Renaissance and Baroque Ornamentation Set #1
Corelli’s Graces: Corelli slow movements for any melody instrument—with ornaments by YOU and basslines by David Morris (viol) and Yuko Tanaka (harpsichord)
A=415
75–90 minutes
When the English music publisher John Walsh released his version of Arcangelo Corelli’s Op. 5 violin sonatas in 1725, he included a parallel line of music for several of the slow movements featuring what he called “Corelli’s Graces"—a somewhat controversial, but nonetheless contemporary rendering of someone’s ideas about the practice of ornamentation in the early 18th century.
For this class, we’ll use a modified “master class” format to study the structure of these “somewhat controversial” ornaments, then create and share our own ornaments based on these 18th-c. examples.
Participants will receive both the plain melodies and ornamentation examples ahead of time. You’ll have time to familiarize yourselves and prepare your own ornaments—then, on class day, we’ll call on some volunteers to demonstrate and describe their ornaments. Once we’ve walked through the entire piece, we’ll have plenty of time for everyone at home to play along with a figured bassline provided by the instructors.