Twelve Violin Sonatas, Op. 5 (''Sonate a violino e violone o cimbalo'') is a collection of 12 violin sonatas by

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque music, Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of Sonata a ...

, first published on 1 January 1700. The first edition is dedicated to Sophia Charlotte,

Electress An Electress (, ) was the consort of a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, one of the Empire's greatest princes. The Golden Bull of 1356 established by Emperor Charles IV settled the number of Electors at seven. However, three of these wer ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

. The first six are '' sonate da chiesa'' and the last six are '' sonate da camera''. The last sonata, No. 12, is a set of 23

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

on the

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

La Folia ''La Folía'' (Spanish), or ''Follies'' (English), also known as ''folies d'Espagne'' (French), ''La Follia'' (Italian), and ''Folia'' (Portuguese), is one of the oldest remembered European musical themes, or primary material, generally melodic ...

''. The title in the first edition. ''Sonate a violino e violone o cimbalo,'' calls for a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, accompanied by a

bass violin Bass violin is the modern term for various 16th- and 17th-century bass instruments of the violin (i.e. '' viola da braccio'') family. They were the direct ancestor of the modern cello. Bass violins were usually somewhat larger than the modern ce ...

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

. The

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

part was written in the

figured bass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidental (music), accidentals) indicate interval (music), intervals, chord (music), chords, and non- ...

notation. There have been different

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s in performance, ranging from

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, to

archlute The archlute (, , ) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissan ...

, to

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Influence

Sir John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 ...

arranged the Preludio, Allemanda, Gavotte and Giga of No. 10, and Sarabande of No. 7 into an Oboe Concerto, dedicated to his wife, the oboist

Evelyn Rothwell Evelyn, Lady Barbirolli Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE (24 January 191125 January 2008) was an English oboe, oboist, and the wife of the eminent conductor Sir John Barbirolli. She was born Evelyn Rothwell, and was known profess ...

. Peter Welsh arranged the Sonata No. 5 in G minor for Koto and

Danso The ''danso'' (also spelled ''tanso'') is a Korean notched, end-blown vertical bamboo flute used in Korean folk music. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but since the 20th century it has also been made of plastic. It was imported from China ...

in 2002. The arrangement was performed the same year in Kuala Lumpur with great critical acclaim.

Selected discography

* Andrew Manze (violin) and Richard Egarr (harpsichord) – Harmonia Mundi HMU907298/99 * (violin) and Musica Alchemica – Pan Classics PC10375 * Arthur Grumiaux (violin) and Riccardo Castogne (harpsichord) – Philips * Locatelli Trio – Hyperion

Reviews of recordings

BBC Record Review
Review by Anna French on BBC Radio 3, 5 May 2018
Review
on recording by Manze and Egarr

References

External links

*
Walsh's Edition (London)
on

Musopen Musopen is an organization which creates, produces and disseminates Western classical music, via public domain recordings, sheet music and educational resources. It stands with the ChoralWiki and the Wind Repertory Project as among the most prom ...

Interpretations

* performed by Aaron McGregor, violin; Alice Allen, cello; David McGuinness, piano {{Authority control

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

Compositions by Arcangelo Corelli 1700 compositions Music dedicated to nobility or royalty