Renowned violinist and pedagogue, Arcangelo Corelli spent his entire career in Rome. He composed mainly for the theater, the church and at the service of cardinals. The Concerto « For Christmas Eve » is the most famous of the twelve concerti grossi which were published in Amsterdam a year after his death and constitute his last opus. With this collection, Corelli stands out as one of the first great masters, along with Giuseppe Torelli, of the concerto grosso. This genre eminently representative of Baroque aesthetics, plays on the opposition between a group of soloists the concertino composed of two violins and a cello then a larger string ensemble called ripieno whose numbers can be expanded at will and whose role is to punctuate or reinforce the intervention of the soloists. The eighth concerto in G minor is, like the first seven, a « church » concerto whose movements preceded by tempo indications in Italian alternate between slow and lively tempos, homophonic and imitative writing. The work (concerto da chiesa) is structured in six movements. The final Pastorale, which justifies its subtitle « For Christmas Eve » is linked to the last Allegro, contrasting by its tonality in G major and its tender swaying with of the musette sonorities. This Largo evokes the lovely nativities that the Italian painters of this period, such as Antonio Balestra and others, bequeathed to us. All the allegorical beauty is present in this piece prefiguring classical Harmony. *Lucien*
@@ShoaibKhan-bz5qm haha your comment really made me laugh! I performed this piece last night (playing that cello part) and had a very similar feeling. When we first rehearsed it with all the repeats I thought I was going to drop my bow
@@otherstrephon lol I performed this about a year ago as vln I solo and the 2nd movement wasn't too bad to play (although I had less notes XD) cello part sounds better than any other part in this movement imo. Great job cello friends!
Dal suono degli archi mi sembra un'esecuzione con strumenti moderni e anche il diapason, La 440 hz, mi da la conferma. Ciò non toglie che è una bella interpretazione, garbata e coerente, migliore di tante eseguite con strumenti originali. Ogni Natale e non solo in questa ricorrenza, ascolto questo stupendo concerto di Arcangelo Corelli. Buon Natale a tutti.
I think that Corelli was far away from his time. His music is not written on the table but is music that comes from the heart. His string writing is do modern. He never bores you... wonderful.❤❤❤
I remember playing this back in advanced orch in HS over 10 years ago. Was on bass and this song was a blast to learn/master. Only me and one other person in our bass section could play it well enough. He made everyone but us 2 stop playing the high notes down the bridge of the open g string. What a memory
every recording i listen to plays the adagio movement so fast. but holy shit, this recording really nails it. in fact, the tempo is pretty much perfect on every movement included here. great work (:
The 3rd Mov adagio sections has to be one of the most beautiful things that I've ever heard. There are things that are amazing but there is really a touch in this that I can't really explain. It's really just amazing.
Questa musica mi suscita sentimenti indefinibili, che appartengono a visioni non mie, di epoche remote, di qualche ambiente poco illuminato... suggestioni incredibili
@5:40 I walked down the aisle to this adagio. I first heard it when watching the film Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World (one of my favorite films of all time) and thought it was one of the most beautiful pieces of music I had ever heard. I knew then that when I got married I had to have it played at my wedding.
Great recording of a beautiful piece. Wish YT were not so vulgar as to allow ads in videos like this. At least they're between movements, I guess. Lol. Thanks for uploading.
I always picture the second to last movement Mary struggling to give birth while angels tell shepherds to run and see the birth of Jesus, followed by the Pastorale which represents Jesus being born as well as his glorification in heaven.
The last movement was - partially - played on the organ in 1980 Little Lord Fauntleroy, when Alec Guinness and Ricky Schroeder take place in the family pew, in the village church.
C'est ce que j'ai trouvé de mieux pour ce concerto. On voit la partition et le diapason n'est pas abaissé, ce qui fait qu'on entend exactement ce qui est écrit...
The church used to hire musicians to compose pieces to be played during Christmas, This selection was created because of that. A lot of Christmas songs you hear were originally instrumental pieces, but words were later added on.
I’m doing the 2nd violin solo, and I practice by listening to the piece slowed down (go to the : on the side of the video and press playback speed) and then play what I hear. I hope that helps!!
Yep, good call there. It's the opening theme of every "How shall we then live" film in the series. A real masterpiece for a masterpiece. I miss Schaefer, socks and all. 🙂
While common time now means 4/4, I think back then a C would actually mean “4 beats per bar”, so in this case there are 4 beats per bar. Nowadays we would notate this as 4/2
![Corelli | Concerto Grosso Op. 6 n. 8 [Christmas Concerto; Camerata RCO]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
