Editing Arcangelo Corelli (section)

=== The composer ===
Despite the typically Baroque love for the extravagant, the bizarre, the asymmetrical and the dramatic, Corelli's production deviates from this scheme,<ref name="Greenwood Group"/> favoring the classical principles of sobriety, symmetry, rationality, balanced and expressive moderation, as well as formal perfection, appreciated several times by coeval and contemporary critics, formulating an aesthetic that is among the beginners of the neoclassical school of music with considerable economy of means.<ref name="Distasio">Distaso, Antonio. ''Arcangelo Corelli e il Concerto Grosso Op. VI n. 8''. Coro Il Gabbiano, s/d.</ref><ref name="Larousse Encyclopedia"/><ref name="University Press"/> In the description of the ''Larousse Encyclopedia of Music'', "no doubt others before him showed more originality, but none in his day showed a more noble interest in balance and order, or in formal perfection and meaning. Despite his Bolognese training, he embodies the classical era of Italian music, thanks above all to the Roman tradition. [...] Although he did not invent the forms he used, Corelli gave them a nobility and perfection that make him one of the greatest classicists".<ref name="Larousse Encyclopedia"/>

Corelli's works were the result of long and thoughtful planning, and were published only after careful and multiple revisions.<ref name="Indiana University"/><ref name="Larousse Encyclopedia"/> His latest collection seems to have taken more than thirty years to complete, and a statement he left in a letter of 1708 attests his insecurity: "After so many and extensive revisions I have rarely felt the confidence to deliver to the public the few compositions that I sent it to the press".<ref name="Indiana University"/> Such a rigorous, rationally and organized method, and such a strong yearning for ideal perfection, are other characteristics that make him a classic in opposition to the wild, asymmetrical, irregular and improvisational spirit of the most typical Baroque. For Franco Piperno, "his printed work has an exceptionally well-kept and cohesive structure, deliberately designed to be didactic, modeling and monumental. It is no coincidence that one of the figures on the title page of his ''Opera Terza'' is written "to posterity", that is, as posterity would see him: as an authority on composition, execution and pedagogy, a source of full of potential ideas".<ref name="Piperno">Piperno, Franco. Corelli: ''Trio Sonatas''. Polydor International, 1987, pp. 5–7</ref> He was rigid also in the choice of genres to deal with: the trio sonata, the sonata for solo instrument and the concerto grosso. All his production is for strings, with continuo accompaniment, which could be performed by a variable combination of organ, [[harpsichord]], [[lutes]] or [[theorbo]]s. He left no works for voice, but his compositions reveal a strong influence of vocal music in their expressiveness, as well as in the treatment of polyphony.<ref name="Treccani"/><ref name="Larousse Encyclopedia"/>

In his time, the [[circle of fifths]] established itself as the main driver of [[chord progression]]s and, according to [[Richard Taruskin]], Corelli practiced, more than anyone of his generation, new concepts with expressive, dynamic and structural purposes, which was fundamental for the sedimentation of the tonal system.<ref name="University Press"/> [[Manfred Bukofzer]], likewise, states that "Arcangelo Corelli deserves credit for the full realization of tonality in the field of instrumental music. His works happily usher in the late Baroque period. [...] Although closely linked to counterpoint tradition of the ancient Bolognese school, Corelli handled the new language with impressive confidence.<ref name="Bukofzer"/> On the other hand, [[Chromatic scale|chromatisms]] are rare in his music, but [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonances]] are relatively common and used as an expressive element, although they are always well prepared and well resolved.<ref name="Indiana University"/> Critics have also highlighted the harmonious and balanced integration between [[polyphony|polyphonic]] and [[Homophony|homophonic]] elements, with polyphony which unfolds freely within a tonal structure. In his work there is an abundance of polyphonic expressive forms, the [[Fugue|fugati]], simple counterpoints and imitative writings, with themes that are repeated in succession by the various voices alternately, usually also called fugues, but in his style authentic fugues are rare, as his development differs from conventional models because of form, exhibiting a wide variety of solutions.<ref name="Indiana University"/><ref name="Bukofzer"/> According to [[Marc Pincherle|Pincherle]], one of the most significant aspects of Corelli's genius lies in the coordinated movement of these voices that intertwine, avoid each other and find themselves in such a way as to develop ever-changing motifs, establishing a unity through the motivic kinship of the different movements, a method which [[Fausto Torrefranca]] compared to the creation of "a frieze that runs along the walls and facades of a temple".<ref name="Gusmão">Gusmão, Paulo (ed.). Corelli. Abril, 1979, pp. 10–11</ref>

Among his influences are mainly the masters of the Bolognese school, such as {{ill|Giovanni Benvenuti (violinist)|lt=Giovanni Benvenuti|it|Giovanni Benvenuti (violinista)}},<ref name="Treccani"/> Leonardo Brugnoli and [[Giovanni Battista Bassani]]. Also evident is the influence of [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], attested by [[Francesco Geminiani]],<ref name="Bukofzer"/> as well as by the Venetian school, in particular [[Francesco Cavalli]], [[Antonio Cesti]] and [[Giovanni Legrenzi]].<ref name="Treccani"/><ref name="Indiana University"/> George J. Buelow, further, attests that the influence of [[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina|Palestrina]] on the development of the polyphonic style of his music has been largely ignored, an influence received mainly through his teacher Simonelli, who was a singer of the [[Sistine Chapel]], where Palestrina's work was one of the highlights of the repertoire.<ref name="Indiana University"/>

