Antonio Vivaldi
(March 4, 1678, Venice - July 28, 1741, Vienna), nicknamed Il Prete Rosso, meaning "The Red Priest," was an Italian priest and baroque music composer.
His father, a barber and a talented violinist himself (some have said he was a virtuoso), had helped him in trying a career in music and made him enter the Cappella di San Marco orchestra, where he was an appreciated violinist.
In 1703 Vivaldi became a priest, soon nicknamed Il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest", probably because of his red hair. In 1704 he was given a dispensation from celebrating the Holy Mass because of his ill-health (he apparently suffered from asthma), and became a violin teacher at an orphanage for girls called Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. Shortly after his appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad too; Vivaldi wrote for them most of his concertos, cantate and sacred music. In 1705 the first collection (raccolta) of his works was published. Many others would follow. At the orphanage he covered several different duties, with the only interruption for his many travels, and in 1713 became responsible for the musical activity of the institute. He was indeed a prolific composer and is most well-known for composing:
-over 500 concertos (210 of which for violin or violoncello solo),
-46 Operas,
-sinfonias,
-73 sonatas,
-chamber music (even if some sonatas for flute, as Il Pastor Fido have been erronously attributed to him, but were composed by Cedeville) and sacred music ("oratorio" Juditha Triumphans, written for Pietà, two Gloria, the Stabat Mater, the Nisi Dominus, the Beatus Vir, the Magnificat, the Dixit Dominus and others);
his most famous work is perhaps 1723's Le Quattro Stagioni (the Four Seasons).
Not so well known is the fact that most of his repertoire was re-discovered only in the first half of 20th century in Turin and Genoa, but was published in the second half. Vivaldi's music is particularly 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 quite frankly was able to compose a 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 also in countries like France, at the time very closed into its national schemes. He is considered one of the authors that brought Baroque music (with its typical contrast among heavy sonorities) to evolve into an impressionist style. Vivaldi has been also indicated as a precursor of romantic musicians. Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concerto and Aria (recalled in his Passions and cantate). 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). However, not all the musicians showed the same enthusiasm: Igor Stravinsky provocatorily said that Vivaldi had not written hundreds of concertos, but one concerto, repeated hundreds of times. Despite his sacerdotal status, he is supposed to have had many love affairs, one of which was with the singer Anna Giraud, with whom he was suspected of a not cleared activity of commerce in old Venetian operas that he only slightly adapted to the vocal capabilities of his mistress. This business caused him some troubles with other musicians, like Benedetto Marcello who wrote a pamphlet against him.
Vivaldi's life, like those of many composers of the time, ended in poverty. His compositions no longer held the high esteem they once did in Venice; changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded, and Vivaldi, in response, chose to sell off sizeable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance a migration to Vienna. Reasons for Vivaldi's departure from Venice are unclear, but it seems likely that he wished to meet Charles VI, who adored his compositions (Vivaldi dedicated La Cetra to Charles in 1727), and take up the position of royal composer in his Imperial Court. But shortly after Vivaldi's arrival at Vienna, Charles died. This tragic stroke of bad luck left the composer without royal protection and a source of income. Vivaldi had to sell off more manuscripts to make ends meet, and eventually died not long after, in 1741. He was given an unmarked pauper's grave (the Requiem mass at which the young Joseph Haydn sang in choir). Equally unfortunate, his music was to fall into obscurity until the 1900s.
The resurrection of Vivaldi's work in the 20th century is mostly thanks to the efforts of Alfredo Casella, who in 1939, organized the now historic Vivaldi Week. Since then, Vivaldi's compositions have enjoyed almost universal success, and the advent of historically informed performance has all but catapulted him to stardom once again. In 1947, the Venetian businessman Antonio Fanna founded the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, with the composer Gian Francesco Malipiero as its artistic director, and the purpose of promoting Vivaldi's music and putting out new editions of his works.
Vivaldi's music, together with Mozart's, Tchaikovsky's and Corelli's, has been included in the theories of Alfred Tomatis on the effects of music on human behavior, and used in music therapy.
