The famous series of instrumental concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Genre of the concerto in the works of Antonio Vivaldi

On July 28, 1741, the composer Antonio Vivaldi died. In the history of music, he is a recognized genius, and, of course, there are hardly those who have never heard his works. However, not much is known about Vivaldi himself and his life. Restoring justice - remembering the biography of the great composer.

Antonio was born on March 4, 1678 in the Republic of Venice, in the family of the barber Giovanni Battista and Camilla Calicchio. The child was born prematurely by two months and was very weak, as a result of which he was baptized immediately after birth. Doctors later diagnosed him with "chest tightness", that is, asthma. This closed the opportunity for Vivaldi to play wind instruments in the future.

Vivaldi could write a full-fledged opera in 5 days

The father of the future musician was fond of music in his youth and learned to play the violin, later he was offered the position of chief violinist in the chapel of St. Mark's Cathedral. The first lessons of playing the instrument were given to little Antonio by his father himself. The boy was such a capable student that from 1689 he replaced his father in the chapel. There, the young genius was surrounded by clerics, which determined the choice of his future profession: Vivaldi decided to become a clergyman. However, this did not prevent him from continuing his music studies and combining two things.

Vivaldi's house in Venice

However, the church career did not develop smoothly due to the poor health of Vivaldi. He spent only a few masses as a priest, and after that he ceased to fulfill his duties, remaining, however, at the same time a clergyman. Antonio, who has proven himself to be an excellent musician, receives an offer to become a teacher at the Venice Conservatory. He taught his pupils both sacred and secular music. During these years, Vivaldi wrote many works for students - concertos, cantatas, sonatas, oratorios. In 1704, in addition to the position of violin teacher, he received the duties of a viola teacher. In 1716, he became the head of the conservatory, responsible for all musical activities.

Vivaldi was one of the inspirations for the composer Bach

In the 1710s, Vivaldi began to gain fame as a composer. His name was included in the Guide to Venice, where he was called a virtuoso violinist. Travelers staying in the famous Italian city spread the glory of Vivaldi beyond Italy. So, Vivaldi was introduced to the Danish king Frederick IV, to whom he later dedicated 12 violin sonatas. Since 1713, Vivaldi has been trying himself as an opera composer. He wrote "Otto in the Villa" and "Roland pretending to be mad" - these works provided Vivaldi with fame, and in the next 5 years another 8 operas of the composer were staged. Despite the frantic workload, Vivaldi did not shy away from his duties as head of the conservatory, managing to combine them with composing activities.

Vanessa Mae plays Vivaldi

Not everyone, however, was enthusiastic about Vivaldi's operas - for example, the composer Bendetto Marcello published a pamphlet where he ridiculed Vivaldi's work. This forced Antonio to suspend work on operas for several years.

Mercury crater named after Vivaldi

In 1717, Vivaldi accepted an offer to take the place of Kapellmeister at the court of Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, Governor of Mantua. It was under the influence of the surroundings of this town that the famous cycle of violin concertos was born, known in Russia as "The Seasons" (the correct name is "Four Seasons"). In addition, in Mantua, Vivaldi meets the opera singer Anna Giraud, whom he later introduces to everyone as his student. Giraud's sister, Paolina, accompanied the composer everywhere, taking care of his health - asthma attacks plagued Vivaldi. Both girls lived with Vivaldi in his house in Venice, which caused indignation on the part of the churchmen, since he was still a clergyman. In 1738, he was forbidden to celebrate mass on the grounds of the composer's "fall into sin". However, Vivaldi himself denied all sorts of gossip and speculation regarding his relationship with the Giraud sisters, who were only his pupils.

Mantova

One of the connoisseurs of Vivaldi's music was the philosopher and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, he performed some of the composer's works on the flute. Emperor Charles VI was among the admirers of his talent, and in the 1730s Vivaldi decided to move to Vienna and take the place of a composer at the imperial court. In order to raise money for the trip, he had to sell his manuscripts for a penny. The glory of Vivaldi faded, he was no longer so popular in Venice. Failures began to haunt the musician: shortly after arriving in Vienna, Charles VI dies, the war for the Austrian inheritance begins. Vivaldi leaves for Dresden in search of a new job, but falls ill. He returned to Vienna already deeply ill, impoverished and forgotten by everyone. Vivaldi died on July 28, 1741, he was buried in a cemetery for the poor in a simple grave.

