Concerto for oboe, strings and basso continuo in D minor, by Alessandro Marcello

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ALESSANDRO MARCELLO (1684-1750)

Concerto for oboe, strings and basso continuo in D minor

2. Adagio

3. Presto

Performed by Concerto Italiano
Directed by Rinaldo Alessandrini

*Alessandro Marcello was an Italian nobleman and dilettante who dabbled in various areas, including poetry, philosophy, mathematics and, perhaps most notably, music.

A slightly older contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi, Marcello held concerts at his hometown of Venice. He composed and published several sets of concertos, including six concertos under the title of La Cetra (The Lyre), as well as cantatas, arias, canzonets, and violin sonatas. Marcello often composed under the pseudonym Eterio Stinfalico, his name as a member of the celebrated Arcadian Academy (Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi).

Although his works are infrequently performed today, Marcello is regarded as a very competent composer. His La Cetra concertos are "unusual for their wind solo parts, concision and use of counterpoint within a broadly Vivaldian style," according to Grove, "placing them as a last outpost of the classic Venetian Baroque concerto."

Alessandro's brother was Benedetto Marcello, also a composer.

**This concerto is part of Marcello's "concerti a cinque" published in 1716. It is one of the most performed oboe concertos in the oboe repertory. In the past, and continuing to the present, it has been mistakenly attributed to both Benedetto Marcello and Antonio Vivaldi. J.S. Bach made the piece famous by writing a transcription of the piece in C minor for Harpsichord (BWV974).