(March 4, 1678, Venice - July 28, 1741, Vienna), nicknamed Il Prete Rosso, meaning "The Red Priest," was an Italian priest and baroque music composer.
His father, a barber and a talented violinist himself (some have said he was a virtuoso), had helped him in trying a career in music and made him enter the Cappella di San Marco orchestra, where he was an appreciated violinist.
In 1703 Vivaldi became a priest, soon nicknamed Il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest", probably because of his red hair. In 1704 he was given a dispensation from celebrating the Holy Mass because of his ill-health (he apparently suffered from asthma), and became a violin teacher at an orphanage for girls called Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. Shortly after his appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad too; Vivaldi wrote for them most of his concertos, cantate and sacred music. In 1705 the first collection (raccolta) of his works was published. Many others would follow. At the orphanage he covered several different duties, with the only interruption for his many travels, and in 1713 became responsible for the musical activity of the institute. He was indeed a prolific composer and is most well-known for composing:
-over 500 concertos (210 of which for violin or violoncello solo),
-46 Operas,
-sinfonias,
-73 sonatas,
-chamber music (even if some sonatas for flute, as Il Pastor Fido have been erronously attributed to him, but were composed by Cedeville) and sacred music ("oratorio" Juditha Triumphans, written for Pietà, two Gloria, the Stabat Mater, the Nisi Dominus, the Beatus Vir, the Magnificat, the Dixit Dominus and others);
his most famous work is perhaps 1723's Le Quattro Stagioni (the Four Seasons).
Not so well known is the fact that most of his repertoire was re-discovered only in the first half of 20th century in Turin and Genoa, but was published in the second half. Vivaldi's music is particularly 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 quite frankly was able to compose a 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 also in countries like France, at the time very closed into its national schemes. He is considered one of the authors that brought Baroque music (with its typical contrast among heavy sonorities) to evolve into an impressionist style. Vivaldi has been also indicated as a precursor of romantic musicians. Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concerto and Aria (recalled in his Passions and cantate). 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). However, not all the musicians showed the same enthusiasm: Igor Stravinsky provocatorily said that Vivaldi had not written hundreds of concertos, but one concerto, repeated hundreds of times. Despite his sacerdotal status, he is supposed to have had many love affairs, one of which was with the singer Anna Giraud, with whom he was suspected of a not cleared activity of commerce in old Venetian operas that he only slightly adapted to the vocal capabilities of his mistress. This business caused him some troubles with other musicians, like Benedetto Marcello who wrote a pamphlet against him.
Vivaldi's life, like those of many composers of the time, ended in poverty. His compositions no longer held the high esteem they once did in Venice; changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded, and Vivaldi, in response, chose to sell off sizeable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance a migration to Vienna. Reasons for Vivaldi's departure from Venice are unclear, but it seems likely that he wished to meet Charles VI, who adored his compositions (Vivaldi dedicated La Cetra to Charles in 1727), and take up the position of royal composer in his Imperial Court. But shortly after Vivaldi's arrival at Vienna, Charles died. This tragic stroke of bad luck left the composer without royal protection and a source of income. Vivaldi had to sell off more manuscripts to make ends meet, and eventually died not long after, in 1741. He was given an unmarked pauper's grave (the Requiem mass at which the young Joseph Haydn sang in choir). Equally unfortunate, his music was to fall into obscurity until the 1900s.
The resurrection of Vivaldi's work in the 20th century is mostly thanks to the efforts of Alfredo Casella, who in 1939, organized the now historic Vivaldi Week. Since then, Vivaldi's compositions have enjoyed almost universal success, and the advent of historically informed performance has all but catapulted him to stardom once again. In 1947, the Venetian businessman Antonio Fanna founded the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, with the composer Gian Francesco Malipiero as its artistic director, and the purpose of promoting Vivaldi's music and putting out new editions of his works.
Vivaldi's music, together with Mozart's, Tchaikovsky's and Corelli's, has been included in the theories of Alfred Tomatis on the effects of music on human behavior, and used in music therapy.
