Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) was an Italian
Baroque musical composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher,
and priest. Born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian
Republic, he is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque
composers, and his influence during his lifetime was
widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental
concertos, for the violin and a variety of other
instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more
than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of
violin concerto...(+)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) was an Italian
Baroque musical composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher,
and priest. Born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian
Republic, he is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque
composers, and his influence during his lifetime was
widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental
concertos, for the violin and a variety of other
instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more
than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of
violin concertos known as the Four Seasons.
Antonio Vivaldi's two trio sonatas for lute, violin,
and continuo, catalogued as RV 82 and 85 respectively,
were both commissioned by and dedicated to Count Johann
Joseph von Wrtby of Bohemia, as far as historians can
determine. This has led some to conclude that these
sonatas were composed during the early 1730s, because
Vivaldi was probably present at Czech revivals of his
operas during that period and Wrtby died in 1734.
Wrtby had chosen an excellent man to carry out his
commission; Vivaldi wrote for solo lute at many times
during his life, and the very fact that he would
elevate the lute from continuo to solo instrument
speaks to both his confidence in and his mastery of its
resources. The RV 82 work, in C major, in particular
shows a canny understanding of both the lute's
limitations and its gifts. In the first movement, the
lute leads the way in developing the sunny, gently
rhythmic melody, while the violin generally plays a
simplified version of the lute's line. The contrasting,
combined timbres interact well, especially when Vivaldi
occasionally sustains a note in the violin and lets the
lute shower it with ornaments of various elaborate
kinds. The second movement is in the minor mode, hushed
and quiet, with a melody built on small, accumulating
descents. In this movement, the lute proves especially
eloquent, as its plucking emphasizes the broken feel of
the melody. The third movement brings a theme more
vigorous than that of the first movement, but no less
cheerful, and the thematic development is once again
entrusted to the combination of lute and violin. Here
the violin gets to play staccato occasionally, thus
complementing the lute's quick, athletic ornaments with
its own sharp notes. Vivaldi's work in general shows an
awareness of tone color that few other Baroque
composers had, and the Trio Sonata, RV 82, is an
excellent example.
Source: AllMusic
(https://www.allmusic.com/composition/trio-sonata-for-v
iolin-lute-continuo-in-c-major-rv-82-mc0002371608
).
Although originally created for Violin, Lute & Basso
Continuo, I created this Arrangement of the Concerto in
C Major (RV 82) for Flute & Strings (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).