← The Violinist’s Guide to Classical MusicArcangelo Corelli · Lesson 3 of 20 · Step 1 of 9
Lesson 3

Arcangelo Corelli

1653–1713 · Rome, with roots in Bologna · Baroque / Italian violin tradition

Portrait print of Arcangelo Corelli, shown from the chest up and facing slightly to the viewer’s left.
Arcangelo Corelli1704 · Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, object RP-P-2020-3229John Smith, after Hugh Howard, Portrait of Arcangelo Corelli, 1704. A print made during Corelli’s lifetime.Image credit: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (opens in a new tab) · Public Domain

Lesson 2 ended with a violin world full of experiment. By the time Arcangelo Corelli built his career in Rome, composers already had decades of sonatas, multiple-string writing, unusual tunings, and new ways of setting a violin against continuo. Corelli’s importance came from doing something different: he brought unusual clarity and balance to that growing language.

Corelli was a violinist, composer, and ensemble leader. He published only six numbered collections, yet his music traveled far beyond Rome. His Op. 5 violin sonatas of 1700 were reprinted again and again, and his concerti grossi became models that other musicians studied, performed, and adapted.

This lesson follows how a style becomes a tradition. We will open Corelli’s printed music, hear the difference between a violin sonata and a , meet Torelli and Geminiani, and spend time with La Folia, one of the Baroque violin repertory’s most famous works, where a familiar musical framework is reshaped again and again.

At a glance
School / tradition
Italian Baroque violin tradition
Primary city or region
Rome, with roots in Bologna
Active period
Late 1600s–early 1700s
Known for
Violin sonatas, concerti grossi, and a clear, balanced style that became a model across Europe.