CORELLI, Arcangelo (1653-1713), a celebrated violin player and composer for that instrument, was born at Fusignano near Imola. Of his life little is known. His master on the violin was Bassani. Matteo Simonel∙li, the well-known singer of the Pope’s chapel, taught him composition. His talent as a player on the violin seems to have been acknowledged at an early period, but his first decided success he gained in Paris at the age of nineteen....
To this success he owed bis European reputation. From Paris Corelli w ent to Germany and settled at Munich, where he remained for nearly nine years, much admired at court and in the city. In 1681 he returned to Rome, and contracted a close friendship with Cardinal Ottoboni, who made him the conductor of his private chapel. With the exception of a visit to Naples by invitation of the king, Corelli remained in Rome till his death in 1713. His life was quiet and wholly devoted to his art. The style of execution introduced by him and preserved by his pupils, such as Geminiani, Locatelli, and many otheιs, has been of vital importance for the development of violin-playing. In the same sense it may be said that his compositions for the instrument mark an epoch in the history of chamber music; for his influence was not confined to his own country. Even the great Sebastian Bach submitted to it. Musical society in Rome owed much to Corelli. He was received in the highest circles of the aristocracy, and arranged and for a long time presided at the celebrated Monday concerts in the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni. Corelli died possessed of a considerable sum of money and a valuable collection of pictures, the only luxury he had indulged in. Both he left to his benefactor and friend, who, however, generously made over the first part of the legacy to Corelli’s relations. The composer’s bust, placed on his grave at the expense of the Count Palatine Philip William, and under the supervision of Cardinal Ottoboni, is at present in the Museo Capitolino. Corelli’s compositions are distinguished by a beautiful flow of melody and by a masterly treatment of the accompanying parts, which he is justly said to have liberated from the strict rules of counterpoint. Six collections of concerti, sonatas, and minor pieces for violin, with accompaniment of other instruments, besides several concerted pieces for strings, are authentically ascribed to this composer. The most important of these is the XIL Suonati a Violino e Violone o Cimbalo (Rome, 1700).
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