An uplifting trio arrangement for violin, classical guitar & cello of the Giga from Corelli’s Opus 5 Violin Sonata No.9. In 12/8 time the piece does need to be played with energy and a suggested tempo of 104 dotted quarter notes (crotchet) beats to the minute is suggested and has been used in the realisation. Repeats are indicated in the score but have not been used in the realisation. Accompaniments are in place featuring the classical guitar & cello giving opportunity to violin players to practice in an ensemble context. They playback at 96, 100, 104, 108 & 112 bpm. (dotted quarter note (crotchet) beats to the minute). They are in place to give opportunities to the flautist to practice in an ensemble context. Score detail has been omitted in the sheet music score although this is a usual feature of baroque music scores. Playing the A major scale and arpeggios would be good preparation for playing this work. The baroque purists might object but there is great potential in performing this music in contemporary contexts. The arrangement very much keeps to the composer’s intention in terms of the melodic and bass writing. There are some beautiful shapes to play and there is a considerable amount of sequential writing. Ornaments have been written out in the melody line simply to add clarity to the score. The guitar accompaniment features largely 4 note chords in first position. The chord diagrams above the stave summarise how the chords are voiced and should be played. The music editor has avoided doubling thirds in chords encouraging what is considered to be good practice in chord voicing. The fact that the fifth is omitted in some chords suggests that textural considerations were always considered in the composing process. The chords generally change every beat of the bar - this describes what is referred to as the harmonic rhythm and is a fairly consistent feature in the movement. An imaginative guitar player playing what is referred to as the continuo part could no doubt introduce some figuration into their part and no doubt explore the guitar fretboard more imaginatively than suggested in this arrangement. Composers in Corelli's time provided a melody and bass line with what was termed a figured bass notated below the bass clef. The figured bass was a series of small numbers and accidendal signs which indicated to the keyboard player usually a harpsichordist in sonata da camera (chamber sonata) the chords that were needed to accompany the written out melody and bass. This part was referred to as the continuo. Nothing under a bass note indicates a root, position chord, a 6 suggests a first inversion, a 6/4 a second inversion # confirms that the third in the chord is a sharp and numbers were used to indicate dissonances. Figured bass was a widely used convention in baroque times and did lead to different interpretations of music usually related to skill levels, teaching and understanding of figured bass conventions. What the music editor particularly likes about this movement is its contemporary appeal and its suitability to be played by many different combinations of instruments. As a performance piece it has clear intention, communication and direction Corelli 1653 – 1713 was a Rome based composer and violinist identified with the middle baroque period in music history. Corelli did not publish a great amount of music but he was meticulous in his compositional approach. The twelve violin sonatas in the Opus 5 collection were published in 1700.
