While program music is more strongly associated with the Romantic Era in music than any other era, It was by no means new with that era. This 1754 composition by one of the most popular composers of pieces in concerto grosso form is a set telling a popular tale of the First Crusade, based on Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata. This tale of chivalry, bravery, and romance has been made into countless operas and ballets over the years. Although it was published in 1754 as a purely instrumental work, it had been staged the year before in Paris, as a ballet-pantomime.

Godfrey of Bouillon, leading an army beseiging Jerusalem, seeks wood to build seige engines and can't obtain it because the sorcerer Armida has cast a spell on the nearest forest. Several attempts fail until the power of prayer overcomes the sorcery. In this piece Geminiani has consciously altered the style of his music from the popular Baroque idiom that had made him famous in the 1730s, adopting the new galant style. This is thinner, less contrapuntal, with simpler tunes. The music is straightforward, not linked to any specific action.

© Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide