CDH55251 - Disc 1 Track 11 - Concerto No 3 in A major

Concerto No 3 in A major

composer

Thomas Arne (1710-1778)

Recordings

Arne: Six Favourite Concertos

Paul Nicholson (conductor), The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra

Buy by post £6.99 CDH55251 Helios (Hyperion's budget label)

Details

Movement 1: Con spirito

Paul Nicholson (piano), The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra, Paul Nicholson (conductor)

Track 10 on CDH55251 [6'13] Helios (Hyperion's budget label)

Movement 2: Con spirito

Paul Nicholson (piano), The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra, Paul Nicholson (conductor)

Track 11 on CDH55251 [2'04] Helios (Hyperion's budget label)

Movement 3: Minuetto

Paul Nicholson (piano), The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra, Paul Nicholson (conductor)

Track 12 on CDH55251 [3'14] Helios (Hyperion's budget label)

Movement 4: Moderato

Paul Nicholson (piano), The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra, Paul Nicholson (conductor)

Track 13 on CDH55251 [5'02] Helios (Hyperion's budget label)

Concerto No 3 in A major

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No 3 seems to have undergone a revision. The orchestral passages are largely Baroque in style. Robin Langley points out that the main theme of the last movement is related to an aria in Handel’s Alexander Balus, which means that it may date from soon after 1754, when the oratorio was revived. But the keyboard-writing is often much more modern, with Alberti basses and thick left-hand chords that suggest the use of the piano rather than the harpsichord or organ. Pianos became common in London in the 1770s, and it may be that Arne revised the concerto for the new instrument in his last years. Arne certainly envisaged performances on the piano, for his preface to the lost autograph score, quoted in the 1793 edition, was addressed ‘To all Ladies and Gentlemen, performers on the Organ, Harpsichord, or Piano e Forte’.