Antonio Vivaldi

Although Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) had already accomplished himself as a composer of violin sonatas and of sacred music, nothing propelled his career more than his first set of concertos -- L'estro armonico (Op.3) -- which first appeared in 1711. Besides being widely popular with both musicians and audiences of the day, L'estro armonico had a significant impact on the development of the relatively new solo-concerto. The set's influence was felt all across Europe -- no less a figure than J.S. Bach transcribed six of the Op.3 concertos for keyboard.

La cetra, Op. 9, is a set of twelve violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, published in 1727. All of them are for violin solo, strings, and basso continuo, except No. 9 in B flat, which features two solo violins. The set was named after the cetra, a lyre-like instrument, and was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI. La Cetra may not be as well known or as frequently recorded as either Vivaldi's Op. 8 (including the Four Seasons) or Op. 3, L'Estro Armonico, but it is well worth having in your collection. These twelve concertos offer a great deal of rewarding music: beautiful serenades, haunting largos, and even an occasional melody borrowed from the Seasons, fitted out with a striking new accompaniment. In La Cetra, Vivaldi frequently achieves a new level of expressiveness combined with virtuosity which helped pave the way for devilish exploits of Paganini. With a performance as frankly romantic as I Musici's, it's easy to make the connection between these two Italian giants.

Although this, the Violin Concerto in E Major (RV 263 Op. 9 No. 4) was originally scored for Violin and Strings (2 Violins, Viola, Cello, Bass & Continuo), I created this arrangement for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).