According to Baroque Music, Cornell not only shared his musical knowledge with fellow musicians, but was known as the “founder of modern violin technique,” the “world’s first great violinist,” and the “father of concerto gross. ” The period, life, and works in which the great Archangel Cornell lived will be discussed in greater detail as the paper progresses. To begin, the baroque period, also known as the “age of absolutism,” Is classified by the years 1600, in which opera began, to the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750 (Examine 99).
Opera was birthed in Italy within the baroque period and provided he people a show of “magnificent extravagance” with more emphasis on the words than the music (Kamala 1 18-19). Furthermore, the baroque styled opera marked the entrance of castrato singers. These singers were males who had been castrated before they hit puberty to ensure the lung power of men and the vocal range of women. “By combining virtuosity, nobility, and extravagance, baroque opera perfectly expressed the split of a grand age” (Kamala 120).
As well as the start of opera, the texture of the music was imperative during the baroque period. In the early baroque period, from 1600 to 1640, musicians favored he homophobic texture of music. Early baroque composers thought the only way to clearly project the lyrics of the songs was to have a main, constant melody with stressed contrasting sounds by singers against a chorus or using voices against instruments. On the contrast, during the late baroque period, 1690-1750, the favored texture was polyphonic, just as it had been during the renaissance period (Examine 102).
According to ANA, “polyphonic texture contains two or more active melodies… With emphasis placed upon the Interplay between lines, rather than on a single elodea or a stream of chord sounds” (par 1). In addition, the layering of voices shares importance with the polyphonic texture of the baroque period. “Layering is when two or more voices move at different but closely related levels of rhythmic activity, similar to different parts of a machine moving at different but related speeds” (“Polyphonic” par 2).
Although homophobic texture paved a way for music of the baroque period, most of the baroque compositions that are well-known used the polyphonic texture ‘OFF time” (Examine 102) In addition, the form of the music in the baroque period was also important. The musical forms varied from sonatas to concerto gross to the most basic forms. For instance, the two basic musical forms are ternary form, which is a three-part A B A sequence, and binary form, which is a two-part A B sequence.
The most commonly used basic form of the baroque period was the ternary form, which had sounds that mirrored “a statement, a contrast or departure, and a return,” hinting an A B A sequence (Examine 49-50). Next, the concerto gross was very essential for late baroque. The concerto gross, “a small group of soloists pitted against a larger group f players called the tutu (all),” was used by orchestras in upper-class palaces that provided the soloists with “brilliant and fanciful melodic lines” (Examine 108).
Finally, the sonatas were popular in the baroque period for churches, performances, and for leisure. A sonata is “a composition in several movements for one to eight instruments. ” In the same way, the trio sonata gained popularity with composers because they were composing for three melodic lines (Examine 125). With that in mind, Archangel Cornell composed a trio sonata in 1689 for stringed instruments called the Trio Sonata in A Minor, Pop. , No. 10 with four movements (Examine 126).
Although the trio sonata would appear to have three parts, the trio sonata in fact has four instrumentalists, with two high instruments and two instruments for the lower basso continuo (Examine 125). Relatively, tempo was an important development of the baroque era. Before the seventeenth century, tempo was indicated by notations. Conversely, the baroque period was the beginning of using terms to describe tempo which originated in Italy and quickly spread throughout Europe.
Consequently, the terms still used today to describe tempo are in Italian. For example, allegro means a fast tempo, accelerated means becoming faster, and largo means a very slow tempo. Even though the terms were created, some composers still had confusion about the many different meanings that the words could denote. In correlation, “the invention of the metronome allowed composers to become very precise with their tempo markings, however most conductors and performers still tend to regard tempo as a matter of interpretation” (Miller par 4).
In Fusion, Italy, on February 17, 1653, over 360 years ago, Italian violinist Archangel Cornell was born to a prosperous family. Santa and Archangel Cornell Sir. Had five children together, including Archangel-? Politic, Domenici, Giovanni and Action. Cornell was named after his father who unfortunately died a month before his birth and as a result, he was raised by his single mother, Santa Cornell (Tallboy 181). Coracle’s initial musical studies were with the local clergy near Fanned, Italy and then finally studied in Bologna, Italy in 1666. His studies there were with Giovanni Benefit and Leonardo Bringing, the former representing the disciplined style of the Academia philharmonic (to which Cornell was admitted in 1670)” (When par 1). According to Padre Martini, Archangel Cornell took his first violin lessons at Bologna from Benefit and then later Bringing (Tallboy 181). In the mid sass’s, Cornell established himself in Rome, Italy where he found himself in the service of Queen Christina of Sweden in 1679 (“Archangel’ par 1). Prior to meeting Queen Christina, oratorios at S. Giovanni die Foresting” in 1676 (Tallboy 182).
In 1681, Archangel dedicated his Opus to the Queen of Sweden which he described as the “first fruits of his studies” (Tallboy 183-84). In 1684, Cornell began to regularly perform at musical functions for an employer named Cardinal Pamphlet. Shortly after beginning his services for Pamphlet, Cornell dedicated his Opus 2 to him in 1685 (Tallboy 185). Correspondingly, “on July 9, 1687 Cardinal Pamphlet engaged Cornell as his music master at a monthly salary often Florentine pastier” (Tallboy 186). At this time, Cornell and his pupil, Mateo Forward, moved into Pamphlet’s palace to serve their talents.
