Giuseppe Torelli and the birth of the Violin Concerto

Pietro Battistoni

Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709), a violinist and composer famous all over Europe during his lifetime, has not received much attention in today's concert programs and academic environments. This research has a twofold intention: reconstruct the life of Torelli and investigate the origins of a genre of which he is considered to be the father, the soloistic concerto. As a case of study, an in-depth analysis is been drawn of one violin concerto, which has a debated authorship nowadays, poised between Torelli and Vivaldi. The results are presented in three chapters: the first one contains the biography; in the second one it is outlined how Torelli redefined the form of the pre-existing Concerto Grosso, thanks to the activity of his predecessors and to the peculiar context in which he was active. This process resulted in the arise of the concerto for solo instrument, which already presented all the characteristics that made this musical form so popular and successful amongst his contemporaries and the following generations. The third chapter consists of an analysis of the Concerto for violin in D minor A.2.3.9/RV813. Through the examination of the primary sources, its transcription for solo keyboard made by Johann Sebastian Bach and the stylistic patterns used, I intend to demonstrate that the attribution to Torelli is more plausible. The inquiry about this repertoire through a musicological and historical contextualization can bring to a more grounded awareness in how to approach this music as a performer and, hopefully, it will lead to a rediscovery of musical treasures.

I would like to thank all the people that helped me with this research.

Firstly, thank you to my patience, knowledgeable and supporting supervisor Inês de Avena Braga, your help has been essential both in the research process and also in the editing one.

Many thanks to my Maestro, Enrico Gatti, for these years. He has been constantly a truly fresh source of inspiration, a fantastic teacher and a mentor who indicated me the path for the quest for beauty.

I am extremely grateful for the help received from prof. Marc Vanscheeuwijck in having access to his publications and to prof. Paul Everett for his precious consulting.

I would like to say thank you to the competent and dedicated librarians who helped me in the process of gathering informations and the material pertinent for my investigations. Thanks to Jenny Bonnevier, from the Lund University Library, and to Dr. Andrea Harrandt, from the Musiksammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek of Vienna, for the kind and efficient assistance.

Thanks a lot to all my friends who stood next to me and my work giving me energy and strenght during these years, a special grazie to Elia Celegato for the editing work and the lessons on the research catalogue.

Thanks, finally, to my family: Marco, Mariangela and Andrea. Thanks for the constant support, for believing in me and my dreams, for the passions instilled and shared. To them I dedicate this research.

Acknowledgments

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