Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, and Catholic priest from the Republic of Venice. [1] He wrote hundreds of instrumental concertos as well as sacred works and operas, and his cycle of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons became one of the most popular pieces in the classical repertoire. [3] Vivaldi did much to establish the three-movement form of the solo concerto, influencing later composers including Johann Sebastian Bach. [2]
Early life and ordination
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on 4 March 1678 in Venice, then the capital of the Republic of Venice. [1] His father, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi, was a professional violinist at the basilica of San Marco and gave his son early training on the instrument. [1] Vivaldi was ordained a priest in 1703, and his flame-coloured hair earned him the nickname il Prete Rosso, the Red Priest. [2] Chronic ill health, which he described as a tightness of the chest, led him to withdraw from celebrating Mass soon afterward, allowing him to devote himself to music. [1]
The Ospedale della Pieta
For much of his career Vivaldi was associated with the Ospedale della Pieta, a Venetian charitable institution that housed and educated abandoned and orphaned girls. [1] Employed there in various roles from 1703, he taught violin and composed a steady stream of concertos, cantatas, and sacred vocal music for the institution's celebrated all-female ensemble, whose performances drew visitors from across Europe. [1]
Concertos and operas
Vivaldi was among the most prolific composers of his age, producing roughly 500 concertos along with sonatas, sacred works, and dozens of operas. [2] His 1711 collection L'estro armonico, Op. 3, circulated widely and helped standardise the fast-slow-fast concerto form. [2] In 1725 he published Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, Op. 8, which opens with the four violin concertos collectively known as The Four Seasons, each accompanied by a descriptive sonnet evoking spring, summer, autumn, and winter. [3] These works are early and influential examples of programme music, in which instrumental writing depicts specific scenes and events. [3] Vivaldi also worked as an impresario and composer for the Venetian opera houses, though many of his stage works are now lost. [1]
Later years and decline
In his final years Vivaldi's music fell out of fashion in Venice, and he travelled to Vienna, possibly seeking the patronage of Emperor Charles VI. [1] The emperor died shortly after his arrival, leaving the composer without support. [2] Vivaldi died in Vienna on 28 July 1741 in poverty and was buried in a simple grave. [1]
Legacy
Vivaldi's reputation faded for much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and his contribution survived partly through Bach, who admired and transcribed several of his concertos. [2] A major revival of interest in the early twentieth century, spurred by the rediscovery and cataloguing of his manuscripts, restored him to the front rank of Baroque composers. [1] Today The Four Seasons ranks among the most recorded and frequently performed works in the classical canon. [3]
