The oratorio Santa Beatrice d'Este was performed for the first time in Rome at the beginning of 1689 for the Cardinal Pamphili. A few months later it was performed a second time in Modena, where the Este family was based. 51 It is from the modenese libretto that we are informed that this oratorio was composed by Giovanni Lulier, and that it had l'Introduzione e Sinfonia del Sig. Arcangelo Corelli.
At the end of the manuscript score now preserved in Paris there are five instrumental movements: the first two constitute the Introduzione to the Oratorio; the three others the Sinfonia that opens the second part of it. 52 The work is scored for strings and continuo and is written in a concerto grosso form, alternating movements with contrasting tempo indications. Stylistically, Adriano Cavicchi has noticed that this composition is close to the Opus 6 and, particularly, that the dialoguing technique between Concertino and Concerto Grosso is used in a very developed way, notably in the last movement of the Sinfonia. 53 Franco Piperno, on the other hand, has pointed to the striking resemblance between the “Largo assai” of the Santa Beatrice’s Sinfonia and the third movement of the Concerto Opus 6 n. 6. 54 Overall, as it has been affirmed by Adriano Cavicchi, this composition is an example of an early Concerto Grosso composed 25 years before the publication of Opus 6. 55
Apart from including the only genuine Corelli’s Sinfonia , the score of the Santa Beatrice has more points of interest. Its title page states: “Oratorio di Santa Beatrice d’Este con violini e trombe” and indeed the trumpets are included in its score not only in arias but also in some instrumental pieces. In particular, framed between the vocal movements, there are two smaller Sinfonie scored for strings AND trumpets. It seems almost certain that these other pieces are not by Corelli but by Giovanni Lulier. 56 Nevertheless, they are a very interesting examples of a contemporary use of the trumpets and we can definitely learn from them what kind of parts the trumpets were playing when blending in a concerto grosso orchestral setting.
In the perspective of my research, the Introduzione e Sinfonia of the Santa Beatrice d'Este are important as they prove that Sinfonie were, or could be, multi-movement compositions written in concerto grosso style. In view of the stylistic similarities between the Sinfonia of the S. Beatrice d’Este and the concertos of Opus 6, taking the latter as a starting point to recreate the soundscape of the Roman Sinfonie seems an appropriate point of departure. Indeed, the example of the Beatrice d’Este suggests that a series of movements with contrasting tempos, similar to the ones that constitute the concertos from Opus 6, were probably heard in Rome in the festive events as Sinfonie . 57 The next step will be to seek a way to integrate the trumpets into some of their movements.