For almost 200 years, Vivaldi's work was forgotten

The musical heritage of Vivaldi was forgotten for almost 200 years: only in the 20s. In the 20th century, the Italian musicologist Gentili discovered the composer's unique manuscripts: nineteen operas, more than 300 concerts, many spiritual and secular vocal compositions. It is believed that in his entire life Vivaldi wrote more than 90 operas, but only 40 have completely proven authorship.

One of the largest representatives of the Baroque era, A. Vivaldi entered the history of musical culture as the creator of the genre of instrumental concerto, the founder of orchestral program music. Vivaldi's childhood is connected with Venice, where his father worked as a violinist in the Cathedral of St. Mark. The family had 6 children, of which Antonio was the eldest. There are almost no details about the composer's childhood years. It is only known that he studied playing the violin and harpsichord.

On September 18, 1693, Vivaldi was tonsured a monk, and on March 23, 1703, he was ordained a priest. At the same time, the young man continued to live at home (presumably due to a serious illness), which gave him the opportunity not to leave music lessons. For the color of his hair, Vivaldi was nicknamed the "red monk." It is assumed that already in these years he was not too zealous about his duties as a clergyman. Many sources retell the story (perhaps unreliable, but revealing) about how one day during the service, the “red-haired monk” hastily left the altar to write down the theme of the fugue, which suddenly occurred to him. In any case, Vivaldi's relations with clerical circles continued to heat up, and soon he, citing his poor health, publicly refused to celebrate mass.

In September 1703, Vivaldi began working as a teacher (maestro di violino) in the Venetian charitable orphanage "Pio Ospedale delia Pieta". His duties included learning to play the violin and viola d'amore, as well as overseeing the safety of stringed instruments and buying new violins. The "services" at the "Pieta" (they can rightly be called concerts) were in the center of attention of the enlightened Venetian public. For reasons of economy, in 1709 Vivaldi was fired, but in 1711-16. reinstated in the same position, and from May 1716 he was already the concertmaster of the Pieta orchestra.

Even before the new appointment, Vivaldi established himself not only as a teacher, but also as a composer (mainly the author of sacred music). In parallel with his work at Pieta, Vivaldi is looking for opportunities to publish his secular writings. 12 trio sonatas op. 1 were published in 1706; in 1711 the most famous collection of violin concertos "Harmonic Inspiration" op. 3; in 1714 - another collection called "Extravagance" op. 4. Vivaldi's violin concertos very soon became widely known in Western Europe and especially in Germany. Great interest in them was shown by I. Quantz, I. Mattheson, the Great J. S. Bach "for pleasure and instruction" personally arranged 9 violin concertos by Vivaldi for clavier and organ. In the same years, Vivaldi wrote his first operas Otto (1713), Orlando (1714), Nero (1715). In 1718-20. he lives in Mantua, where he mainly writes operas for the carnival season, as well as instrumental compositions for the Mantua ducal court.

In 1725, one of the composer's most famous opuses came out of print, bearing the subtitle "The Experience of Harmony and Invention" (op. 8). Like the previous ones, the collection is made up of violin concertos (there are 12 of them here). The first 4 concerts of this opus are named by the composer, respectively, "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn" and "Winter". In modern performing practice, they are often combined into a cycle "Seasons" (there is no such heading in the original). Apparently, Vivaldi was not satisfied with the income from the publication of his concertos, and in 1733 he told a certain English traveler E. Holdsworth about his intention to abandon further publications, since, unlike printed manuscripts, handwritten copies were more expensive. In fact, since then, no new original opuses by Vivaldi have appeared.