Corelli's style has long been praised as paradigmatic for its clarity and its sober and expressive melodism, the quintessence of Arcadian good taste. [[Georg Friedrich Handel]], [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], [[Antonio Vivaldi]], [[François Couperin]], [[Giuseppe Torelli]], [[Georg Muffat]], [[Georg Philipp Telemann]], [[Giuseppe Valentini]], [[Benedetto Marcello]], [[Pietro Locatelli]], [[Giuseppe Sammartini]], [[Francesco Geminiani]] and countless other musicians were inspired by the Corellian model in producing their orchestral music.<ref name="Talbot">Talbot, Michael. "The Italian concerto in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries". In: Keefe, Simon P. (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 35–52</ref><ref name="McVeigh"/><ref name="Bukofzer"/> In Rome its influence was so overwhelming that no composer of the next generation could completely avoid it. Along with Torelli and Vivaldi, Corelli was one of the key figures in establishing the concerto as a genre whose popularity still persists today.<ref name="Seventeenth-Century Music"/> One American admirer was President [[Thomas Jefferson]] who regularly played the violin, and cataloged four of Corelli's [[sonata|sonatas]] in the library at [[Monticello]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elzey |first1=Claudia |title=Thomas Jefferson Monticello: Violins |url=https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/violins/ |website=Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=21 January 2024}}</ref>

An 1827 music dictionary still echoed what Burney had said more than thirty years earlier: "Corelli's concerts have withstood all the onslaught of time and fashion, more firmly than his other works. Harmony is so pure, the parts so clearly, judiciously and ingeniously arranged, and the overall effect, played by a large orchestra, is so majestic, solemn and sublime, that they disarm any criticism and make one forget everything that has ever been composed in the same genre".<ref name="Sainsbury">''A Dictionary of Musicians from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time'', vol. I. Sainsbury, 1827, p. 176</ref> In the opinion of Michael Talbot, writing for ''The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto'', it is difficult to explain the enduring popularity of this collection, considering the semplicity not the cause of its popularity, but only a precondition.<ref name="Talbot">Talbot, Michael. "The Italian concerto in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries". In: Keefe, Simon P. (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 35–52</ref> He continues stating:

{{blockquote|Corelli's genius lies rather in his ability to create satisfying forms without resorting to fixed formulas, in his ability to combine contrasting ideas [...], in his original inventiveness for atmospheres, and in his moments – more numerous than expected – of harmonic audacity. Among the unforgettable passages of the Concerti grossi are the poignant suspensions and enchanting octave doublings in the second adagio of the fourth concert and the magical change of key from minor to major at the beginning of the Pastorale that concludes the eighth concerto, an optional movement that was composed to be performed on Christmas Eve.<ref name="Talbot">Talbot, Michael. "The Italian concerto in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries". In: Keefe, Simon P. (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 35–52</ref>}}

Corelli composed 48 [[trio sonata]]s, 12 violin and continuo sonatas,<ref>D.D. Boyden: "Corelli's Solo Violin Sonatas ''Grac'd'' by Dubourg", ''Festskrift Jens Peter Larsen'', ed. N. Schiørring, H. Glahn and C.E. Hatting (Copenhagen, 1972)</ref> and 12 concerti grossi.

Six sets of twelve compositions, [[Publications by Friedrich Chrysander|published]] between 1888 and 1891 by [[Friedrich Chrysander|Chrysander]], are authentically ascribed to Corelli, together with a few other works.
* Opus 1: 12 [[Sonata da chiesa|''sonate da chiesa'']] (trio sonatas for 2 violins and [[basso continuo|continuo]]) (Rome 1681)
* Opus 2: 12 ''[[Sonata da camera|sonate da camera]]'' (trio sonatas for 2 violins and continuo) (Rome 1685)
* Opus 3: 12 ''sonate da chiesa'' (trio sonatas for 2 violins and continuo) (Rome 1689)
* Opus 4: 12 ''sonate da camera'' (trio sonatas for 2 violins and continuo) (Rome 1694)
* [[Twelve Violin Sonatas, Op.5 (Corelli)|Opus 5]]: 12 ''Suonati a violino e [[violone]] o [[harpsichord|cimbalo]]'' (6 ''sonate da chiesa'' and 6 ''sonate da camera'' for violin and continuo) (Rome 1700) The last sonata is a set of [[Variation (music)|variations]] on [[Folia|La Folia]].
* [[Twelve concerti grossi, op.6 (Corelli)|Opus 6]]: 12 concerti grossi (8 concerti da chiesa and 4 concerti da camera for [[Concertino (group)|concertino]] of 2 violins and cello, string [[ripieno]], and continuo) (written in the 1680s, publ. [[Amsterdam]] 1714)
* op. post.: Sinfonia in D minor, [[WoO]] 1 (for Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier's Oratorium ''Santa Beatrice d’Este'' 1689)
* op. post.: Sonata a Quattro, WoO 2 (Rogers, Amsterdam, 1699)<ref>Allsop, p. 9</ref>
* op. post.: Sonata a Quattro, WoO 3 (Rogers, Amsterdam, 1699 – incomplete/dubious)
* op. post.: Sonata a Quattro for Trumpet, 2 Violins & B.C, WoO 4
* op. post.: 6 ''Sonate a tre'', WoO 5–10 (Amsterdam 1714)