The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted
instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi
(1678 - 1741) is widely recognized as the master of the
Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and
popularized more than any of his contemporaries.
Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright
instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental
technique make his some of the most enjoyable of
Baroque music. He was highly influential among his
contemporaries and successors: even ...(+)
The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted
instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi
(1678 - 1741) is widely recognized as the master of the
Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and
popularized more than any of his contemporaries.
Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright
instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental
technique make his some of the most enjoyable of
Baroque music. He was highly influential among his
contemporaries and successors: even as esteemed a
figure as Johann Sebastian Bach adapted some of
Vivaldi's music. Vivaldi's variable textures and
dramatic effects initiated the shift toward what became
the Classical style; a deeper understanding of his
music begins with the realization that, compared with
Bach and even Handel, he was Baroque music's arch
progressive. Though not as familiar as his concerti,
Vivaldi's stage and choral music is still of value; his
sometimes bouncy, sometimes lyrical Gloria in D major
(1708) has remained a perennial favorite. His operas
were widely performed in his own time.
Vivaldi probably composed his Double Concerto in B flat
major, RV 548, in the 1720s and he probably composed it
for the Osperdale del Pieta, the girl's foundling
orphanage in Venice for which he had worked in the
early decades of the century. Scored for violin and
oboe concertante with strings, plus basso continuo
ripieno, the work is in three movements. The opening
unmarked movement, presumably an allegro, opens with a
robust ritornello for the ripieno followed by the
entrance of the soloists, then a modulatory sequence
for the concertante and the ripieno, then an episode
for the soloists with the oboe's long-breathed melody
over the violin's sixteenth notes, then an episode in
the minor for concertante and ripieno, then back
through a sequence for the soloists to the final return
of the ritornello. The central Largo in the minor takes
up the idea of the central episode of the opening
movement with the oboe's long-breathed melody over the
violin's sixteenth notes over a simple choral
accompaniment for the ripieno in a siciliano rhythm.
The closing Allegro in the tonic major is a
lighthearted gigue-like movement in 6/8 alternating
between the ritornello for the ripieno and cheerful
episodes for the soloists.
Although originally created for Violin Oboe, Strings &
Continuo, I created this Interpretation of the Concerto
in Bb Major (RV 548) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, Bb
Clarinet & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
PARTITION