Late 20s - 30s. often referred to as "years of travel" (preferred to Vienna and Prague). In August 1735, Vivaldi returned to the post of bandmaster of the Pieta orchestra, but the governing committee did not like his subordinate's passion for travel, and in 1738 the composer was fired. At the same time, Vivaldi continued to work hard in the genre of opera (one of his librettists was the famous C. Goldoni), while he preferred to personally participate in the production. However, Vivaldi's opera performances were not particularly successful, especially after the composer was deprived of the opportunity to act as director of his operas at the Ferrara theater due to the cardinal's ban on entering the city (the composer was accused of having a love affair with Anna Giraud, his former student, and refusing to "red-haired monk" to celebrate mass). As a result, the opera premiere in Ferrara failed.

In 1740, shortly before his death, Vivaldi went on his last trip to Vienna. The reasons for his sudden departure are unclear. He died in the house of the widow of a Viennese saddler by the name of Waller and was beggarly buried. Soon after his death, the name of the outstanding master was forgotten. Almost 200 years later, in the 20s. 20th century the Italian musicologist A. Gentili discovered a unique collection of the composer's manuscripts (300 concertos, 19 operas, spiritual and secular vocal compositions). From this time begins a genuine revival of the former glory of Vivaldi. The music publishing house "Ricordi" in 1947 began to publish the complete works of the composer, and the firm "Philips" recently began to implement an equally grandiose plan - the publication of "all" Vivaldi on record. In our country, Vivaldi is one of the most frequently performed and most beloved composers. The creative heritage of Vivaldi is great. According to the authoritative thematic-systematic catalog of Peter Ryom (international designation - RV), it covers more than 700 titles. The main place in the work of Vivaldi was occupied by an instrumental concerto (a total of about 500 preserved). The composer's favorite instrument was the violin (about 230 concertos). In addition, he wrote concertos for two, three and four violins and orchestra and basso continue, concertos for viola d'amour, cello, mandolin, longitudinal and transverse flutes, oboe, bassoon. More than 60 concertos for string orchestra and basso continue, sonatas for various instruments are known. Of the more than 40 operas (the authorship of Vivaldi in respect of which has been established with certainty), the scores of only half of them have survived. Less popular (but no less interesting) are his numerous vocal compositions - cantatas, oratorios, works on spiritual texts (psalms, litanies, "Gloria", etc.).

Many of Vivaldi's instrumental compositions have programmatic subtitles. Some of them refer to the first performer (Carbonelli Concerto, RV 366), others to the holiday during which this or that composition was first performed (For the Feast of St. Lorenzo, RV 286). A number of subtitles point to some unusual detail of performing technique (in the concerto called "L'ottavina", RV 763, all solo violins must be played in the upper octave). The most typical headings that characterize the prevailing mood are “Rest”, “Anxiety”, “Suspicion” or “Harmonic inspiration”, “Zither” (the last two are the names of collections of violin concertos). At the same time, even in those works whose titles seem to indicate external pictorial moments (“Storm at Sea”, “Goldfinch”, “Hunting”, etc.), the main thing for the composer is always the transmission of the general lyrical mood. The score of The Four Seasons is provided with a relatively detailed program. Already during his lifetime, Vivaldi became famous as an outstanding connoisseur of the orchestra, the inventor of many coloristic effects, he did a lot to develop the technique of playing the violin.

S. Lebedev

The wonderful works of A. Vivaldi are of great, world-wide fame. Modern famous ensembles devote evenings to his work (the Moscow Chamber Orchestra conducted by R. Barshai, the Roman Virtuosos, etc.) and, perhaps, after Bach and Handel, Vivaldi is the most popular among composers of the musical baroque era. Today it seems to have received a second life.

He enjoyed wide popularity during his lifetime, was the creator of a solo instrumental concerto. The development of this genre in all countries during the entire preclassical period is associated with the work of Vivaldi. Vivaldi's concertos served as a model for Bach, Locatelli, Tartini, Leclerc, Benda and others. Bach arranged 6 violin concertos by Vivaldi for the clavier, made organ concertos out of 2 and reworked one for 4 claviers.

