Corelli: Mr Corelli In London - Steger, Laurence Cummings

Recorder virtuoso Maurice Steger, deftly assisted by The English Concert and Laurence Cummings, performs a sparkling program of concertos fashioned by the English adherents of Arcangelo Corelli from the Italian master’s visionary Violin Sonatas, Op.5.

London around 1730: Although he never set foot on English soil and his compositions were already half a century old, Corelli was the absolute darling of London’s society. The musicians close to Handel soon realised that they were far more likely to succeed if they incorporated Corelli’s themes as opposed to only performing their own works. Variations on Corelli and new versions of his older pieces were soon de rigeur. Over the course of the next few years, Corelli’s violin sonatas Opus 5 were complemented by large numbers of virtuoso adaptations. This music corresponded perfectly to the musical taste of the times and although originally composed for the violin, the sonatas were soon performed in almost every conceivable instrumentation.

In today’s popular music, it’s called a cover version; back then it was standard practice. Well-known melodies are used and adapted to the player’s technical abilities and the prevailing trends of the times. Francesco Geminiani, James Paisible, Pietro Castrucci,

John Loeillet, William Babell and Robert Valentine are just a few composers who adapted Corelli’s music and through variations, ornamentations and orchestrations left their mark on the originals. Francesco Geminiani’s orchestral version of the Opus 5 sonatas serves as the basis for Maurice Steger’s current project. The recorder soloist uses this beautiful fabric of sound to perform the original variations, which survived as handwritten sheet music. They come to life as wonderful lyrical or virtuoso adaptations that sometimes test the boundaries of what is technically possible.