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Jonathan Horn"

Dr. Robinson"

MUH3101 Music History I"

December 3, 2013"

The Life and Work of Antonio Vivaldi"

The Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is often considered a long-forgotten trea-

sure of the Baroque. His music basically disappeared from the public eye (and ear)

from not long after his death until about the early twentieth century. Why is this? His

music did not all of a sudden become uninteresting and boring; it was merely forgotten,

and it did not return to public admiration and academic study until a connection was

made between Vivaldi and a composer perhaps more revered Johann Sebastian

Bach. "1

Indeed, Vivaldi has been around longer than Bach, and he gave a powerful pri-

mary influence to the canon of Bachs work; therefore, an evident similarity between the

two exists in the sound of their music. This connection was first discovered and consid-

ered in depth in the 1860s, when an essay entitled Antonio Vivaldi and His Influence on

Johann Sebastian Bach was first published. The essay was based on original source

manuscripts uncovered in a music cabinet. Ever since then, an increasing effort has 2

been made to understand why Vivaldis music has been unnecessarily neglected, and a

focus has been placed on uncovering and dusting off his work and developing a new

appreciation and love for it in a twentieth century context."

Karl Heller, Antonio Vivaldi: The Red Priest of Venice (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 11997), p. 12. Heller, The Red Priest of Venice, p. 13.2

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Antonio Vivaldi, the son of Giovanni Battista, a violinist, baker, and barber, and

Camilla Calicchio, was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice. As a young boy, Vivaldi was 3

allowed to listen in on his violinist fathers orchestra rehearsals, and eventually began to

take theory lessons with the orchestras conductor, Giovanni Legrenzi. He likely also

studied violin under his father. As young as ten years old, Vivaldi became a substitute

violinist for the orchestra, taking the place of his father when he was away on other or-

chestral engagements. He may have also played in the cathedral orchestra of San

Marco. "4

This was the historical starting point of his brilliant and prolific musicianship, but

Vivaldi was known for more than his ability to play and write beautiful music. He is often

referred to as the red priest of Venice, a name which blossomed out of his order in the

Catholic church: at the age of fifteen, he was given the order of ostiario, the first of four

minor orders. He was called the red priest simply because of his red hair. It took Vi5 -

valdi ten years to train for the priesthood, and after receiving all the minor orders over

the course of 1693-1700, he finally became an ordained priest in March of 1703. It is 6

likely, however, that Vivaldi did not enjoy the priesthood, and it seems that he did not

enter it out of free will. In fact, soon after he was ordained, Vivaldi began to experience

some physical ailments which undermined his ability to perform the mass. He suffered

from asthmatic bronchitis, a nervous disorder of which he reported symptoms of tight-

Jeroen Koolbergen, Vivaldi: 1678-1741 (New York: Smithmark, 1996), p. 6.3

Walter Kolneder, Antonio Vivaldi: Documents of His Life and Works (New York: Heinrichshofen 4Edition, 1982), pp. 25-26. Kolneder, Documents of His Life and Works, p. 26.5

Heller, The Red Priest of Venice, p. 41.6

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ness of the chest. It is often speculated that Vivaldi faked this illness probably due to

a desire to write down new musical ideas that came to him while he was at the front of

the sanctuary. Nevertheless, soon after his ordination, he became a violin teacher, and

thus continued his musical career. "7

Vivaldi composed twelve concertos, and perhaps many other works, before 1711,

when the next historical record of his composership is dated. He also published two

collections of twelve sonatas each, paying for them out of his own pocket: twelve

sonatas a tre (1705) and a group dedicated to King Frederick IV of Denmark (1709). In

all, Vivaldi wrote a total of about ninety sonatas, compared with nearly nearly five hun-

dred concerti, a form he probably considered to be of greater importance. "8

Vivaldi had an association with Venetian ospedali. Ospedali were orphanages

that doubled as hospitals for the efficient care of the orphans. They were also music

schools, and this is where Vivaldis connection to these institutions began. Vivaldi was 9

specifically associated with the Ospedale della Pieta, where he contributed violin tuition

to students, as well as composing music and acquiring the music of other composers for

use in ospedalian concerts. Ospedali were a large part of Vivaldis contribution to soci-

ety during his lifetime. In addition to this, he also worked in some area opera theaters.

