Chill With Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Known in his native Venice as The Red Priest on account of
his shock of red hair, Antonio Vivaldi was born in 1678, the son of a barber
who later served as a violinist at the great Basilica of St Mark.
Vivaldi studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1703.
At the same time he won a reputation for himself as a violinist of phenomenal
ability and was appointed violin-master at the Ospedale della Pietā. This
institution specialised in the education of orphaned and illegitimate girls and
boasted a formidable musical reputation. Vivaldi's association with the Pietā
continued intermittently throughout his life, from 1723 under a contract that
provided for the composition of two new concertos every month.
His later career brought involvement with the theatre, as
director, manager and as the composer of some fifty operas, many of which are
now either lost or forgotten.
Visitors to Venice had borne witness to Vivaldi's prowess as
a violinist, although some found his performance more remarkable than
pleasurable. He certainly explored the full possibilities of the instrument,
while perfecting the newly developing form of the Italian solo concerto. He
left nearly 500 concertos, many for the violin but there were others for a
variety of solo instruments or for groups of instruments.
He claimed to be able to compose a new work quicker than a
copyist could write it out, and he clearly coupled immense facility with a
remarkable capacity for variety within the confines of the three-movement form,
with its faster outer movements framing a central slow movement.
Although at one time he had been worth 50,000 ducats a year,
his career in fickle Venice began to wane in the late 1730s and in 1741 he left
for Vienna, where there seemed some possibility of revitalising his career
under imperial patronage. He died there a few weeks after his arrival, in
relative poverty.
Church Music
The surviving church music of Vivaldi includes the well
known Gloria, in addition to a number of settings of psalms and motets.
Concertos
The most famous of all Vivaldi's concertos are Le quattro
stagioni (The Four Seasons), characteristic compositions to which the composer
attached explanatory programmatic sonnets. These four concertos, for solo
violin, string orchestra and harpsichord, form part of a collection Il cimento
dell'armonia e dell'invenzione (The Conflict of Harmony and Invention), one of
seven collections of such compositions published in the composer's lifetime. In
addition to concertos for solo violin, Vivaldi also wrote concertos for many
other solo instruments, including the flute, oboe, bassoon, cello and viola
d'amore, and for groups of solo instruments.
Chamber Music
Vivaldi wrote a number of sonatas and trio sonatas, many of
them designed for one or two violins and basso continuo. He also wrote a series
of chamber concertos, compositions similar in approach to the solo and multiple
concertos, but scored for smaller groups of instruments.
Tracklisting
Track 1 - Concerto for Two Violins, RV516: Larghetto e
Spirituoso
In 1711 a group of twelve Violin Concertos was published and
dedicated to the Grand Prince of Tuscany. It was the most important group of
works in the first half of that century and contains concertos for one, two and
three violins. From the eighth concerto we hear a fascinating slow movement
Larghetto for two violins.
If
you would like to hear the whole of the Concerto for Two Violins then try:
8.553028
Famous
Baroque Concertos
Bela
Banfalvi and Zsuzsa Nemeth (Violins)
Budapest
Strings
Track 2 - The Four Seasons, Spring: Largo e sempre
pianissimo
Track 4 - The Four Seasons, Summer: Adagio, Presto
Track 7 - The Four Seasons, Autumn: Adagio molto
Track 10 - The Four Seasons, Winter: Largo
The four concertos known as Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four
Seasons) had circulated widely in manuscript before being published in
Amsterdam in 1725, when explanatory poems, written by the composer himself,
were added to clarify the programme of each concerto. Music representing the
moods of the four seasons has always been popular, and baroque composers such
as Werner and Fischer among others produced cycles of concertos representing
the four seasons. But none were to do so in such precise pictorial detail as
Antonio Vivaldi in his concertos.
The first concerto, Spring (Track 2),of which we hear the
hushed second movement, shows the goat-herd asleep, while the viola serves as a
watch-dog, barking regularly in each bar against the murmur of the foliage.
Summer (Track 4) itself is a time of languor. In the Adagio
movement heard here, the slumber of woozy shepherds is disturbed only by
occasional thunder and lightning, not to mention the irritation of troublesome
flies!
The third concerto, Autumn (Track 7) is a celebration of
harvest with an excess of wine bringing a sleepiness to the second movement,
marked Adagio Molto.
The last of the seasons, Winter (Track 10), bring cold
winds, the stamping of feet and chattering teeth. The Largo here offers the
shelter of warmth by the fireside while the rain falls outside.
