In five compact movements, Corelli's third concerto grosso follows the church-sonata pattern, an arrangement of abstract pieces alternating slow music with fast. The initial Largo is quite imposing in its measured pace and includes two striking pizzicato notes just before the end. Things pick up in the ensuing Allegro, where, after material for the full ensemble, the solo group of instruments leads the way into a fugal passage. The key shifts to F minor for the Grave movement, remarkably desolate music that at times, if stripped of the keyboard continuo, might almost pass for Shostakovich. Complete contrast arrives with a jolt as the Vivace movement plays the concertino and ripieno groups off against each other. Relief from this frantic material comes with the concluding Allegro, a spry giga—rather out of place here, for this is the sort of dance movement likely to end a concerto in chamber-sonata style.

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