Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, nicknamed il Prete Rosso because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, Catholic priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over forty operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi had been employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival and Vivaldi himself died less than a year later. Though Vivaldi's music was well received during his lifetime, it later declined in popularity until its vigorous revival in the first half of the 20th century. Today, Vivaldi ranks among the most popular and widely recorded of Baroque composers, second only to Johann Sebastian Bach.

Only twelve collections of concerti and sonatas (none for bassoon) were published during Vivaldi’s own lifetime. These comprise 114 works out of his total output of more than 850. These were assigned opus numbers, but as far as we know, he didn’t number or otherwise record the order of the rest of his compositions. Over the years a number of scholars have taken on the task of grouping and ordering Vivaldi’s works, each taking a somewhat different approach.

Although Originally scored as the Bassoon Concerto (Bassoon, Strings and Continuo) in C Major (RV 478 Op. 45 No. 4), I created this arrangement for Viola & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).