“At the time when Bach was in Weimar, the whole musical world admired the originality of the concerts of the latter (i.e., Vivaldi. - L.R.),. Bach transcribed the Vivaldi concertos not to make them accessible to the general public, and not to learn from them, but only because it gave him pleasure. Undoubtedly, he benefited from Vivaldi. He learned from him the clarity and harmony of construction. perfect violin technique based on melodiousness ... "

However, being very popular during the first half of the 18th century, Vivaldi was later almost forgotten. “While after the death of Corelli,” writes Pencherl, “the memory of him became stronger and more embellished over the years, Vivaldi, who was almost less famous during his lifetime, literally disappeared after a few five years both materially and spiritually. His creations leave the programs, even the features of his appearance are erased from memory. About the place and date of his death, there were only guesses. For a long time, dictionaries repeat only meager information about him, filled with commonplaces and replete with errors ..».

Until recently, Vivaldi was only interested in historians. In music schools, at the initial stages of education, they studied 1-2 of his concerts. In the middle of the 20th century, attention to his work increased rapidly, and interest in the facts of his biography increased. Yet we still know very little about him.

The ideas about his heritage, of which most of it remained in obscurity, were completely wrong. Only in 1927-1930, the Turin composer and researcher Alberto Gentili managed to discover about 300 (!) Vivaldi autographs, which were the property of the Durazzo family and were stored in their Genoese villa. Among these manuscripts are 19 operas, an oratorio and several volumes of church and instrumental works by Vivaldi. This collection was founded by Prince Giacomo Durazzo, a philanthropist, since 1764, the Austrian envoy in Venice, where, in addition to political activities, he was engaged in collecting art samples.

According to Vivaldi's will, they were not subject to publication, but Gentili secured their transfer to the National Library and thereby made them public. The Austrian scientist Walter Kollender began to study them, arguing that Vivaldi was several decades ahead of the development of European music in the use of dynamics and purely technical methods of violin playing.

According to the latest data, it is known that Vivaldi wrote 39 operas, 23 cantatas, 23 symphonies, many church compositions, 43 arias, 73 sonatas (trio and solo), 40 concerti grossi; 447 solo concertos for various instruments: 221 for violin, 20 for cello, 6 for viol damour, 16 for flute, 11 for oboe, 38 for bassoon, concertos for mandolin, horn, trumpet and for mixed compositions: wooden with violin, for 2 -x violins and lutes, 2 flutes, oboe, English horn, 2 trumpets, violin, 2 violas, bow quartet, 2 cembalos, etc.

The exact birthday of Vivaldi is unknown. Pencherle gives only an approximate date - a little earlier than 1678. His father Giovanni Battista Vivaldi was a violinist in the ducal chapel of St. Mark in Venice, and a first-class performer. In all likelihood, the son received a violin education from his father, while he studied composition with Giovanni Legrenzi, who headed the Venetian violin school in the second half of the 17th century, was an outstanding composer, especially in the field of orchestral music. Apparently from him Vivaldi inherited a passion for experimenting with instrumental compositions.

At a young age, Vivaldi entered the same chapel where his father worked as a leader, and later replaced him in this position.

However, a professional musical career was soon supplemented by a spiritual one - Vivaldi became a priest. This happened on September 18, 1693. Until 1696, he was in the junior spiritual rank, and received full priestly rights on March 23, 1703. "Red-haired pop" - derisively called Vivaldi in Venice, and this nickname remained with him throughout his life.

Having received the priesthood, Vivaldi did not stop his musical studies. In general, he was engaged in church service for a short time - only one year, after which he was forbidden to serve masses. Biographers give a funny explanation for this fact: “Once Vivaldi was serving Mass, and suddenly the theme of the fugue came to his mind; leaving the altar, he goes to the sacristy to write down this theme, and then returns to the altar. A denunciation followed, but the Inquisition, considering him a musician, that is, as if crazy, only limited himself to forbidding him to continue to serve mass.