The Teatro Sant Angelo was perhaps the opera theater with the most likely attachment

to Vivaldi. "10

Koolbergen, Vivaldi, p. 13.7

Ibid., p. 17.8

Kolneder, Documents of His Life and Works, p. 38.9

Koolbergen, Vivaldi, p. 28.10

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As Vivaldis rich compositional career went on, and many of his operas were per-

formed, however, many seemed to note the the man was not receiving the recognition

he deserved. Quite the opposite, in fact. Charles de Brosses, a close friend of Vivaldis

who was in fact president at the time, wrote in 1739: To my great surprise I find that 11

he is not so highly regarded as he deserves to be in this country, where everything fol-

lows the fashions, where his works have been heard for too long a time, and where last

years music is no longer box-office. It seems that Vivaldis music began to be 12

eclipsed by that of younger composers, and even before his death, his work began to

be forgotten. As these developments progressed, Vivaldi left the Ospedale in 1940, in a

sad financial state, as his more recent compositions sold for pitiful prices. "13

Little is known about Vivaldis death, but it is clear that the man died on the date

July 28, 1941. In historical retrospect, his death seems sudden, because there was 14

very little information about the illness that lead to his death and very few uncovered

writings either from, to or about him in the time leading up to his death. His cause of

death was recorded as internal inflammation, but modern medicine gleans very little

from that description because no one is quite sure what caused the inflammation. On

the same day he died, he was buried in the Hospital Cemetery in Venice, where he lived

H. C. Robbins Landon, Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 111996), p. 28 Walter Kolneder, Antonio Vivaldi: His Life and Work (Berkeley, California: University of Cali12 -fornia Press, 1970), p. 20. Kolneder, His Life and Work, p. 21.13

Ibid., p. 21.14

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at the time of his death. Notably, he was still living in the city in which he was born

when he passed away. His funeral was held at St. Stephens Cathedral in Venice. "15

Although the composer wrote dramatic vocal music as well, initial interest in Vi-

valdis music was chiefly in the area of instrumentalism. In fact, in early research re-

garding Vivaldi, the composer was sometimes referred to as composer of concertos. 16

Even further obscured by the initially instrumental focus of Vivaldian research, further

beyond the shadow in which his instrumental music lived, was the existence of a large

body of sacred music that the man composed. Despite much progress having been

made in the dusting off of Vivaldis entire eclectic catalog, it is still his instrumental music

that receives the most attention. And rightly so, perhaps, because instrumental music

was his most prolific category of work. "17

Vivaldis operas should not be neglected either, however, because he was a very

skilled creator of dramatic vocal music as well. A notable feature in the operas of Vivaldi

is the way in which the libretto and the music of the opera are intertwined. These libret-

tos were not original works by a poet of his era, but were rather reworkings of older li-

brettos, often from the eighteenth century, made especially for Vivaldi by a local poet. In

fact, Vivaldi was known to work very closely with the librettist, and there are even

recorded instances of Vivaldi having a major influence in the shaping of the story traced

by the text. "18

Landon, Voice of the Baroque, pp. 165-166.15

Michael Talbot, Vivaldi (London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1978), p. vii.16

Marc Pincherle, Vivaldi, Genius of the Baroque; trans. Christopher Hatch (New York: W.W. 17Norton, 1957), pp. 64-67. Eric Cross, The Relationship between Text and Music in the Operas of Vivaldi, in Opera & 18Vivaldi, ed. Michael Collins and Elise K. Kirk (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984), p. 279.

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Vivaldi found many unique ways of introducing and building tension in his operas.

He purposed to create grand climaxes at the end of an act, and often did so by fully uti-

lizing the ensemble or chorus in large vocal numbers. He also strove to accomplish this

same effect with creative instrumentation, using some odd orchestrations in certain op-

eras, such as muted five-part strings or a psaltery obbligato. Interestingly, in his pure19 -

ly instrumental music, however, the presence of what in todays terms would be called

tension is a less prominent feature, leaning towards major keys and sweet sounds,

as exemplified in the majority of his Four Seasons."

Vivaldi also composed a large amount of sacred vocal music. It has been said

that this category of his creative work is hardest to classify because of the sheer variety

of it all. Eclecticism was intense in the text, magnitude of the musical elements, and

musical forces employed. The one major distinction of vital importance that can be

drawn to aid in classifying his sacred music, however, is whether a liturgical or non-litur-

gical text was used. In the liturgical realm, he composed settings of the Catholic Mass,

Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, a variety of Psalms, the Salve Regina, and Magnificat, among oth-

ers. He sometimes also composed multiple settings of the same text. The non-liturgical

category holds works such as the oratorio Juditha triumphans, a number of solo motets

and introduzioni, among others. "20

This body of sacred vocal music was permeated by a few interesting features,

both musically and historically. Musically, scholars note Vivaldis particularly skillful

weaving of choir and orchestra together. He was exceptionally good at emphasizing

