Antonio Vivaldi (aka, the Red-Haired Priest), 1678-1741, a virtuoso violinist and foremost composer of the late Italian Baroque, is known for spontaneity and simplicity of melody, rhythmic vitality, clarity of form and skillful orchestration.
Here's a taste of a Vivaldi solo concerto performed in his home town of Venice:
Mandolin Concerto In C Major RV 425 | Antonio Vivaldi | Three movements in a fast-slow-fast tempo scheme: Allegro, Largo and Allegro (8:00)
Life and Times of Vivaldi
Venetian Antonio Vivaldi trained as a musician since childhood. Nevertheless, his parents expected him to enter the priesthood. He attended seminary, took holy orders but fell ill and was excused from active service. Soon afterwards he joined the faculty at the Conservatory of Pietà, a school for orphaned and illegitimate girls in Venice, and spent his life as a violin teacher, composer and conductor. His all-female orchestra was among the finest in Europe, and he composed much of his instrumental music for them.
Opera, Fame and Fortune
Antonio's father worked in opera house management and his connections helped Antonio break into opera. He staged forty-five operas across Europe, received royal commissions, and reached superstar status. His operas are rarely produced today because many leading roles were written for castrated male singers (Italian, castrati)—men surgically altered to enhance the upper singing range.
Vivaldi was censured by the Church in 1737 for "unpriestly" conduct: rumors of his affair with Anna Giraud, a popular opera singer, were scandalous for the time. Soon demand for his music in Venice ceased, drifting out of fashion.
Vivaldi was a friend and favorite musician of Emperor Charles VI. In 1741, Antonio sold his possessions and moved to Vienna to restart his career under the patronage of Charles. Unfortunately, Charles passed away shortly after Vivaldi's arrival and the great maestro died penniless and alone in his hotel room.
Despite Vivaldi's great fame during his career, he was quickly forgotten after death. His music was virtually unheard until its revival in the twentieth century. Vivaldi's twentieth century revival was partly fueled by the fact so many of his works survived. After he died, manuscripts of nearly three hundred concertos and twenty operas were found in his room! These scores are preserved in Turin’s Biblioteca Nazionale, the oldest national library in Italy.
Baroque audiences wanted to hear only the latest music. Audio recording was centuries in the future, so music existed only as live performance. Thus, Baroque composers were busy, furiously churning out new works. Vivaldi composed an amazing amount of music, over a thousand works, most of which contain multiple movements—as much music as both Bach and Handel put together!
Vivaldi excelled in most of the genres of the time—opera, orchestral suites, chamber music, church music, etc.—but is remembered mainly for the solo concerto and concerto grosso, forms he helped develop. He wrote over four hundred-fifty concerti for diverse instruments.
The solo concerto features an instrumental soloist against a larger group of instruments; the concerto grosso features several soloists (concertino) against a larger group of instruments (tutti or ripieno). Soloists are set apart by their virtuosic manner and smaller numbers.
Concerto for bassoon RV 469 | First page of Vivaldi's autograph score of Concerto for Bassoon. His handwriting is tidier than Handel but messier than Bach. | National University Library of Turin (ms. Foà 32, c. 154r)
Most of Vivaldi's concerti are in the typical fast-slow-fast movement format. The outer movements are cast in ritornello form while the middle movement is usually in binary form (often soloist and basso continuo only).
The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons, Le quattro stagioni, are a set of four solo violin concerti intended to evoke the seasons of the year. It was written in 1721 and published in Amsterdam in 1725 with eight other violin concerti under the title Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention). The Four Seasons are Vivaldi's best known works and have been used in countless sound tracks and advertisements.
The Four Seasons team with imitations of birds song, chattering teeth, barking dogs, and a host of seasonal sounds. And, in case you don't get the musical imitations, Vivaldi spelled it out with an accompanying poem (sonnet) for each concerto, as well as vivid descriptions written directly in the musical score.
Why should you listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" | Ted Ed about Vivaldi's most famous concerti (4:19).
Vivaldi took care to link his music to the poem text, writing the lines of poetry above musical passages. For example, the phrase "the birds celebrate her return with festive song" is placed next to violin solos filled with trills and repeated notes meant to imitate bird song. As such, The Four Seasons are an early example of program music, instrumental music intended to tell a story and evoke feelings, images and scents beyond the music.