If
you would like to hear the whole of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, then try:
8.553219
The Four
Seasons
Takako
Nishizaki (Violin)
Capella
Istropolitana
Stephen
Gunzenhauser
Track 5 - Flute Concerto in D, Il gardellino, RV90: Largo
Track 6 - Flute Concerto in D minor, RV96: Largo
Vivaldi had included bird-song of a particularly vivid kind
in his The Four Seasons concertos. His Flute Concerto RV 90 is in fact
subtitled Il Gardellino (The Gold-Finch) and bird-song is clearly associated
with his concertos for flute. The second movement is a mellifluous aria in the
rhythm of a Siciliano. The Largo from the Concerto in D minor, RV96 is a duet
for flute and violin, supported by
bassoon and continuo.
Further
examples of Vivaldi's Flute Concerto Recordings can be heard on:
8.553365 Flute
Concertos Vol. 1
Bela
Drahos (Flute)
Nicolaus
Esterhazy Sinfonia
8.553101 Flute
Concertos Vol. 2
Bela
Drahos (Flute)
Nicolaus
Esterhazy Sinfonia
Track 8 - Cello Concerto in C minor, RV402 - Adagio
Track 9 - Cello Concerto in D minor, RV407 - Largo e sempre
piano
Vivaldi left 27 concertos for cello, string orchestra and
basso continuo, seven of which were preserved in the library of an amateur
cellist, Count Rudolf von Schonborn. Two of them are featured here. The Adagio
of the C Minor Cello Concerto features a striking triplet rhythm solo for the
cello; the Largo of the D Minor Cello Concerto, is a hushed movement of exposed
cello, set against a backdrop of a steadily descending accompaniment.
Further
examples of Vivaldi's Cello Concerto Recordings can be heard on:
8.550907 Cello
Concertos Vol. 1
8.550908 Cello
Concertos Vol. 2
8.550909 Cello
Concertos Vol. 3
8.550910 Cello
Concertos Vol. 4
Raphael
Wallfisch (Cello)
Nicholas
Kraemer (Harpsichord)
City
of London Sinfonia, Nicholas Kraemer
Track 11 - Dresden Concerto in G major, RV314a: Adagio
Track 12 - Dresden Concerto in A, RV341: Largo
In 1716 Johann Georg Pisendel came to Venice as part of the
entourage of Frederick Augustus, Future Elector of Saxony and King of
Poland. After studying under
Vivaldi that year, Pisendel spent the majority of his career in Dresden and
remains by repute the most distinguished German violinist of his day. As
testimony to their friendship, established in that one year in Venice, Vivaldi
dedicated many of his concertos to Pisendel, and these are found in the Dresden
Saxony Landesbibliothek, the region's main library. Vivaldi's connecction with
Dresden and the royal house of Saxony continued until near the end of his
career, when in 1740 the visit to Venice of Frederick Christian, son of the
Elector, was celebrated by the Pičta with a new set of concertos by Vivaldi.
The slow movement of the Concerto in A, RV341 is characterized by its striking
violin solo over a tremolo accompaniment.
Further
examples of Vivaldi's Dresden Concerto Recordings can be heard on:
8.553792 Dresden
Concertos Vol. 1
8.553793 Dresden
Concertos Vol. 2
8.553860 Dresden
Concertos Vol. 3
8.554310 Dresden
Concertos Vol. 4
Alberto
Martini (Violin)
Accademia
I Filarmonici
Track 13 - Gloria in D, RV 589 - Et in terra pax
Vivaldi probably produced a great deal of his choral music
at the Ospedale della Pieta, where he maintained a teaching post for much of
his life, although we can only speculate as to whether his charges there were
fit for the challenges of the famous Gloria. This delicious slow movement
leaves the intricate work to the instruments and deploys the choir in
slow-moving block chords. The harmonies and modulations - where the music
changes key - are strikingly original and daring for the day.
If
you would like to hear the whole of Vivaldi's Gloria, try:
8.554056 Gloria
(coupled with Bach's Magnificat)
Schola
Cantorum of Oxford, Jeremy Summerly
Northern
Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas Ward
Track 3 - Concerto in A, RV82: Larghetto
Track 14 - Concerto in G for 2 Mandolines, RV 532: Andante
Track 15 - Concerto in D, RV93: Largo
Despite the age-old popularity of the guitar, nothing that
Vivaldi may have written for the instrument survives. However, the music he
wrote for lute and mandoline has been appropriated by guitarists for whom it
provides a valuable addition to repertoire.
The A major Concerto RV82 was originally a trio for violin
and lute, and this together with the Concerto in D major for lute and two
violins, RV93, is dedicated to Count Johann von Wirtby who served as royal
governor in Bohemia. It is thought that Vivaldi may have met the Count in
Prague in 1730 when he was absent from Venice. The G major concerto, written
for two mandolines, is splendidly effective in its two-guitar version heard
here.
Further
examples of Vivaldi's music on guitar can be heard on:
8.550483 Guitar
Concertos