Sadly, Pamphlet moved out of Rome in 1690, which left Cornell to find a new patron. Fortunately, Cornell quickly found patronage in Cardinal Pitter Tiburon, to whom he dedicated his Opus 4 to (Kemp par 1). Luckily for Cornell, Tiburon viewed him more s friend than a servant and allowed Cornell to live the rest of his life in his palace (Kemp par 2). Furthermore, Cornell directed opera pieces at the Canceller and the Tradition theatre. In “Naples, Italy on May 1, 1702, Cornell played Scarlatti Tiber, imperative detriment” (Tallboy 188).
With his evidently superior skills, “in 1706 Cornell was elected as one of only a handful of musicians to the select the artistic circle known as the Academia dogleg Arcadia” (Kemp par 2). Regrettably, after 1708, Archangel Cornell discharged himself from the publics eye, and “busied himself with he composition of concerti gross’ (Tallboy 189). A few years later, in December of 1712, his health began to deteriorate. Consequently, Cornell wrote his will on January 5, 1713, in which he left “all his violins, his manuscripts, the plates of his Opus 4, and his future Opus 6” to his pupil, Mateo Forward.
Three days later, Archangel Cornell, at the age of 59, died in Rome, Italy (Tallboy 189) and was buried in the Pantheon, near Raphael Sansei ad Robin, a famous painter (Kemp par 3). “The anniversary of his death was marked for several years afterwards by solemn performances of his ancestors in the Pantheon” (Tallboy 190). In relation to Coracle’s musical success, his musical style was revolutionary. “Cornell popularized certain rhythmical stereotypes, in particular the Walking or ‘running’ bass in which an inessential note is interposed between two harmony notes” (Tallboy 196). His allegros are characterized by rapid changes of harmony underlining the metrical structure, repeated notes, widely ranging themes, idiomatic violin writing… And a mechanically progressive rhythm” (When par 6). Even though Archangel Cornell was an innovator of sorts, the only device he is named after is the ‘Cornell lash’ (“where the late resolution on to the leading note at a cadence coincides with the anticipation of the tonic note in the companion upper part”) which was popular in sass’s dance music (Tallboy 196).
According to Tallboy, “in formal matters, Cornell is often credited with the clearest exposition of the difference between the ‘church’ and ‘chamber’ varieties of sonata, and the establishment of four movements as the norm in both” (196). “Few composers achieved so much so quickly, and with such economical means, as Cornell” (200). Undoubtedly, Archangel Cornell created many masterpieces that received much raise during and after his lifetime. His Opus 1, to whom he dedicated to Queen Christina of Sweden, is twelve church trio-sonatas. (“Archangel’ par 8).
Opus 1 (Opera Prima) was written for “two violins and Violence or Recreate with organ bass and in a reprinted “through 35 known editions between 1681 and 1785” (Tallboy 193). Following Opus 1 and 2, Cornell created Opus 3 (Opera Terra), which is a set of twelve trio- sonatas in dedication to the Duke of Modern in 1689 (Ideas 6). According to Ideas, in Opus 3 “there is plenty of vigorous independent part-writing in the many fugal events and, in the slow introductions and middle movements, a poise and dignity that might be called Handling” (7).
In fact, Johann Sebastian Bach “borrowed the subject of the second movement of Opus 3 No. 4 for an organ fugue” ( Tallboy 193). Not before long, Archangel Cornell was back at it again with his composition of Opus 5, the most popular opus of his career with 42 editions being reprinted by 1 (Tallboy 193). Opus 5 is a set of twelve violin and bass sonatas that were dedicated to Sophia Charlotte, Electrets of Brandenburg with no clear date of creation (Ideas 6). Coracle’s Opus 5 continued to be performed and used as teaching pieces before and after his death (Slaw par 2).
In fact, according to Slaw, “no other set of works enjoyed a comparable reception in the 18th century’ more than Coracle’s Opus 5 (par 1). Before his untimely death, Cornell started, but never finished Opus 6 (Opus Seat). Opus 6, dedicated to John William, Elector Palatine, was finally finished and publishes in 1714 (Edwards 526) with help from Coracle’s former pupil Mateo Forward (Tallboy 189). In Coracle’s Opus 6 concerto gross, “the smaller group consists of two violins ND a cello, and the larger of a string orchestra” (“Archangel’ par 5).
Although Cornell did not invent concerto gross, “it was he who proved the potentialities of the form, popularized it, and wrote the first great music for it” and if not for him as a model, “it would have been impossible for Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach to have given us their concerto gross masterpieces” (Archangel’ par 4). Cornell “reached his creative peak and climaxed all his musical contributions” with the publication of his concerto gross (“Archangel’ par 3). In final consideration, Archangel Cornell, Italian violinist, was a heavy hitter of his mime period.
Cornell had many pupils that included Francesco Gemini and Antonio Vivaldi who later went on to influence the famous Johann Sebastian Bach (“Archangel’ par 9). “His contributions can be divided three ways, a violinist, composer, and teacher. It was his skill on the new instrument known as the violin and his extensive and very popular concert tours throughout Europe which did most to give that instrument its prominent place in music” (“Archangel’ par 2). “As a violinist, he was one of Rupee’s most sought-after teachers, exerting an influence on instrumental quinine which spread well into the 18th century’ (Kemp par 3).