Le quattro stagioni: La Primavera
La Primavera—Spring—is the first concerto of the Four Seasons, and features the typical three movement format: Allegro non molto, Largo e pianissimo sempre and Danza Pastorale. The outer two movements are fast in tempo and presented in ritornello form.
La Primavera | Violin 1, Amsterdam, 1725 | The ritornello is from the beginning to letter B. Sonnet lines are written in the score. | Bibliothèque nationale de France
La Primavera is accompanied by an Italian sonnet—written by Vivaldi—celebrating
spring. The sonnet is the underlying story or program of La Primavera. The first five lines go with the first movement (Allegro non molto). Here's a translation of the poem:
Joyful spring has arrived,
the birds greet it with their cheerful song,
and the brooks in the gentle breezes
flow with a sweet murmur.
The sky is covered with a black mantle,
and thunder and lightning announce a storm.
When they fall silent, the little birds
take up again their melodious song.
First Movement: Allegro non molto
La Primavera's ritornello is used throughout the first movement, and is basically the main theme or melody of the movement. The ritornello is analogous to the chorus or refrain of a pop song: the listener recognizes its reappearance, thereby creating a sense of form and order.
Ritornello | Vivaldi's La Primavera, first movement
The ritornello appears five times, alternating with solo violin episodes. Each time the ritornello appears it is varied: shortened, change of key, etc. Here's the basic form map of the first movement of La Primavera:
Ritornello 1 (0:00)
“Spring has arrived!” Tutti in major key forte, then repeated piano.
Episode 1 (0:29)
“The birds welcome it in joyful song.” Solo violin imitates bird song with trills and high pitched scales. Two other violins join in, answering the soloist with bird cries.
Ritornello 2 (1:07)
Tutti: shortened version of the ritornello
Episode 2 (1:13)
“Sweet murmuring streams flow on the breath of the zephyrs.” Violin solo with orchestra playing whispering figures to suggest flowing water.
Ritornello 3 (1:34)
Tutti: shortened version of the ritornello
Episode 3 (1:43)
“Meanwhile, spring’s chosen messengers, thunder and lightning, turn the sky dark.” This episode simulates a Spring storm: brilliant solo passage work suggesting flashes of lightning—modulations, rapid repeated notes, fast ascending minor-key scales—and dramatic orchestra accompaniment of menacing tremolos to represent thunder.
Ritornello 4 (2:07)
Tutti: shortened version of the ritornello in minor key.
Episode 4 (2:16)
“Having become silent, the little birds return and sing again.” The storm is over and bird song is again suggested with trills and repeated notes in the violin soloist and consorts. Joyful tutti sections with solos interspersed.
Ritornello 5 (3:08)
Tutti: a return to the original key (E major) for full ritornello and closing phrase.
Second Movement: Largo e pianissimo sempre
Here's the poem for the second movement:
And in the pleasant, flowery meadow,
to the gentle murmur of bushes and trees,
the goatherd sleeps, his faithful dog at his side.
La Primavera's second movement is slow, lyrical and tender, cast in triple meter and a moody C-sharp minor. Orchestration is spare, alluding to a quiet time in the meadow with a faithful pup: lyrical solo violin accompanied by only two violins, and viola (no basso continuo). The viola's insistent rhythm imitates a dog bark.
Third Movement: Danza Pastorale
Here's the poem for the third movement:
To the festive sounds of a rustic bagpipe
nymphs and shepherds dance in their favorite spot
when spring appears in its brilliance.
La Primavera's third movement is fast (allegro) and set in compound meter, suggesting a country dance. Like the first movement, it is in ritornello form: tutti ritornellos and episodes featuring solo violin. The sustained notes in the lower strings are suggestive of the droning notes of a country bagpipe.
Ritornello | Vivaldi's La Primavera, third movement | Opening phrases
For the best results, listen to all three movements of La Primavera back to back. Why? You'll hear the entire story unfold and witness the mood and tempo contrasts between the three movements.
Four Seasons: La Primavera (Spring) | Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra by Antonio Vivaldi | Alana Youssefian and Voices of Music (11:00)
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Works
The Four Seasons
Le quattro stagioni: La Primavera
Second Movement: Largo e pianissimo sempre
Third Movement: Danza Pastorale
