Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) was an Italian
composer and violinist, considered among the greatest
exponents of Baroque music. A priest, although unable
to celebrate mass for health reasons, he was called
"the Red Priest" due to the color of his hair. He was
one of the most virtuosic violinists of his time and
one of the greatest composers of Baroque music.
Considered the most important, influential and original
Italian musician of his era, Vivaldi contributed
significantly to the developm...(+)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) was an Italian
composer and violinist, considered among the greatest
exponents of Baroque music. A priest, although unable
to celebrate mass for health reasons, he was called
"the Red Priest" due to the color of his hair. He was
one of the most virtuosic violinists of his time and
one of the greatest composers of Baroque music.
Considered the most important, influential and original
Italian musician of his era, Vivaldi contributed
significantly to the development of the concerto,
especially solo (a genre initiated by Giuseppe
Torelli), and of violin technique and orchestration.
Furthermore, he did not neglect opera in music and his
vast compositional work also includes numerous
concerts, sonatas and pieces of sacred music.
His works influenced numerous composers of his time
including the greatest Baroque genius Johann Sebastian
Bach, but also Pisendel, Heinichen, Zelenka,
Boismortier, Corrette, De Fesch, Quantz. His best-known
compositions are the four violin concertos known as The
Four Seasons, a famous example of subject music. As
with many Baroque composers, his name and music fell
into oblivion after his death. Only thanks to the
research of some 20th century musicologists, such as
Arnold Schering, Marc Pincherle, Alberto Gentili,
Alfredo Casella and Gian Francesco Malipiero, his name
and his works became famous again, becoming one of the
best known and most performed composers.
Antonio Vivaldi wrote various Beatus vir (Psalm 111) to
be sung at Vespers on Sundays and holidays. RV 597, in
C major, and 598, in B flat major, survive today, while
RV 599, also in B flat major, has been lost. This
setting of Beatus vir is the best known of the three.
It was originally composed around 1719, but, even if
the original composition has been lost, two reworkings
of it come down to us (one was probably written in the
second half of the 1720s, while the second appears to
have been sold by Vivaldi himself at the Ospedale della
Pietà in 1739). Musically very hard, this Beatus vir
was set to music for two choirs and appears to be a
large-scale work. Among the sacred compositions of the
Red Priest it is perhaps the one that is most closely
linked to the ancient styleand in which, as in the
famous Dixit Dominus in D major, Vivaldi demonstrates
great skill in the use of counterpoint.
It opens with a pompous movement with dotted rhythm,
from which Vivaldi extracts a refrain (motto) which he
repeats several times during the performance of the
entire work (a typical element present in numerous
Beatus vir starting with Claudio Monteverdi). The
second movement follows, structurally the most bizarre
of all Vivaldi's sacred works, presenting only two
contrapuntal parts performed by the basses of both
choirs. The movement of the Gloria et divitiae is
written for two sopranos (in the original version it
was composed for a single soprano who used the echo
technique) turns out to be surprisingly impressive. In
the movement, Exortum est in tenebris, the contrapuntal
element treated by the two choirs is very striking. The
Jucundus homo, where organ accompanies a solo soprano,
anticipates the most expressive movement of the Beatus
vir, the trio In memoria aeterna. After the Paratum cor
ejus for 2 choirs and the Peccator videbit for solo
tenor or chorus, the psalm concludes with the Gloria
Patri. The verse Beatus vir qui timet Dominum which
often occurs during the sacred work is made in motet
form, i.e. with two joined choirs and the orchestra
playing in unison with the basses.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatus_vir_(Vivaldi)).
Although originally written for 2 Sopranos, Alto, Mixed
Chorus (SATB), Strings and Continuo, I created this
Interpretation of "Beatus vir" (RV 598) for Winds
(Flute, Oboe, French Horn & Bassoon) and Strings (2
Violins, Viola & Cello).