Cross, Text and Music in the Operas of Vivaldi, p. 280.19

Talbot, Vivaldi, pp. 194-195.20

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what could be considered motivically significant material, and such material occupied

the foreground of a particular work, while the background was provided by the various

other instruments and voices. These two roles were switchable between different cate-

gories of voices and instruments. "21

According to Michael Talbot, historical interest is found in the ironic fact that the

red priest of Venice became a composer of sacred music by accident. Due to his re-

luctance to enter the priesthood, he did not have original ambitions of composing for the

church. Of further irony is the fact that, illuminated by the attention now given to this

genre of his work, he turned out to be quite good at it. "22

In addition to the sacred vocal music Vivaldi composed, as well as the operas

and instrumental sonatas and concertos mentioned earlier, Vivaldi was also a composer

of other vocal music genres: the cantata and the serenata. There is not much to be said

here other than that a complete picture of his compositional spectrum would be impos-

sible without mentioning these genres. He followed similar practice in writing his can-

tatas and serenatas as he did for the operas. "23

Hopefully the previous paragraphs will serve as a suitable introduction to the va-

riety of Vivaldis music, the categories of genres in which his compositions fell, and

some of the characteristic techniques unique to each particular style. It will be useful,

however, to also provide an overview on a broader scale, that is, dealing with the stylis-

Talbot, Vivaldi, pp. 204-205.21

Ibid., p. 205.22

Ibid., pp. 175-179.23

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tic thread that runs through all of Vivaldis music, regardless of the compositional genre

in which it is contained."

That being said, there is not much to said about the overall differences between

Vivaldis individual works it all boils down to the conclusion that much of his work

sounds, for the most part, alike. The distinctions mentioned earlier have been rather

nit-picky. Talbot tells us that [m]any listeners have discovered how much easier it is

to mistake one Vivaldi composition for another than to identify its composer wrongly. 24

For practical purposes, the fact that Vivaldis overall sound is distinct from that of other

composers is much more important than the internal distinctions between his own indi-

vidual works."

Vivaldis distinct sound was characterized by a variety of factors. Firstly, his use

of melody was broad, employing a wide melodic range with large intervals between

some notes, often skipping octaves and, astonishingly, he managed to use them ex-

pressively. He employed both diatonicism and chromaticism in his melodies, using both

techniques in varied and appropriate arrangements. His rhythms, while fairly standard

for the time, included some interesting syncopated elements. His phrase structure was

also quite unique: whereas phrases of the time were usually placed in groupings of two

(in which the second would respond to or balance out the first), it was not uncommon

for Vivaldi to make these pairings in threes, providing an unusual and surprising twist to

these melodies. Harmonically, he broke new ground by making liberal use of seventh

Talbot, Vivaldi, p. 96.24

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chords, which were used more sparingly before Vivaldis time. His chords also tended

to occasionally resolve in unorthodox ways. "25

This list is just a small taste of the variety of compositional techniques Vivaldi

used, some brand new and some well-established. Vivaldis genius was perhaps hid-

den behind the mask of consistency no one realized the vast richness of his music un-

til they looked beneath the surface. And that sort of in-depth digging into his music was

neglected for too long, ultimately making Vivaldi one of the most long-forgotten com-

posers of his time. But today, he receives his long overdue recognition.

Talbot, Vivaldi, pp. 96-104.25

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Bibliography"

Arnold, Denis. The New Grove Italian Baroque Masters: Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Cav-

alli, Corelli, A. Scarlatti, Vivaldi, D. Scarlatti. New York: W.W. Norton, 1984. 376 p."

Collins, Michael and Elise K. Kirk. Opera & Vivaldi. Austin: University of Texas Press,

1984. 398 p."

Heighes, Simon. Antonio Vivaldi. BBC Music Magazine 21, no. 6 (2013), 60-64."

Heller, Karl. Antonio Vivaldi: The Red Priest of Venice. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus

Press, 1997. 360 p."

Kolneder, Walter. Antonio Vivaldi: Documents of His Life and Works. New York: Hein-

richshofen Edition, 1982. 238 p."

Kolneder, Walter. Antonio Vivaldi: His Life and Work. Berkeley, California: University of

California Press, 1970. 288 p."

Koolbergen, Jeroen. Vivaldi: 1678-1741. New York: Smithmark, 1996. 80 p."

Landon, H. C. Robbins. Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 1996. 208 p."

Pincherle, Marc. Vivaldi, Genius of the Baroque. Trans. Christopher Hatch. New York:

W.W. Norton, 1957. 278 p. Originally published Paris, 1955."

Talbot, Michael. Antonio Vivaldi: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland Publishing,

1988. 197 p."

Talbot, Michael. Vivaldi. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1978. 275 p.