Vivaldi denied such cases and explained the ban on church services by his painful condition. By 1737, when he was due to arrive in Ferrara to stage one of his operas, the papal nuncio Ruffo forbade him from entering the city, putting forward, among other reasons, that he did not serve Mass. Then Vivaldi sent a letter (November 16, 1737) to his patron, the Marquis Guido Bentivoglio: “For 25 years now I have not been serving Mass and will never serve it in the future, but not by prohibition, as may be reported to your grace, but due to my own decision, caused by an illness that has been oppressing me since the day I was born. When I was ordained a priest, I celebrated Mass for a year or a little, then I stopped doing it, forced to leave the altar three times, not finishing it due to illness. As a result, I almost always live at home and travel only in a carriage or gondola, because I cannot walk because of a chest disease, or rather chest tightness. Not a single nobleman calls me to his house, not even our prince, since everyone knows about my illness. After a meal, I can usually take a walk, but never on foot. That's the reason why I don't send Mass." The letter is curious in that it contains some everyday details of Vivaldi's life, which apparently proceeded in a closed way within the boundaries of his own home.

Forced to give up his church career, in September 1703 Vivaldi entered one of the Venetian conservatories, called the Musical Seminary of the Hospice House of Piety, for the position of “violin maestro”, with a content of 60 ducats a year. In those days, orphanages (hospitals) at churches were called conservatories. In Venice there were four for girls, in Naples four for boys.

The famous French traveler de Brosse left the following description of the Venetian conservatories: “The music of hospitals is excellent here. There are four of them, and they are filled with illegitimate girls, as well as orphans or those who are not able to raise their parents. They are brought up at the expense of the state and they are taught mainly music. They sing like angels, they play the violin, flute, organ, oboe, cello, bassoon, in a word, there is no such a bulky instrument that would make them afraid. 40 girls participate in each concert. I swear to you, there is nothing more attractive than to see a young and beautiful nun, in white clothes, with bouquets of pomegranate flowers on her ears, beating time with all grace and precision.

J.-J. Rousseau: “On Sundays in the churches of each of these four Scuoles, during Vespers, with a full choir and orchestra, motets composed by the greatest composers of Italy, under their personal direction, are performed exclusively by young girls, the oldest of whom is not even twenty years old. They are in the stands behind bars. Neither I nor Carrio ever missed these Vespers at the Mendicanti. But I was driven to despair by these cursed bars, which let in only sounds and hid the faces of angels of beauty worthy of these sounds. I just talked about it. Once I said the same thing to Mr. de Blond.

De Blon, who belonged to the administration of the conservatory, introduced Rousseau to the singers. "Come, Sophia," she was terrible. "Come, Kattina," she was crooked in one eye. "Come, Bettina," her face was disfigured by smallpox. However, "ugliness does not exclude charm, and they possessed it," Rousseau adds.

Entering the Conservatory of Piety, Vivaldi got the opportunity to work with the full orchestra (with brass and organ) that was available there, which was considered the best in Venice.

About Venice, its musical and theatrical life and conservatories can be judged by the following heartfelt lines of Romain Rolland: “Venice was at that time the musical capital of Italy. There, during the carnival, every evening there were performances in seven opera houses. Every evening the Academy of Music met, that is, there was a musical meeting, sometimes there were two or three such meetings in the evening. Musical celebrations took place in the churches every day, concerts lasting several hours with the participation of several orchestras, several organs and several overlapping choirs. On Saturdays and Sundays, the famous vespers were served in hospitals, those women's conservatories, where orphans, foundling girls, or just girls with beautiful voices were taught music; they gave orchestral and vocal concerts, for which the whole of Venice went crazy ..».

By the end of the first year of his service, Vivaldi received the title of “maestro of the choir”, his further promotion is not known, it is only certain that he served as a teacher of violin and singing, and also, intermittently, as an orchestra leader and composer.

In 1713 he received leave and, according to a number of biographers, traveled to Darmstadt, where he worked for three years in the chapel of the Duke of Darmstadt. However, Pencherl claims that Vivaldi did not go to Germany, but worked in Mantua, in the duke's chapel, and not in 1713, but from 1720 to 1723. Pencherl proves this by referring to a letter from Vivaldi, who wrote: “In Mantua I was in the service of the pious Prince of Darmstadt for three years,” and determines the time of his stay there by the fact that the title of maestro of the Duke’s chapel appears on the title pages of Vivaldi’s printed works only after 1720 of the year.

