Music/Arts & Culture Essay

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born March 4, 1678 in Venice and died July 28 1741 in Viena. His father is Giovanni Battista, a barber who became a professional violinist, and Antonio’s first instructor and inspiration. Giovanni toured Venice as a musician with Antonio in tow and one of the founders of “Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecilia,” a trade union for musicians and composers. His father is also believed to be a composer himself as an opera called La Fedelta sfortunata was composed by a Giovanni batista Rossi, the name he used in the union. Antonio Vivaldi was immediately baptized by the home midwife upon his delivery because of “danger to death” and is probably due to the earthquake that shook the city that day or the frail health of the infant. Venice at that time was the capital of the republic of Venice. The president of the union joined by his father, Giovanni Legrenzi, was maestro di cappella at the Basilica of San Marco and noted early Baroque composer. He was believed to have taught the young Antonio to compose. Scholar Walter Kolneder of Luxemburg figures that the liturgical work Laetatus sum ((RV Anh 31, written in 1691) written when he was just 13, showed influence of Legrenzi style. He began studying priesthood and in 1703, at the age of 25, he was an ordained Venetian priest and was nicknamed “Il Prete Roso” or The Red Priest but he did not practiced his vocation due to a sickness which is his tightening of chest, suspected as asthma. In 1704, he was given dispensation from celebrating the Holy Mass due to his illness and he withdrew from active priesthood in 1706. By December 1703, Vivaldi was appointed maestro de violino at the Ospedale della Pieta, one of Venetian girls’ orphanage. At that time, the institution had four branches in Venice giving shelter and education to orphaned, abandoned or children from impoverished families as funded by the Republic. The boys were taught a trade before leaving at age 15 while the girls had musical education and the talented were retained to be members of the Ospedale’s orchestra and choir. Ospedale under the ministration of Antonio Vivaldi began to gain appreciation even abroad as Vivaldi wrote most of the cantatas, concerto and sacred music. The position of teacher of viola all'inglese was also added on his duty as maestro de violini by 1704 and although he is already starting to prove his talent at that time, he was retained at the Pieta until 1709 only when the board dismissed him, for many perceived him a difficult man. He worked as a freelance musician for a year until the board recalled him in 1711 realising his potential. From then, Vivaldi was in his most productive years writing music or operas and concertos. His first collection of his works called Raccolta, a trio sonata was published in 1705 with his Opus 1 a collection of 12 sonatas for two violins and basso continuo in conventional style. His Opus 2 is a collection of 12 sonatas for violins and basso continuo and was published in 1709. L'Estro Armonico (Opus 3) his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings was published by Estienne Roger in Amsterdam in 1711. It became a success all over Europe as followed by another success La Stravaganza (Opus 4) in 1714 which is a collection of concerti for solo violin and strings. Musicians sought sought him out in Venice and commissioned works from him including for the Dresden court. Johann Sebastian Bach transcribed five Opus 3 concertos for keyboard and he influenced many German composers. Antonio and his father went to Brescia in 1917. His Stabat Mater (RV 621) was played as part of a religious festival and although the work was apparently done in haste, the forced essentiality of the music revealed musical and emotional depth that made it one of his masterpieces. He also started traveling in 1718 to promote his music and in even during his travels, he retained connection with the Pieta and wrote two concertos each month sending them by post. He also found time to rehearse with them about four times while he was in Venice. By 1735-38, he was assigned as maestro di cappella and directed some performances on special occasions (Sadie, 1996). Vivaldi was paid for 140 concertos between 1723 and 1729 as shown in Pieta’s records. In the 18th century, opera was considered the most popular musical entertainment in Venice. It was profitable for composers as theaters compete for public attendance. Vivaldi’s first opera Ottone in villa in 1713, incidentally, was not performed in Venice but at the Garzerie Theater in Vicensa. He became impresario of the theater Sant’ Angelo in Venice the following year. It is there that his opera Orlando finto pazzo (RV 727) was performed although it did not attract the public. After two weeks, it was replaced by a rerun. His Nerone fatto Cesare (RV 274) with music by seven different composers, of which he was the leader with 11 arias was presented in 1715. It was widely appreciated but the work is reportedly lost by now. A state censor blocked his Arsilda regina di Ponto (RV 700) as the main Arsilda character fell for a woman Lisea impersonating as man but when it finally went public, it was a resounding success. By that same period of time, the Pieta commissioned several liturgical works including two important oratorios: Moyses Deus Pharaonis (RV 643) reportedly lost, and Juditha triumphans (RV 644), composed in 1716, considered another of his sacred masterpieces commisioned to celebrate the victory of Venice against the Turks as well as the recapture of the island of Corfu. The arias that included parts by solo instruments: recorders, oboes, clarinets, vola d'amore, mandolins, showcased the range of talents of the Pieta girls that performed both male and female charcters. Still in 1716, Vivaldi wrote and produced L'incoronazione di Dario (RV 719), and the popular La costanza trionfante degli amori e degli odi (RV 706) that spanned a re-edition with the title Artabano re dei Parti (RV 701) also reportedly lost. It was performed in Prague in 1732 