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. ...(+)
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 this, the Allegro from the Bassoon Concerto in
C Major (RV 478 Op. 45 No. 4) was created for Bassoon,
Strings and Continuo, I created this arrangement for
Viola & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
