Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice. His father was a professional violinist and taught his son how to play the violin at an early age. They later performed musically together in the city of Venice. Vivaldi had a medical problem that prevented him from playing any wind instruments. It is speculated that asthma was the problem. At age 15 he began to study for the priesthood and was ordained in 1703 at the age of 25. Vivaldi wrote much of his music during his time as a violin instructor and later music director of the Ospedale orchestra and choir.
Antonio Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos, Los Romeros In 1705, the first collection (Raccolta) of the works of Antonio Vivaldi was published: his Opus 1 is a collection of 12 sonatas for two violins and basso continuo, still in a conventional style. In 1709, a second collection of 12 sonatas for violin & basso continuo appeared (Opus 2). The real breakthrough came with his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings, L'estro armonico (Opus 3), which was published in Amsterdam in 1711 by Estienne Roger. This was a resounding success all over Europe, and was followed in 1714 by La stravaganza (Opus 4), a collection of concerti for solo violin and strings In the Venice of the early 18th century, opera was the most popular musical entertainment and the most profitable for the composer. Vivaldi started his career as opera writer in undertone: his first opera, Ottone in villa (RV 729) was performed not in Venice, but at the Garzerie theater in Vicenza in 1713. The following year, Vivaldi made the jump to Venice and became the impresario of the theater Sant'Angelo in Venice, where his opera Orlando finto pazzo (RV 727) was performed. His modern operatic style caused him some trouble with other more conservative musicians, like Benedetto Marcello, a magistrate and amateur musician who wrote a pamphlet denouncing him and the modern style of opera. The pamphlet is called Il teatro alla moda, and its cover has a caricature of Vivaldi playing the violin. The Marcello family was the rightful owner of the Sant'Angelo theater, and a long legal battle had been fought with the management for its restitution, without success. The booklet attacks Vivaldi without mentioning him directly. The cover drawing shows a boat (the Sant'Angelo), on the left end of which stands a little angel wearing a priest's hat and playing the violin. It is a caricature of Vivaldi. The obscure writing under the picture mentions nonexistent places and names. In particular, ALDIVIVA is an anagram of A. Vivaldi. Many of Vivaldi's compositions reflect a flamboyant, almost playful, exuberance. Most of Vivaldi's repertoire was rediscovered only in the first half of the 20th century in Turin and Genoa and was published in the second half. Vivaldi's music is innovative, breaking a consolidated tradition in schemes; he gave brightness to the formal and the rhythmic structure of the concerto, repeatedly looking for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes. Moreover, Vivaldi was able to compose nonacademic music, particularly meant to be appreciated by the wide public and not only by an intellectual minority. The joyful appearance of his music reveals in this regard a transmissible joy of composing; these are among the causes of the vast popularity of his music. This popularity soon made him famous in other countries such as France which was, at the time, very independent concerning its musical taste. Vivaldi is considered one of the composers who brought Baroque music (with its typical contrast among heavy sonorities) to evolve into a classical style. Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concertos and arias (recalled in his Johannes Passion, Matthäuspassion, and cantatas). Bach transcribed a number of Vivaldi's concerti for solo keyboard, along with a number for orchestra, including the famous Concerto for Four Violins and Violoncello, Strings and Continuo (RV 580).Source: Wikipedia
Return from Antonio Vivaldi to Musical Noses
|
