Concerto in A

Description

Charles Avison was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England in 1709. He spent his entire life there, in spite of many offers of more prestigious positions, as a church organist and musical leader in the community. He died in Newcastle in 1770.

As a young man, Avison studied in London with Francesco Geminiani. He wrote in the Italian style popularized by Geminiani. He modeled many of his concerti grossi after works by older composers, as Geminiani also often did.

His many works for strings are usually three movement concerti, often with solo parts. Although his style is definitely Italian rather than German, his music seems also idiomatically English, much like that of Thomas Arne and William Boyce.

Performance of this concerto requires careful attention to bowing style. Unslurred eighth-notes should be played short and somewhat off the string, while sixteenth-notes should be played on the string, detache. Full-beat notes should be played with attention to their dance-like character in the outer movements, and full value in the slow movement.

The original score shows little ornamentation, and I have written out most of these to clarify performance. Bowings have been carefully added to enhance the style.
However, few bowings show in the original score, and these suggestions are not cast “in stone.”

The first movement is a typical Italian allegro with uniform phrases and spritely character. The middle movement is more somber and should be played with breadth of style and very clear rhythms. The last movement is almost a jig. It uses an interesting rondo form and should be played fast-as fast as it can be done cleanly–hopefully with one beat to a bar.

Published by: String Instrument Specialists