Was hat Corelli in der None gefunden?

Abstract

What did Corelli Find in the Ninth? For Johann Mattheson, Corelli, whose works he „wants to have praised as a splendid model, irrespective of their age” (Vollkommener Capellmeister, Hamburg 1739, 91) was still a paragon in 1739. When Mattheson discussed the ninth in the chapter on dissonances, he again came to speak about Corelli, writing that Corelli had sought and found something in the ninth that neither before nor after him „anybody had done; whoever he might be“ (326). Unfortunately, Mattheson did not explain exactly what was so unique and at the same time exemplary in Corelli’s handling of the ninth. The present text attempts to explore this question both in view of Corelli’s works and in consideration of the contemporary practice and teaching of composition. Although it is focused only on a detail – the ninth – this perspective can nevertheless yield insights regarding Corelli’s personal style: it can show, on the one hand, in what way certain emphatic moments of his music are based on a specific use of the ninth and, on the other hand, how it serves as a characteristic component and syntactical element of his idiom.