Called “the virtuoso of violin virtuosos and the true Orpheus of our time,” Corelli spent most of his life at the Rome residence of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a nephew of Pope Alexander VIII. Corelli's Monday concerts were the center of Roman musical life. While playing, said a colleague, “it was usual for his countenance to be distorted, his eyes to become as red as fire and his eyeballs to roll in agony.”

In 1714 Corelli's final collection of concerti grossi was published posthumously as Opus 6. He had been working on them for years, possibly as early as 1682. The eighth concerto is the most famous. Subtitled “Fatto per la Notte di Natale” (Written for Christmas night). The final movement, titled “Pastorale,” is meant to depict shepherds gathering at the manger on Christmas Eve.

Program Notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2021.