Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 by

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence o ...

, known commonly as the ''Christmas Concerto'', was commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and published posthumously in 1714 as part of Corelli's '' Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6''. The concerto bears the inscription ' (made for the night of Christmas). Its composition date is uncertain, but there is a record of Corelli having performed a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

concerto in 1690 for the enjoyment of his new patron. The concerto is scored for an ensemble consisting of two concertino

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

ripieno The ripieno (, Italian for "stuffing" or "padding") is the bulk of instrumental parts of a musical ensemble who do not play as soloists, especially in Baroque music. These are the players who would play in sections marked ''tutti'', as opposed to ...

strings and continuo. The work is structured as a ''concerto da chiesa'', in this case expanded from a typical four movement structure to six: Each relatively short movement provides multiple tempi and a range of major and minor

suspensions In chemistry, a suspension is a heterogeneous mixture of a fluid that contains solid particles sufficiently large for sedimentation. The particles may be visible to the naked eye, usually must be larger than one micrometer, and will eventua ...

. The concerto is generally no longer than fifteen minutes, ending with Corelli's famous ''Pastorale ad libitum'', a peaceful finale in the

pastorale Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood. In Baroque music, a pastorale is a movement of a melody in thirds over a drone bass, recalling the Christmas music of ''pifferari'', players of the traditi ...

form.

References

* ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' by Michael Kennedy, 1994,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. * ''Outlines of Music History'' by Clarence Grant Hamilton, 1924,

Oliver Ditson Oliver Ditson (October 20, 1811 – December 21, 1888) was an American businessman and founder of Oliver Ditson and Company, one of the major music publishing houses of the late 19th century. Early life and career Oliver Ditson was born in Bos ...

Company.

External links

* * * Free typese
sheet music
from ''Cantorion.org'' (this is an arrangement for string quartet, not the original) *, Liverpool String Quartet * {{Authority control Compositions by Arcangelo Corelli Christmas music 1690 compositions Compositions in G minor