and Vivaldi wrote more operas performed all over Italy the succeeding years (Wikipedia, 2006). Vivaldi was considered a pioneer and earned the ire of his contemporaries and a pamplet attacking his style although his name was not mentioned, had been circulated. Nevertheless, Vivaldi’s popularity also earned him prestigious position as Maestro di Cappella of the court of the prince Philipp of Hessen-Darmstadt, governor of Mantua. He worked there for three years and produced operas that include the Tito Manlio (RV 738). In Milan, he presented the pastoral drama La Silvia (RV 734) by 1721 and the oratorio L'adorazione delli tre re magi al bambino Gesù (RV 645, also lost) the following year. He moved to Rome in 1722 where pope Benedict XIII invited don Antonio to play for him. During this time, he wrote the Four Seasons, four violin concertos depicting natural scenes in music allegedly inspired by Mantua’s countryside scenes depiciting flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each exactly characterised), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepards, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties (both from the hunter's and the prey's point of view), frozen landscapes, children ice-skating, and burning fires. These were published in 1725 as the first four of a collection of 12, Il cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione, his Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by Le Cène. Vivaldi was alleged to have an affair with singer Anna Giraud who he travelled with frequently. It was written in Wikipedia (2006) that: “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 invented innovative melodies and themes. Moreover, Vivaldi was able to compose non-academic 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 concertos for solo keyboard, along with a number for orchestra, including the famous Concerto for Four Violins and Violoncello, Strings and Continuo (RV 580).” Vivaldi’s Works include: · “Opus 1, 12 Sonatas for 2 violins and basso continuo (1705) · Opus 2, 12 Sonatas for violin and basso continuo (1709) · Opus 3, L'estro armonico (Harmonic inspiration), 12 concertos for various combinations. Best known concerti are No. 6 in A minor for violin, No. 8 in A minor for two violins and No. 10 in B minor for 4 violins (1711). · Opus 4, La stravaganza (The extraordinary), 12 violin concertos (c. 1714) · Opus 5, (2nd part of Opus 2), 4 sonatas for violin and 2 sonatas for 2 violins and basso continuo (1716). · Opus 6, 6 violin concertos (1716-21) · Opus 7, 2 oboe concertos and 10 violin concertos (1716-21) · Opus 8, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest between Harmony and Invention), 12 violin concertos including the celebrated work, Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), consisting of the first four concertos in opus 8 (1723). · Opus 9, La cetra (The lyre), 12 violin concertos and 1 for 2 violins (1727) · Opus 10, 6 flute concertos (c. 1728) · Opus 11, 5 violin concertos, 1 oboe concerto, the second in E minor, RV 277, being known as "Il favorito" (1729) · Opus 12, 5 violin concertos and 1 without solo (1729) · Opus 13, Il pastor fido (The Faithful Sheperd), 6 sonatas for musette, viela, recorder, flute, oboe or violin, and basso continuo (1737, spurious works by Nicolas Chédeville). Operas · Ottone in villa (1713) · Orlando finto pazzo (1714) · Arsilda regina di Ponto (1715) · L'incoronazione di Dario (1716) · Il Teuzzone (1719) · Tito Manlio (1719) · La verità in cimento (1720) · Ercole sul Termodonte (1723) · Il Giustino (1724) · Dorilla in Tempe (1726) · Farnace (1727) · Orlando furioso (1727) · Rosilena ed Oronta (1728) · La fida ninfa (1732) · Motezuma (1733) · L'Olimpiade (1734) · Bajazet (Tamerlano) (1735) · Griselda (1735) · Catone in Utica (1737) · Rosmira (1738) · [edit] · Concerto · Vivaldi wrote hundreds of concerti for various instruments. Below is a list of notable concerti: Mandolin: · Concerto for Mandoline in C major, RV 425 · Concerto for two Mandolins in G major, RV 532 Lute: · Concerto in D major, RV 93 Recorder and Flute: · Concerto in D major, RV 95, "La pastorella" · Concerto in C minor for Treble Recorder, RV 441 · Concerto in F major for Treble Recorder, RV 442 · Concerto in C major for Sopranino Recorder, RV 443 · Concerto in C major for Sopranino Recorder, RV 444 · Concerto in A minor for Sopranino Recorder, RV 445 · Concerto in F major for Flute ("La Tempesta di Mare"), RV 433 (Op. 10, No. 1), RV 98 and RV 570 · Concerto in G minor for Flute ("La Notte"), RV 439 (Op. 10, No. 2) · Concerto in D major for Flute ("Il Gardellino"), RV 428 (Op. 10 No. 3) · Concerto in G major for Flute, RV 435 (Op. 10, No. 4) · Concerto in F major for Flute, RV 434 (Op. 10, No. 5) · Concerto in G major for Flute, RV 437 (Op. 10, No. 6) · Concerto in C major for Flute, RV 533 Brass and Woodwind: · Concerto in C major for Two Trumpets, RV 537 · Concerto in D major for two Oboe, Bassoon, two French Horns, and Solo Violin, RV 562 · Concerto in D minor for two Recorders, two Oboe, and Bassoon, RV 566 · Concerto in F major for Oboe, Bassoon, two French Horns, and Solo Violin, RV 571 · Concerto in B-flat major for Oboe, Chalumeau, and Solo Violin, RV 579 Sacred Works · Kyrie a 8, RV 587 · Gloria, RV 588 · Gloria, RV 589 (Online Review at The Choral Pages) · Credo, RV 591 · Credo, RV 592 · Domine ad adiuvandum me, RV 593 · Dixit Dominus, RV 594 · Dixit Dominus, RV 595 · Beatus vir, RV 597 · Credidi propter quod, RV 605 · Laetatus sum, RV 607 · Nisi Dominus, RV 608 · Magnificat, RV 610, RV 610a, and RV 611 (Online Review at The Choral Pages) · Stabat Mater, RV 621 · Longe Mala, Umbrae, Terrores, RV 629 · Introduzione al Gloria, RV 639 · Oratorio Juditha triumphans, RV 644 · Nisi Dominus, RV 803 · Dixit Dominus, RV 807,” (Wikipedia, 2006) Reference: Sadie, Stanley. The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music. Mcmillan Press Ltd., London. From Classical Music Pages.from http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/vivaldi.html Wikipedia. “Antonio Vivaldi.” Accessed October 2006 from http://wikipedia.org