Arcangelo Corelli style was the incorporation of the baroque violin play. He lived from 1653 until 1713. Since 1675 it is assumed he lived in Rome, although he seems to have stayed in Germany for some time. Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz - a German "Kurfürst" - made him a peer with the title "Marchese von Ladenburg".

His life is wrapped in darkness. The cardinals Benedetto Panfili and Pietro Ottoboni were his sponsors. Even more important was his relationship to the Queen of Sweden, Christine, who ran an academy in Rome whose members assembled in the palazzo Riario, after she converted to catholicism - in 1659. Corelli's opus 1 - the 12 trio sonatas - were dedicated to that queen. Later he became member of the arcadic academy where he worked at the side of Alessandro Scarlatti and Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710). In his later years he fell into melancholia, because - it is said - he couldn't bear the success of his rival Giovanni Valentini.

He exclusively composed music for string instruments and nursed the sonata and the concerto grosso. He began in a traditional way with a trio sonata, followed by 12 chamber sonatas and the famous 12 solo sonatas opus 5, from which were six dedicated to the church and five for the chamber. The final piece number 12 consists of the "Follia", variations on the "Folie d'Espagne" that was very popular at that time - the same that Bach used in his "peasant-cantata" and even Liszt in his "Rhapsodie Espagnole". The crown of his works are the "12 Concerti grossi" opus 6 (1712) of which eight are church and four chamber concerts. In the classical time, this form consisted of two violins and a bass ("Concertino") with a bigger group of strings ("Grosso") - therefore the term "Concerto grosso" is actually a pars pro toto.

The Austrian composer Georg Muffat (1653-1704), who himself composed Concerti grossi, was a disciple of Corelli and reports of his studies in Rome that he "listened to quite a lot of nice music, with a great number of instruments, accurately produced concerts of the ingenious Sir Arcangelo Corelli with great delight and wonder". According to the testimony of Muffat, Corelli is the real inventor of this style. Such an orchestra often consisted of 150 musicians.

Corellis art mirrors his own aristocratic, pathetic and melancholic character but also the great dignity of the Roman aristocracy who realized in these harmonies and perfect melodies a mirror of their own society.

I like to sincerely thank Roland R. Nötzelmann for supplying the biography, thank you.