Books › The Violin and its Music, 1881 › scan 203
Scan 203
The Violin and its Music, 1881
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 179. See the scan on archive.org.
1its very primitiveness is its charm; that in short, it is nature in notes, forming the foundation upon which the imposing superstructure of modern instrumental music has been raised. When Roger North said, "if music can be immortal, Corelli's will be so," the oldest note Corelli had penned could scarcely have reached its thirtieth year, but the immortal life foreshadowed by King James's Attorney-General when the gigs and sarabands of Corelli wore all the freshness of novelty, runs peacefully on, unaffected by the deafening trumpetings proclaiming theories of higher development in the art of music.
3Happy in the possession of exceptional executive skill, together with creative abilities, Corelli possessed an advantage over his contemporaries and predecessors of great importance. As a player, he clearly recognised the possibility of using stringed instruments in concert with better results than had hitherto been attained, and successfully accomplished his task of reforming the music of the Violin, and placing the instrument at the head of its race.
5According to Adami,* Corelli received his early instructions in composition from Matteo Simonelli, the pupil of Allegri. Laurenti of Bologna is also said to have instructed him—a statement resting on a tradition current at Rome many years after Corelli's death. Bassani has likewise been mentioned as a master of the famous Violinist. Whether Corelli was
7* "Osservazioni per ben regolare il coro dei Cantori della Capella pontificia, &c., Rome, 1711."
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