From 1713 to 1718, Vivaldi lived in Venice almost continuously. At this time, his operas were staged almost annually, with the first in 1713.

By 1717, Vivaldi's fame had grown extraordinary. The famous German violinist Johann Georg Pisendel comes to study with him. In general, Vivaldi taught mainly performers for the orchestra of the conservatory, and not only instrumentalists, but also singers.

Suffice it to say that he was the teacher of such major opera singers as Anna Giraud and Faustina Bodoni. “He prepared a singer who bore the name of Faustina, whom he forced to imitate with her voice everything that could be performed in his time on the violin, flute, oboe.”

Vivaldi became very friendly with Pisendel. Pencherl cites the following story by I. Giller. One day Pisendel was walking along St. Stamp with "Redhead". Suddenly he interrupted the conversation and quietly ordered to return home at once. Once at home, he explained the reason for his sudden return: for a long time, four gatherings followed and watched the young Pisendel. Vivaldi asked if his student had said any reprehensible words anywhere, and demanded that he not leave the house anywhere until he figured out the matter himself. Vivaldi saw the inquisitor and learned that Pisendel had been mistaken for some suspicious person with whom he bore a resemblance.

From 1718 to 1722, Vivaldi is not listed in the documents of the Conservatory of Piety, which confirms the possibility of his departure to Mantua. At the same time, he periodically appeared in his native city, where his operas continued to be staged. He returned to the conservatory in 1723, but already as a famous composer. Under the new conditions, he was obliged to write 2 concertos a month, with a reward of sequin per concert, and conduct 3-4 rehearsals for them. In fulfilling these duties, Vivaldi combined them with long and distant trips. “For 14 years,” Vivaldi wrote in 1737, “I have been traveling with Anna Giraud to numerous cities in Europe. I spent three carnival seasons in Rome because of the opera. I was invited to Vienna." In Rome, he is the most popular composer, his operatic style is imitated by everyone. In Venice in 1726 he performed as an orchestra conductor at the Theater of St. Angelo, apparently in 1728, goes to Vienna. Then three years follow, devoid of any data. Again, some introductions about the productions of his operas in Venice, Florence, Verona, Ancona shed scant light on the circumstances of his life. In parallel, from 1735 to 1740, he continued his service at the Conservatory of Piety.

The exact date of Vivaldi's death is unknown. Most sources indicate 1743.

Five portraits of the great composer have survived. The earliest and most reliable, apparently, belongs to P. Ghezzi and refers to 1723. "Red-haired pop" is depicted chest-deep in profile. The forehead is slightly sloping, the long hair is curled, the chin is pointed, the lively look is full of will and curiosity.

Vivaldi was very sick. In a letter to the Marquis Guido Bentivoglio (November 16, 1737), he writes that he is forced to make his travels accompanied by 4-5 persons - and all because of a painful condition. However, illness did not prevent him from being extremely active. He is on endless journeys, he directs opera productions, discusses roles with singers, struggles with their whims, conducts extensive correspondence, conducts orchestras and manages to write an incredible number of works. He is very practical and knows how to arrange his affairs. De Brosse says ironically: "Vivaldi became one of my close friends in order to sell me more expensive his concerts." He kowtows before the mighty of this world, prudently choosing patrons, sanctimoniously religious, although by no means inclined to deprive himself of worldly pleasures. Being a Catholic priest, and, according to the laws of this religion, deprived of the opportunity to marry, for many years he was in love with his pupil, singer Anna Giraud. Their proximity caused Vivaldi great trouble. Thus, the papal legate in Ferrara in 1737 refused Vivaldi entry into the city, not only because he was forbidden to attend church services, but largely because of this reprehensible proximity. The famous Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni wrote that Giraud was ugly, but attractive - she had a thin waist, beautiful eyes and hair, a charming mouth, had a weak voice and undoubted stage talent.

