Charles Avison: 12 Concerti Grossi after Scarlatti | Concerto No. 5 in D minor |

Описание: A fine exploration of Avison's under-explored legacy and his masterful reworkings of Domenico Scarlatti's existing works. In the unlikely surroundings of 18th century Newcastle, local musical entrepreneur Charles Avison made a name for himself with his Baroque string concertos, including this collection based on existing works (some of them now lost) by Italy's Domenico Scarlatti. Avison has used four sonatas for each concerto, forming a typical slow-fast-slaw-fast pattern. Most of the movements in these concertos are based on individual sonatas by Scarlatti, their combination into four movement sequences being entirely Avison's work. Sometimes sonatas are transposed; some movements (nine in total, out of forty eight) have no identified source and may be Avison's own work (like 00:00 Largo movement in this video). They stand up to the comparison with Scarlatti very well.

12 Concerti Grossi after Domenico Scarlatti:

Concerto No. 1 in A major
Concerto No. 2 in G major
Concerto No. 3 in D minor
Concerto No. 4 in A minor
Concerto No. 5 in D minor (THIS VIDEO)
00:00 Largo (unknown)
02:44 Allegro (K.11, transposed)
04:42 Andante moderato (K.41)
06:23 Allegro (K.5)
Concerto No. 6 in D major
Concerto No. 7 in G minor
Concerto No. 8 in E minor
Concerto No. 9 in C major
Concerto No. 10 in D major
Concerto No. 11 in G major
Concerto No. 12 in D major

In his Essay on Musical Expression, first published in London in 1752, Avison included a footnote on Domenico Scarlatti, who he describes as 'the author of some excellent lessons for the harpsichord '. He praises him as 'among the great masters of this age', going on to add that 'the invention of his subjects or airs , and the beautiful chain of modulation in all these pieces, are peculiarly his own: and though in many places, the finest passages are greatly disguised with capricious divisions, yet, upon the whole, they are original and masterly'.

Cover art:
Paolo Veronese (1528 – 1588), "The Dream of Saint Helena", c. 1570
Paolo was born in Verona – hence his nickname 'Veronese'. His father was a stone cutter and his mother was the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman called Caliari, a name the artist adopted in the 1550s. Veronese moved to Venice in the early 1550s and stayed there for the rest of his life, becoming one of the leading painters of the 16th century. In Venice, Titian's approach to composition, narrative, and colouring was crucial for Veronese, but his work is characterised by principles of harmony and compositional cohesion that owe as much to Raphael and the Central Italian tradition as to the Venetian.

For most of his career, Veronese worked for patrons, religious and secular, in Venice and the Veneto. Among his important works are the full-scale decoration of the Venetian church of S. Sebastiano (1555–around 1570), his ceiling and wall paintings for the library of S. Marco (1556–57) and the Ducal Palace (early 1550s and 1575–82), and his fresco decorations of the Villa Barbaro at Maser (around 1560), as well as a range of major altarpieces. From the 1560s on-wards he also produced mythological pictures for an international clientele.

Performed by:
Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla


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