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Arcangelo Corelli was born in Fusignano
(near Faenza) on February 17, 1653 in a
rich and noble family. After learning
the basics of music and elementary
violin techniques, he studied and played
violin in Bologna under the supervision
of great masters and famous musicians of
the time. |
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Because
of his remarkable skills in playing the violin,
he was accepted as a member of the philharmonic
academy in 1670. In the same period (before
1680) he went to a concert tour across Germany
that made him very famous and later by accepting
the invitation to take part in the great Saint
Louis festival he became a prominent figure.
Between 1681 and 1700 Corelli published five
opuses of his compositions, among them the trio
sonatas .
sonatas as opus 4 in 1694 were all composed for
two violins and a continuo instrument. Twelve
solo sonatas for violin and celesta including
six church sonatas, five chamber sonatas and one
variation (La Folia), published in 1700 as opus
five, are also among his works in this period.
Corelli's works are regarded as a bridge between
17th and 18th century Italian and European
music. Many scalar passages are successfully
implemented in binary movements and there is a
considerable freedom in using different types of
dissonance.
Corelli by his intrinsic understanding of
counterpoint, which is frameless and without
tonal harmonic content, Corelli has made his
name eternal . A skillful combination of
counterpoint and homophony makes a solid
foundation for his works in which he never
confined himself to the apparent subdivisions of
church and chamber sonatas. By using a valuable
technique and by eliminating complicated
gestures, he changes his trio sonatas to sound
like the delicate whispers of water streams.
Seeking to prove his theory, claiming that in
comparison with the human voice the effect of
long notes increase as they are performed by
instruments, he enriches his sonatas by
continuous lines of melody and does not hesitate
to make use of bass and soprano in parallel
fifths. Corelli's dispute with conservatives
lingered for three months because he had
indisposed the principles of harmony as it was
known in that time and made excessive use of
dissonance, diminished seventh, Neapolitan sixth
and sometimes chain of seconds (Corelli clash),
in the harmonic architecture of his works.
He strongly established his theories in October
1685 and triumphantly stepped into a way towards
future. Corelli's death in January 1713 made .
Rome regretful. He was buried in Pantheon and by
Cardinal Ottoboni's command a marble statue of
him was installed upon his tomb. In this album,
"Sol Music" has performed four of these eternal
baroque works. Corelli's other sonatas will be
presented in the future works of "Sol".
On the second part of the cassette, the first
movement of Bloch's famous sonata has been
included. This sonata is regarded as a modern
work with a totally different acoustic effect.
Waldemar Bloch was born on May 5, 1906 in
Vienna. He was a music theory professor in the
academy of Gratts for a long time. As a pianist
and a composer, he performed and composed many
works. His passed away in February 1984. In
addition to his instrumental compositions, he
has composed many operas. His epistles that
include a series of his notions and ideas about
theory and new understandings of music, have
been published for at least three times.
Prisowsky is another great composer who has left
many works behind. Referring to his biography,
his works include around 181 pieces, composed
for solo instruments, ensembles and orchestra.
Dream, Op. 65, presented in this cassette,
possesses a specific kind of delicacy that
represents the genius of this great composer.
Prisowski has dedicated this piece to Mrs. Susan
Dersinska.
Bahman Mehabadi |