Corelli: Concerti Grossi Op. 6

In Corelli’s concerti grossi, the scale of the performing group can be as engaging as the tune. A line comes forward, more strings join it, and the same musical space suddenly seems wider.

Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert offer a way into those changing relationships. Compare the impetus of a fast passage with the room left at the end of a slower phrase. Grandeur need not mean keeping every player at maximum weight throughout.

The work and this performance

The twelve concertos of Op. 6 were published posthumously in 1714. Their small group of two violins and cello interacts with the larger string ensemble. Concertino is the name for that smaller group, but recognising an intimate exchange and a broader response matters more than memorising the term. Pinnock directs and plays harpsichord on recordings made in London in 1987 and 1988. The work’s publication, the recording sessions and the eventual release belong to different histories.

An approachable route through twelve concertos

Do not try to retain the whole set at once. In No. 4, hear whether the relationship between small group and ensemble remains legible as a slow introduction gives way to quicker motion. The final Pastorale of No. 8 invites a different attention, towards a rocking pulse rather than urgent forward movement. Later concertos include movements named after dances, changing the character of the step within a similar string texture. Follow the bass for one hearing instead of always taking the highest melody as your guide; the return of the larger group may become easier to recognise.

Recognition and reissues

The recording received the 1989 Gramophone award in the Early Music Baroque category. Colin Clarke’s 2020 MusicWeb reassessment praised its vitality and the ending of No. 8, a much later response rather than a release-period verdict. First issued complete in 1988, the performances have appeared in several editions. The linked digital programme contains all twelve concertos in sixty-four tracks, unlike the separate six-concerto selection by the same performers. Track divisions do not count independent concertos: follow the work and movement titles, and feel free to begin with one concerto before widening the listening session.