of ensembles sponsored by wealthy patrons, such as Cardinal [[Benedetto Pamphili]], for whom he played in Lenten oratorios at [[San Marcello al Corso|San Marcello]] from 1676 to 1679.<ref name=Talbot2007/><ref>Allsop, p. 27-29</ref>

===Professional success===
[[File:Pietro Ottoboni by Francesco Trevisani.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, portrait by [[Francesco Trevisani]]. The [[Bowes Museum]], [[Barnard Castle]], County Durham, England]]
In 1687 Corelli led the festival performances of music for Queen [[Christina, Queen of Sweden|Christina of Sweden]]. He was also a favorite of Cardinal [[Pietro Ottoboni (cardinal)|Pietro Ottoboni]], grandnephew of another Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, who in 1689 became [[Pope Alexander VIII]]. From 1689 to 1690 he was in [[Modena]]. The Duke of Modena was generous to him. In 1706 Corelli was elected a member of the Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi (the Arcadian Academy of Rome). He received the Arcadian name of Arcomelo Erimanteo.<ref>Arcomelo may be translated as 'Prince of Melody' or 'Prince of Sweetness' (Gk. ἀρχός and μέλος). Cfr. Ph. Borer, The Sweet Power of Strings, p. 226</ref>

In 1708 he returned to Rome, living in the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni. His visit to Naples, at the invitation of King [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]], took place in the same year. The style of execution introduced by Corelli and preserved by his pupils, such as [[Francesco Geminiani]], [[Pietro Locatelli]], [[Pietro Castrucci]], [[Francesco Antonio Bonporti]], [[Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli]], [[Francesco Gasparini]], and others, was of vital importance for the development of violin playing.<ref name=EB1911/> It has been said that the paths of all of the famous violinist-composers of 18th-century Italy led to Arcangelo Corelli, who was their "iconic point of reference".<ref>Toussaint Loviko, in the program notes to ''Italian Violin Concertos'' (Veritas, 2003)</ref>

However, Corelli used only a limited portion of his instrument's capabilities. This may be seen from his writings. The parts for violin very rarely proceed above D on the highest string, sometimes reaching the E in fourth position on the highest string. The story has been told and retold that Corelli refused to play a passage that extended to A in altissimo in the overture to Handel's oratorio ''[[The Triumph of Time and Truth]]'' (premiered in Rome, 1708).<ref name=EB1911/>

Nevertheless, his compositions for the instrument mark an epoch in the history of [[chamber music]]. His influence was not confined to his own country: his works were key in the development of the music of an entire generation of composers, including [[Antonio Vivaldi]], [[Georg Friedrich Handel]], [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] and [[François Couperin]], as well as many others.<ref name=EB1911/> Bach studied the works of Corelli and based an organ fugue (BWV 579) on Corelli's Opus 3 of 1689. Handel's [[Concerti grossi, Op. 6 (Handel)|Opus 6 ''Concerti Grossi'']] take Corelli's own older [[Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6 (Corelli)|Opus 6 ''Concerti'']] as models, rather than the later three-movement Venetian concerto of [[Antonio Vivaldi]] favoured by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]].

[[File:Corelli_Arcangelo,_dal_frontespizio_dell%27op._VI_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Engraving of a bust of Corelli from the title page of his [[Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6 (Corelli)|''Twelve Concerti Grossi'', Op.6]] (pub. 1714)]]
Musical society in Rome also owed much to Corelli. He was received in the highest circles of the aristocracy, and for a long time presided at the celebrated Monday concerts in the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni.

===Death===
Corelli died in Rome in possession of a fortune of 120,000 marks and a valuable collection of works of art and fine violins,<ref>[http://www.smithartgalleryandmuseum.co.uk/collections/art/portraits/arcangelo-corelli Sterling Smith Art Gallery: ''Portrait of Corelli''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210050301/http://www.smithartgalleryandmuseum.co.uk/collections/art/portraits/arcangelo-corelli |date=10 February 2013 }}</ref> the only luxury in which he had indulged.  He left both to his benefactor and friend, who generously made over the money to Corelli's relatives.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Corelli, Arcangelo|volume=7|page=143|inline=1}}</ref> Corelli is buried in the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon at Rome]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Talbot|first=Michael|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000006478|title=Corelli, Arcangelo|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.06478|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0}}</ref>