Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Arcangelo Corelli

Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer born on February 17, 1653 (32 years before Bach was born.) Not too much is known about his early life. His violin teacher was Giovanni Battista Bassani and Matteo Simonelli, a singer of the pope’s chapel, taught him composition. At the age of nineteen he experienced major successes in Paris. From Paris, Corelli went to Germany. In 1681 he was in the service of the electoral prince of Bavaria. In 1685 he was in Rome, where he played for Queen Christine of Sweden and where he was also a favorite of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. From 1689 to 1690 he was working for the Duke of Modena. In 1708 he returned to Rome, living in the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni. His visit to Naples, at the invitation of the king, took place in the same year. Much of Corelli’s music has been recorded by numerous ensembles and is easy to come by. Corelli died in 1713.

1 comment:

  1. If you visit the blog posted under the title "Sadistics," you will discover - among other things - that Corelli is the oldest violinist with a profile in Pronetoviolins, the one with the earliest birthdate - 1653.

    ReplyDelete