Concerto Grosso
Guiseppe Torelli was born in Verona 1658.
With the exception of a short period where he worked in Vienna, he spent his entire life in and around the same area of northern Italy, playing in orchestras in Verona, Parma and Bologna.
We know only a little about his life. He was professional violinist who also composed a lot of music for his own instrument and the orchestras in which he played.
He died in Bologna in 1709 at the age of 50.
- Quintet
- Composer: G Torelli
- Period: Baroque.
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Instruments:
- Treble 1
- Treble 2
- Tenor
- Bass
- Contra
Notes
The original score spcifies a string orchestra with ‘Cellos and Basses, so we have doubled the Bass part with a Contra as per Torelli’s intentions. This helps to add a lot of body to the sound. The two parts are therefore intentionally identical.
The second movement is in 12/8 and therefore counts 4 beats in a bar. The speed for the second movement is set to be exactly double that of the first movement. So effectively, a quaver in the Grave equals a dotted crotchet in the Vivace, which makes the speed change very easy.
