Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709)
12 Concerti da camera for two violins and basso continuo, Op 2
Rosso Verona Baroque Ensemble/Pietro Battistoni
rec. 2023, Sala Morone, San Bernardino, Verona, Italy
Reviewed in a 24/96 download from Proper
Challenge Classics CC72989 [73]
Giuseppe Torelli can be considered one of the most important composers of the Italian Baroque. He played a key role in the development of the concerto grosso and the solo concerto, and was one of the founders of the Bolognese trumpet school. His contributions to the repertoire for trumpet and strings are substantial, and represent the best-known part of his oeuvre. This and his ‘Christmas concerto’ are virtually the only music by him that is regularly performed, so it is remarkable that recently two discs of his music have been released: the Ensemble Locatelli, directed by Chiara Cattani, recorded the complete Concerti grossi Op. 8, which includes the above-mentioned ‘Christmas concerto’ (Tactus, 2023) and some of his sonatas for violin and basso continuo have been recorded by Sue-Ying Koang and a basso continuo group (Indesens, 2023). The most recent addition to the Torelli discography is the first recording of an ensemble founded in 2021, the Rosso Verona Baroque Ensemble.
Torelli was born in Verona, where his father was a health inspector, the family lived in comfortable circumstances and he received his first musical training from a local musician. Aged eighteen, he played the violin in a Vesper service in one of the churches, and in 1683/84 he was a violinist at Verona Cathedral. In 1684, he was admitted as a suonatore di violino to the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna and moved to that city. There he continued his violin studies, and he also studied composition with Giacomo Perti. In 1686, he entered the service of San Petronio; this lasted until 1696, when the orchestra of the cathedral was disbanded for economic reasons. Torelli went to Germany; in 1698, he was appointed maestro di concerto at the court of the Margrave of Brandenburg in Ansbach. In 1699/1700, he was in Italy, where he promoted music by Perti. From 1701 until his death in 1709, he was again in Bologna and played in the chapel of San Petronio which Perti had founded. He was described by his contemporaries as “a man not only of docile and humble habits but also erudite and eloquent”.
Torelli composed only a few sacred works, among them an oratorio on a German text, which he performed in Vienna; only the libretto is extant. Seven collections of instrumental music were printed, all but one in Bologna. The first was a set of twelve trio sonatas of 1686, the last the Concerti grossi Op 8 (1709). An Op 7 has not been found. In several of his collections we may find the traces of Torelli’s own skills as a violinist. That goes for the second half of his Op 8, which are called concerti grossi, but are in fact solo concertos for the violin. The Op 4 is a set of concertini per camera for violin, cello and basso continuo.
It is not surprising that the Op 1 consists of trio sonatas. Torelli was one of the first to compose such works, which were to become the preferred genre of amateurs. Arcangelo Corelli also started with publishing trio sonatas, and many composers of later generations did the same. It was profitable and a way to show one’s skills in the field of counterpoint, which was generally considered the foundation of music.
The second collection Torelli published also comprises trio sonatas, although with the title of concerti da camera. In the track-list in the booklet, each individual piece has the title of sonata. As I don’t have access to the original printed edition, I don’t know what Torelli himself called the pieces. They are different from what one may expect, if one knows Corelli’s trio sonatas. The latter’s Op 1 was published in 1681, five years before Torelli’s Op 2. Whether Torelli knew Corelli’s trio sonatas is impossible to say, but if he did, they seem not to have influenced him. Corelli’s trio sonatas are in four movements, in the sequence which was to become the standard: slow, fast, slow, fast. Torelli’s concerti da camera are all in three movements, and all of them are dances. The first is either a balletto or an alemanda. The exception is No 8, which opens with a capriccio. The first movement, always the longest, can be either in a fast (allegro, vivace, presto) or a slow (largo, grave) tempo. The same goes for the second movement, which is either a corrente or a gigha. It is shorter than the first movement. The closing movements are the shortest, less than one minute (except in No.12). They are called sarabanda, gavota or menuet. In the 18th century, the sarabande/sarabanda was usually a piece in a slow tempo, but that is not the case here. The sarabanda of No. 6 has the explicit time indication, presto.
Twelve pieces on one disc, taking a little more than 72 minutes – that indicates that these pieces are rather short. As I mentioned, the opening movements are the longest, but only five take five minutes or more. Most of them are under three minutes. The last movements are very short: the gavota of No 8 takes just 24 seconds. That means that they can be a bit short-winded. It may be advisable not to play the entire disc at once – not that there is anything wrong with the music. Torelli was undoubtedly an excellent composer, and these pieces are a good contribution to the trio sonata repertoire. It is nice that they are available on disc, and in a very good performance by the Rosso Verona Baroque Ensemble. The ensemble is immaculate, and the players have a very good sense of rhythm, which is especially important as each movement is a dance, which the listener needs to feel.
The ensemble could hardly have made a better start than with this recording of little-known pieces.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
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Contents
Sonata II in b minor
Sonata IV in e minor
Sonata IX in F
Sonata VI in a minor
Sonata III in d minor
Sonata VII in G
Sonata X in D
Sonata I in c minor
Sonata V in g minor
Sonata VIII in C
Sonata XI in B flat
Sonata XII in A
