Corradini的同鄉，也是義大利巴洛克早期最重要的作曲家之一Claudio Monteverdi(蒙台威爾第)強力勸說，希望Corradini能夠加入他到威尼斯發展。只是，Corradini似乎放不下Cremona的生活。至始至終，Corradini都沒有真正離開過Cremona。
Corradini留下的音樂並不多，有一本經文曲集還有兩冊的器樂曲，以及一些零散的曲子出現在合集當中。他的經文歌曲是給一到四聲部的，並採用當時漸漸盛行的concertato(複式協奏曲/競奏)曲風。而他的器樂曲，多是比較舊款的音樂，如ricercare和canzona，但同時也夾雜著早期奏鳴曲這種新潮的形式。
會找到那麼冷門的作曲家，其實是因為當初英國巴洛克小提琴家Andrew Manze一張叫Fantastic Style(即Stylus Fantasticus曲風)專輯上，有收錄 Corradini一首來自於這一套作品的奏鳴曲。出於好奇之心，也為增長點知識，看到Tactus這張完整版的錄音，就買了下來。想要見識巴洛克時期義大利出產了多少作曲家和音樂的朋友們，只需翻翻Tactus唱片公司的目錄即可。一堆作曲家是之前連聽都沒聽過的咧~~ 不過，買了這張CD才發現，這上面的曲子合奏性質居多，而之前聽到Manze拉的那首奏鳴曲La Sfrondata，反而是個特例，是上面唯一的二聲部的作品，給一高音和一低音部樂器。
這張專輯錄的是於1624出版的一套器樂曲，裡頭共有十首canzona和四首sonata，canzona為四聲部，而奏鳴曲則是給二到四聲部。正處於音樂在新舊交替當中，這些都主要為旋律不特別明顯但對位性質強烈的複音音樂，單一樂章但多段落，利用音樂節拍的不同達到對比效果。Canzona這種早期的義大利音樂形式，今天雖然是音樂老化石，但身為sonata的前身，亦是音樂史上重要的一章。事實上，canzona和sonata這些詞，演變到後來都可已經自由互換。一開始的界定是，sonata的氣氛應該較莊嚴和凝重，而canzona應當較為活潑。Corradini似乎大略有參考這個模式，因為他的canzona開頭輕快，而sonata則相對沉重。
而且，Corradini這些曲子都有標題，為當時社會上家世顯赫的家族，似乎是向他們致敬。有些名字，在義大利還有別的意思。像是Sincopata (= Syncopation)，音樂上是切分音，還有Bizzarra有「憤怒」的意思。根據這些曲子的特性，不禁讓人猜測，Corradini是不是當時心裡就已打定著標題有雙關意義的主意？
講到Corradini的canzona，很難不聯想到幾乎同時期的Frescobaldi的canzona。和Frescobaldi的比起來，聲部之間的互動關係太過於隨性而感覺音樂鬆散了點。但Corradini音樂中給人的新鮮感，也來自節奏和速度模式等這種意想不到的改變，而且其效果有時不見得亞於Frescobaldi。而當時的音樂曲風的關係，曲子的終止式總是有一種懸浮感。這種不規則和不和諧感，像是高速公路上看似即將解體的車，但卻又安然地開到目的地。這種音樂，不能說是天天適合吃的菜，但偶爾放放，卻也有趣味性。
因為CD上仍有剩餘時間，所以又錄有Merula的三首canzona，其標題和Corradini一模一樣，相必是獻給同樣的家族。這幾首我非常喜歡，而且 Merula的曲子，如同Frescobaldi，在發展還有執行上，感覺比Corradini要嚴謹完整些。
這張1997年的CD，是由義大利室內樂團Aulos Consort所演奏。它們今天似乎己解散了，因為荷蘭同名的樂團，是2005才成立的。這個Aulos Consort的成員有吹直笛的，也有拉提琴的，因此Corradini的器樂曲，是木管和提琴家族輪番上陣。Tactus這張的錄音，聲音有點單薄，不過Aulos Consort的風格簡捷有力，不囉嗦，有效推動音樂前進。之前說那一首奏鳴曲La Sfrondata，一比較之下，Manze感覺懶散，有些地方像是在賴皮的小孩。而Aulos Consort的版本，則更抓住那種Stylus Fantasticus狂野不羈的感覺。聽來聽去，這首仍是Corradini這套裡最不尋常，同時也是印象最深的一首。
I first came across the name Nicolò Corradini when I was listening to a recording by Andrew Manze and his group Romanesca in an album titled Fantastic Style, which included a selection of early Baroque music written in the rhapsodic Stylus Fantasticus form. The last track featured this sonata by Corradini, which was moderately interesting, if not outstanding.
When I found this Tactus complete recording of Corradini's opus where the sonata came from, I went ahead and purchased the CD. Nicolò Corradini was an early Italian composer around the same time as Frescobaldi, but he spent his entire life in Cremona. His more elderly fellow townsman, Monteverdi, urged Corradini to join him in Venice, but Corradini never took up the offer. During his life, he was quite successful as a musician, being the organist of the Cathedral and later the maestro di cappella of the Laudi music chapel, housed under the Cathedral.
Not many of his works survive today. It's probably true that he didn't compose much to begin with. Among the few are a book of motets and two books of instrumental works. This recording features a book published in 1624 that contains 10 canzonas and 4 sonatas. While his motets were composed in a style considered fashionable for his time, the canzonas on the other hand, like Frescobaldi, were considered out-of-date. These ensemble canzonas offer a bit less in the usual melody department but are highly contrapuntal, originating from the French polyphonal chansons. They eventually led way for the development of the chamber sonata. Somewhere in between, the two terms "canzona" and "sonata" became somewhat interchangeable. However, the term "sonata" was generally reserved for a more somber and serious piece. By contrast, the canzona was lighter and more cheerful in mood.
These single-movement pieces are divided into many sections of contrasting characters. Compared to the canzonas written by Frescobaldi and Merula, Corradini's don't seem to be that well thought-out, lacking a degree of coherence and polish. Corradini does throw in his pack of surprises, through some clever and unexpected changing of time signatures and music patterns. The irregularity present in some of the pieces imparts a certain freshness to Corradini's music. This early Italian Baroque music isn't my favorite genre either, but it wouldn't hurt to go there once in a while :)
The musicians on this disc seems to be a defunct Italian ensemble called the Aulos Consort, different from the Dutch ensemble of the same name that was founded in 2005 (as this recording was made in 1997). Members of Aulos include musicians playing the recorder and bowed instruments. Therefore, Aulos elects to play some of the pieces using the recorder family and others on the violins and bass. The playing of Aulos is brisk and straightforward, employing a no-nonsense approach which constantly moves the music forward. Comparing the same La Sfrondata sonata, Manze really takes his time, a little too much perhaps, that makes it sound like a little rascal. Aulos's interpretation is more direct and relentless, and by doing so, captures the stylus fantasticus rapture a bit better for me.
For filler space, they also include 3 canzonas by Merula, which have identical names to Corradini's. They were most likely dedicated to the same important Cremona families of their time. As commented earlier, Merula seems to me to be the composer of a higher caliber.
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