String Quartet Cello,String Quartet,Viola,Violin - Level 3 - Digital Download
SKU: A0.1463113
Composed by Giuseppe Torelli. Arranged by Ray Thompson. Baroque,Christmas. 10 pages. RayThompsonMusic #1041866. Published by RayThompsonMusic (A0.1463113).
Alternative Title: Concerto à Quattro, in forma di Pastorale per il Santo Natale
Often known as his Christmas Concerto
Arranged standard string quartet.
Giuseppe Torelli (1658–1709) wrote numerous and often imposing symphonies for use in the San Petronio Cathedral in Bologne well before the turn of the century.
Furthermore, he was the first composer to write a concerto for solo violin and string orchestra (published at Augsburg, 1698), and his Concerti Grossi Op 8, which appeared in print shortly after his death, are the very first concertos for two solo violins.
It is the sixth of these that contains the Christmas music.
A solemn ‘Grave’ sets the scene for the Pastorale, marked ‘Vivace’ and cast in 12/8 metre, the two solo violins carrying much of the melodic interest.
A meditative Largo leads to another ‘Vivace’ which is a Gavotte en Musette in all but name, its held bass notes strongly suggesting the drone of the shepherds’ pipes.
This is my arrangement of the 1st movement.
