Corelli: Trio Sonata in D, 4th movement (p.200)
Structure
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Fourth and final movement of a sonata da chiesa (church sonata) which generally
followed the pattern: slow – fast – slow – fast
The movement is in Binary form (A – Ai): two parts, each repeated and based
on the same melodic material
Each part, and each subsection (e.g. b.11) starts from a point of imitation, the
same basic procedure as found in the Renaissance pieces, but here the tunes are
more clear cut and textures are much lighter
Virtually all of the thematic ideas in the piece are based on the music heard in
the first two bars, especially the interval of a third and the two rhythmic cells in
b.1
Tonality
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Unlike the Renaissance pieces, the Corelli, which was composed in the midBaroque period, around 1700, is unambiguously in D major
The music modulates quite decisively, to the dominant (A major) in the first
half, and through several keys in the second half, before returning, no less
clearly to D major at the end of the movement
The figured bass points to the way this music was conceived – the music is no
longer primarily as independent lines weaving around each other with no
particular harmonic objective; Corelli’s music is controlled by the harmonic
direction outlined by the bass line
The figures indicate the chords to be played by the right hand of the keyboard
The range of chords is limited to diatonic triads and sevenths, usually in root
position or first inversion
Dissonances are created by suspensions – as in the Renaissance music – which
are resolved onto a consonance. They are usually found tied across a barline, so
that the dissonance falls on the strong first beat of the bar and gives impetus to
the music
Each section and subsection of the music ends with a perfect cadence (Phrygian
cadences would have sounded very old fashioned by 1700)
Modulations are confirmed by perfect cadences – the music has not properly
arrived in a new key until the cadence
Find the perfect cadences in the following keys:
 A major
 B minor
 E minor
 D major (not the last two bars)
Comment on the harmonic progression in bars 32-5