The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted
instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi 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
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The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted
instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi 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 is known mainly for his numerous violin
concertos. But he came to explore woodwind instruments
through his interactions with travellers to Venice
(among them G. H. Stoltzel and Johann Heinichen) and
his own travels to Germany and France. Also, his
obligations to produce music for the instruments to be
played at the Ospedale and abroad led to his using a
variety of instruments in concerti. The oboe became
very popular in the early eighteenth century. It first
appeared in St. Mark's in 1698, and the Ospedale della
Pieta employed oboe teachers from 1703 onwards.
Vivaldi's sonata RV 779 contains a very demanding part
for the oboe dated to 1710 and his opera 'Ottone in
Villa' of 1713 contains a significant oboe part.
As was his way (and that of many others) Vivaldi did
his share of self-borrowing, so that eight of the
surviving oboe concertos exist in other forms. For
instance RV448 was reworked both as a bassoon concerto
(RV470) and another oboe concerto (RV447).
The concertos were not necessarily all written for use
at the Pieta. Many of them may well have been written
for virtuosos to play at private performances for the
nobility either in Venice or perhaps at the Saxon Court
in Dresden, where Vivaldi had contacts. The form and
orchestration of the works make them eminently suitable
for a small group of players to perform for the
delectation of a group of aristocrats in a Venetian
Palazzo.
Although originally created for 2 Baroque Oboes,
Strings & Continuo, I created this Interpretation of
the Concerto in C Major (RV 534) for Small Orchestra
(Piccolo Trumpet, Bb Trumpet, French Horn, Euphonium,
Timpani, 2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
SHEET MUSIC