Marcello Alessandro, "Adagio"
From Oboe Concerto in D minor
The Concerto in D minor, S D935, was published by Jeanne Roger in Amsterdam in 1717, as a Concerto a Cinque (concerto in five parts) for oboe (soloist), strings (two violin and one viola parts) and continuo composed by Alessandro Marcello. No publication date appears in the print: although the year of publication is, depending on author, sometimes given as "ca. 1714-1717" or "c.1716" it can be inferred from the consecutive testaments of the publisher's father (Estienne Roger) and from the sequence of publication numbers. The publication presents the melody lines unadorned, that is: it is left to the performing musician to embellish melodies with ornaments such as trills, mordents and grace notes. Alessandro Marcello published most of his works under a pseudonym (Eterio Stinfalico): the oboe concerto publication was an exception in that sense as it used his real name.
In his Weimar period (1708–17) Johann Sebastian Bach arranged several concertos by Venetian composers, most of them by Vivaldi, for solo keyboard. In July 1713 Prince Johann Ernst returned to Weimar from the Netherlands with several compositions by Italian masters. Vivaldi's Op. 3, L'estro Armonico had been published in Amsterdam in 1711, and there is little doubt that the Prince brought this edition, containing twelve concertos, to Weimar in 1713, as Bach apparently used this print for five of his solo keyboard arrangements. The Prince, who also composed Italianate concertos, presumably encouraged Bach to produce solo keyboard arrangements of such works. As the Prince left Weimar in July 1714 it is estimated that most of Bach's solo keyboard arrangements of Italian and Italianate concertos originated in the period from July 1713 to July 1714. That is, at least those arrangements that could be performed on a harpsichord without pedalboard, while the Weimar court organ (which would be needed for arrangements including pedals such as BWV 592–597) would have been unavailable for undergoing repairs in this period.
Renato Bellucci plays: "Alessandro Marcello: Adagio"" S.D.G."
Staff and Video 1
San Bernardino, March 28, 2017, S.D.G.
UPDATE: Asunción, August 15, 2018, New Edited mp3, S.D.G.
The continuation of this masterclass is in the members area, become a member today.