Vivaldi and The Four Seasons

Vivaldi was an ordained Catholic priest. Because of his red hair, he was nicknamed the red priest.

ritornello form:

the opening passage is re-stated throughout the movement.

ripieno:

Italian for full or complete.

a term used to denote the use of the full orchestra in the Baroque concerto.

ostinato:

Italian for obstinate or persistent.

A rhythmic or melodic pattern repeated for an extended period.

drone:

a sustained bass note that provides a rudimentary harmonic foundation

common in folk music.

solo concerto:

for soloist and orchestra

frequently employed ritornello form

intended to showcase the virtuosity of the soloist.

La Primavera

It is considered a programmatic work because poetic images are depicted graphically in the music.

genre: solo violin concerto

date of composition: 1725

In his lifetime, Vivaldi was best known as a composer of operas.

Think of sequential numbering for vivaldi's birth: 6-7-8 or 1678

dates: 1678-1741

His first love was to music, not to the church.

Vivaldi spent many years as maestro de concerti )director of instrumental music) at the Conservatorio del'Ospedale della Pieta, a famous music school for girls in Venice.

He wrote much of his music for the concerts at the Conservatorio, and these concerts became famous with visitors from around Europe.

Vivaldi became maestro di cappella to the Governor of Mantua. he was also a composer for the St. Anglo opera house in Venice and also performed his works in italy, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

The pope apparently asked Vivaldi to come and play the violin for him at a private audience. Apparently King Louis xv so enjoyed Spring from the four seasons that he asked Vivaldi to come to Versailles to perform the piece.

Little is known about the end of his life and despite having earned good money during his lifetime, he was buried in a pauper's grave in Vienna, Austria ( much like Mozart)I.

One of the most recent organizations of all of Vivaldi's works was done by Peter Ryom, who used the abbreviation RV.

Vivaldi was influenced by the earlier works of the Italian composers such as Arcangelo Corelli.

He was one of the first composers to introduce the cadenza (technically demanding solo passages).

He wrote works for the ancestor of the clarinet, the clarino.

Vivaldi began the practice of writing concertos in three movements: fast-slow-fast, which became the standard form for composers to follow. Vivaldi also made ritornello form popular and used the idea of a recurring theme in many of his works.

The four seasons is a wonderful collection of pieces based upon four Italian sonnets that Vivaldi presumably wrote.

Word painting refers to a musical technique where the music imitates the emotion, action, or descriptions of the text.

Ritornello, Italian for little return, is a passage for full instrumentation that is often repeated between instrumental solos.

tremolos is the same note played repeatedly and very quickly on a string instrument.

Ostinato is the Italian word for unceasing which refers to a short melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic pattern that is repeated throughout a composition, or portion of a composition.

a drone is a note performed throughout a composition as a sustained bass note.