Why Beauty Matters VI. A Stunning C20 neo-Baroque Masterwork

Here, distinguished conductor Charles Hazlewood focuses on one of the great English works for string orchestra of the last century: Sir Michael Tippett's Fantasia Concertante on a theme of Corelli. Composed in 1953 to celebrate the tercentenary of Corelli's birth, this richly textured work explores in Corelli's words 'the brilliance of the violin'. Tippett himself described Corelli's adagio as 'dark and passionate'. First aired on BBC Radio 3 in 2014.

Charles and his own orchestra, Excellent Device, journey from 'the dark to the light' as they reveal the extent to which Tippett views the string music of the baroque through distinctly twentieth century eyes.

Alas, the BBC recording currently available does not include Charles' own orchestra's recording, so I substituted and earlier upload of mine of this stunningly beautiful work:

Conductor: Richard Hickox
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (England)
A Chandos Recording (P) 1994

The Work

Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, also known as the Corelli Fantasia, is a work for string orchestra by the British composer Sir Michael Tippett. It was commissioned by the 1953 Edinburgh Festival to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli, and given its first performance on 29 August 1953, in the Usher Hall, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tippett.

Integrating 17th century influences, especially those outside of the orchestral tradition, can be traced back to the composer's days at the Royal College of Music, and to the period immediately after when he took a position conducting amateur choirs in Oxted. Meanwhile his interest in 18th century counterpoint, specifically the fugal process, which would figure prominently and climactically in the latter part of the Fantasia, was the result of his supplementary studies with R. O. Morris, also date from that period. The Fantasia represents, stylistically and conceptually, Tippett’s most ambitious attempt to create a synthetic composition that anticipates the creative developments that eventually led to the formation of his notional archetype.

Images

I took these images in Tuscany and Rome.

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