Looking for something with a subtle festive link to add to your repertoire for a December concert?

This arrangement of the Vivace from Corelli's Christmas Concerto is primarily for wind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon). For added flexibility, a couple of alternative parts are also available - Part 4: Clarinet (substituting for Horn) and Part 5: Bass Clarinet (substituting for Bassoon) The Oboe part could also be played effectively by a second flautist.

Vivace from Christmas Concerto (Corelli)

Archangelo Corelli (1656 – 1713) was a violinist and composer of the Baroque period. His music is regarded as having a profound influence on how both musical structure and the nature of the orchestra developed in Europe.

Certain attributes were expected of a Christmas Concerto in the Baroque era: a concerto grosso format, necessitating an orchestra and several soloists, and an obligatory Pastorale movement to symbolise the shepherds of Bethlehem. Most Baroque composers wrote a Christmas concerto and Corelli was no exception. The exact date of composition is unknown, although Corelli’s work is known to have been commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. There are accounts of a performance taking place in 1690.

This is the Vivace from Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, which is also known as Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6 No. 8. The Adagio movement from the same work features in the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.