Symphonies for one violin (CANCELLED, STREAM)
Adventures with Stradella
Stradella
FiBO Players:
Aira Maria Lehtipuu, violin
Louna Hosia, cello
Marianna Henriksson, harpsichord and organ
Eero Palviainen, lute
The best parts of the concert “Symphonies for one violin” are available on FiBO's YouTube channel from Friday, February 11 at 6 pm to Sunday, February 13 at 12 am.
The whole concert was available on FiBO's YouTube channel from Thursday, January 13 at 6 pm until Friday, January 14.
Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682) is known not only for his music but also for his adventurous life. In FiBO’s earlier concert series with Stradella’s trio sonatas, the so called symphonies have been written for two violins and continuo. In this offspring we will hear his symphonies written for one violin and continuo – which were preserved as manuscripts in the university libraries of Turin and Modena –, and like in the first part of the series, also this is seasoned with texts written by or about Stradella.
In a one-violin-symphony – which during Stradella’s era was just another name for instrumental music – there are a lot of elements and nuances similar to a trio sonata. The peak of Stradella’s production came in the 1670s when the violin virtuosism had already started to bloom, but the the composition format wasn’t yet as established as when Stradella’s younger colleague Arcangela Corelli in year 1700 published his collection of violin sonatas op. 5. After that, the whole Europe got carried away by Corelli, and the predecessors like Stradella’s and Carlo Ambrogio Lonati’s (approx. 1645-1712) pieces with more moderate forms and tonalities were less played.
In Rome one of Stradella’s most important financial supporters was the Swedish Queen Christina (1626-1689) who not only financed but also, to a certain extent, participated in the writing processes. Stradella was a driven person and took good care of his contacts from all around, but he also had to change scenery quite a bit due to scandals. Legends about him have with purpose been blown up, but one thing is certain: in both his texts and his music the whole spectrum of human life is present.
Duration: 1 h (no intermission)