Arcangelo Corelli

Corelli was born at Fusiguano, Imola (Italy), February 12, or 13, 1613; died at Rome, January 10, 1713. He studied counterpoint under Matteo Simonelli, and the violin under Bassani. He appears to have traveled considerably in his youth, and stayed for some time with the Elector of Hanover at Munich. Before 1685, however, he returned to Rome and produced his first work, twelve sonatas. He became a great favorite and secured the patronage of Cardinal Ottoboni. He lived in the palace of the cardinal practically all the remainder of his life, and became a great favorite. As a composer he considerably added to the technic of the orchestra and to the possibilities of the are. As a violinist he was virtually teh founder of the school which has solidity of technic with purity of tone for its ideals. In this way he became famous as a teacher throughout Europe, and had many pupils from Paris, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, as well as Italy. About 1708 he visited Naples, where he performed before the King of Naples under the leadership of Alessandro Scarlatti. Unfortunately he made mistakes and failed to please. Much mortified he returned to Rome, only to find that a new violinist was creating a sensation. He took these mishaps so much to heart that his health began to fail, and he finally became ill and died. He was buried in the Pantheon, not far from Raphael.