Vivaldi: the Life and Music of the Red Priest [1] Posted by: Breck McGough on Wednesday, March 9th, 2016 [2] March 4 marked the 338th birthday of Antonio Vivaldi, the Venetian composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, and priest. He is remembered today as a master of Baroque music. Even extremely casual listeners would recognize his most famous work, The Four Seasons. However, his music was virtually unknown from the time of his death until the early 20th century. Vivaldi is remembered as a great composer, but during his lifetime he was known for many things. His parents expected him to become a priest, which he did at the age of twentyfive. Being naturally redheaded, he was nicknamed il Prete Rosso (the Red Priest). However, because of a tightness of the chest which was most likely asthma, he was unable to perform the entire mass without suffering an attack and was relieved of his duties. He was also known as a technical wizard on the violin. There are many contemporary reports of his virtuosic playing. This skill led to his appointment as Master of the Violin at the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for girls. During his time there he became famous as a teacher, and his students became famous for performing the music he wrote for them. Vivaldi also found fame as an opera composer, and was invited to Vienna by Emperor Charles VI. However Charles died shortly after his arrival, leaving Vivaldi without a steady source of income. His health dwindled, and he and his music both seemed to die in 1741. But this was not to be the end of Vivaldi. In 1926 researchers found a cache of works by the master in a monastery in Piedmont. The collection contained 300 concerti, 19 operas, and over 100 vocal and instrumental works. The world would forever know the name, Vivaldi. [3] The Four Seasons [3] by Antonio Vivaldi / Anne Akiko Meyers In January of 2013, Anne Akiko Meyers was awarded exclusive lifetime use of the legendary 1741 Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesu, which has been dubbed the Mona Lisa of violins. It is legendary for its peerless sound and near-pristine condition, and is believed to be the most expensive violin ever purchased. The violin has been guarded for centuries, and has not been in the recording studio until now. Composed around 1723, The Four Seasons is today one of the most beloved musical Page 1 of 5
compositions. Originally written and performed by Vivaldi and the chamber orchestra he formed in Venice, these concerti were largely forgotten after the composer s death until their rediscovery in the 1920s and subsequent recording in the 50s. A set of sonnets, likely penned by Vivaldi himself, accompany the score and describe the natural settings that inspired the music. [4] The Vivaldi Album [4] by Antonio Vivaldi / Cecilia Bartoli Mezzo, Cecilia Bartoli, could easily rest on her laurels as one of today's most charismatic, characterful singers for her lively portrayals of Mozart and Rossini heroines. But it's been particularly exciting to observe her growth as an artist in exploring the exuberant world of baroque opera, with its range of pyrotechnic demands--both vocal and emotional. For The Vivaldi Album, Bartoli conducted extensive research into the composer's manuscripts. Although he's best known for his concertos, Vivaldi was a ferociously prolific composer of operas for the cutting-edge theaters of his time, and the arias gathered here demonstrate the word-painting magic of his music. [5] Gloria/Beatus Vir/Magnificat [5] by Antonio Vivaldi For many years after his death, Vivaldi's vast output of sacred music lay silent and forgotten until Alberto Gentili tracked down an incredible 27 volumes of manuscripts in the 1920s. These works ranged from short single-movement works to larger-scale compositions with twelve or more sections. One of the most famous works unearthed by Gentili was the Gloria. The Gloria, like much of the sacred music by Vivaldi, is easily accessible, like his famous concertos. The music has a very human spirituality, nothing mystic, just a desire to explain the text in a clear pictorial way. Much of Vivaldi's sacred music was written for the Ospedale. His writing focused almost entirely on instrumental music, especially concertos, when the choirmaster Francesco Gasparini went on leave and failed to return. Vivaldi was asked to help out, and the results can be heard in this collection of his works. Page 2 of 5
[6] Vivaldi [6] by Michael Talbot Taking account of recent research, to which he himself has made important contributions including the discovery in 1973 of an unknown set of violin sonatas Michael Talbot examines the life and works of this remarkable musician in their Venetian, Italian, and international settings. [7] Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque [7] by H. C. Robbins Landon Vivaldi boasted that he could compose a concerto faster than a scribe could copy one. Despite his prolificacy, The Four Seasons, and the majority of his already published work had fallen into obscurity by the time of his death in poverty in 1741. Very little has been written on Vivaldi for the nonspecialist, especially in English. Landon rediscovers the composer in this accessible and musically-informed biography while presenting documentation of the musician's life discovered after the Baroque revival in the 1930s. This book includes illustrations of eighteenth-century Venice and several newly translated letters, thoroughly evoking the style of the time and revealing some of the more personal aspects of Vivaldi's life. Page 3 of 5
[8] I, Vivaldi [8] by Janice Jordan Shefelman In this dynamic picture-book biography, told as if by Vivaldi himself, the famous musician's energetic personality and steadfast dedication to music come alive. Despite his mother's vow for him to become a priest, young Vivaldi is only interested in music. He soon grows from a feisty boy who wants to play the violin into a stubborn young man who puts his musical training ahead of his studies for priesthood. Beautiful, ornate artwork portrays the spirit and splendor of Vivaldi's hometown, Venice. A historical note, musical score, and glossary will help readers more fully appreciate Vivaldi's life and musical genius. Audience: All Ages [9] Library: All Libraries [10] Tags: Readers' Advisory [11] Music [12] History [13] Classical Music [14] Blog Category: Article Source URL: http://www.metrolibrary.org/dog-eared/vivaldi-life-and-music-red-priest Links [1] http://www.metrolibrary.org/dog-eared/vivaldi-life-and-music-red-priest [2] http://www.metrolibrary.org/sites/default/files/styles/video_thumbnail/public/gerard_van_hont horst_-_the_concert_-_1623.jpg?itok=ujdatg71 [3] http://catalog.metrolibrary.org/#section=resource&resourceid=6218057¤tind ex=0&view=fulldetailsdetailstab [4] http://catalog.metrolibrary.org/#section=resource&resourceid=846331¤tinde x=4&view=fulldetailsdetailstab [5] http://catalog.metrolibrary.org/#section=resource&resourceid=4503389¤tind ex=7&view=fulldetailsdetailstab [6] http://catalog.metrolibrary.org/#section=resource&resourceid=1564447¤tind ex=0&view=fulldetailsdetailstab [7] http://catalog.metrolibrary.org/#section=resource&resourceid=7620144¤tind Page 4 of 5
ex=1&view=fulldetailsdetailstab [8] http://catalog.metrolibrary.org/#section=resource&resourceid=4448131¤tind ex=5&view=fulldetailsdetailstab [9] http://www.metrolibrary.org/audience/all-ages [10] http://www.metrolibrary.org/locations/all-libraries [11] http://www.metrolibrary.org/tags/readers-advisory [12] http://www.metrolibrary.org/tags/music [13] http://www.metrolibrary.org/tags/history [14] http://www.metrolibrary.org/tags/classical-music Page 5 of 5