The best description of Vivaldi's personality is found in Goldoni's Memoirs.

One day, Goldoni was asked to make some changes to the text of the libretto of the opera Griselda with music by Vivaldi, which was being staged in Venice. For this purpose, he went to Vivaldi's apartment. The composer received him with a prayer book in his hands, in a room littered with notes. He was very surprised that instead of the old librettist Lalli, the changes should be made by Goldoni.

“- I know well, my dear sir, that you have a poetic talent; I saw your Belisarius, which I liked very much, but this is quite different: you can create a tragedy, an epic poem, if you like, and still not cope with a quatrain to set to music.
- Give me the pleasure of getting acquainted with your play.
- Please, please, with pleasure. Where did I put the Griselda? She was here. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende, Domine, Domine, Domine. (God, come down to me! Lord, Lord, Lord). She was just on hand. Domine adjuvandum (Lord, help). Ah, here it is, look, sir, this scene between Gualtiere and Griselda, it is a very fascinating, touching scene. The author ended it with a pathetic aria, but signorina Giraud does not like dull songs, she would like something expressive, exciting, an aria that expresses passion in various ways, for example, words interrupted by sighs, with action, movement. I don't know if you understand me?
- Yes, sir, I already understood, besides, I already had the honor of hearing signorina Giraud, and I know that her voice is not strong.
- How, sir, you insult my pupil? Everything is available to her, she sings everything.
- Yes, sir, you are right; give me the book and let me get to work.
- No, sir, I can't, I need her, I'm very worried.
- Well, if, sir, you are so busy, then give it to me for one minute and I will immediately satisfy you.
- Immediately?
Yes, sir, immediately.
The abbot, chuckling, gives me a play, paper and an inkwell, again takes up the prayer book and, walking, reads his psalms and hymns. I read the scene already known to me, remembered the wishes of the musician, and in less than a quarter of an hour I sketched an aria of 8 verses on paper, divided into two parts. I call my spiritual person and show the work. Vivaldi reads, his forehead smoothes, he rereads, utters joyful exclamations, throws his breviary on the floor and calls Signorina Giraud. She appears; well, he says, here is a rare person, here is an excellent poet: read this aria; the signor made it without getting up from his place in a quarter of an hour; then turning to me: ah, sir, excuse me. “And he hugs me, swearing that from now on I will be his only poet.”

Pencherl ends the work dedicated to Vivaldi with the following words: “This is how Vivaldi is portrayed to us when we combine all the individual information about him: created from contrasts, weak, sick, and yet alive like gunpowder, ready to get annoyed and immediately calm down, move from worldly vanity to superstitious piety, stubborn and at the same time accommodating when necessary, a mystic, but ready to go down to earth when it comes to his interests, and not at all a fool in organizing his affairs.

And how it all fits with his music! In it, the sublime pathos of the church style is combined with the indefatigable ardor of life, the high is mixed with everyday life, the abstract with the concrete. In his concerts, severe fugues, mournful majestic adagios and, along with them, songs of the common people, lyrics coming from the heart, and a cheerful dance sound. He writes program works - the famous cycle "The Seasons" and supplies each concert with frivolous bucolic stanzas for the abbot:

Spring has come, solemnly announces.
Her merry round dance, and the song in the mountains sounds.
And the brook murmurs towards her affably.
Zephyr wind caresses the whole nature.

But suddenly it got dark, lightning shone,
Spring is a harbinger - thunder swept through the mountains
And soon fell silent; and the lark's song,
Dispersed in the blue, they rush along the valleys.

Where the carpet of flowers of the valley covers,
Where tree and leaf tremble in the breeze,
With a dog at his feet, the shepherd is dreaming.

And again Pan can listen to the magic flute
To the sound of her, the nymphs dance again,
Welcoming the Sorceress-spring.

In Summer, Vivaldi makes the cuckoo crow, the turtle dove coo, the goldfinch chirp; in "Autumn" the concert begins with the song of the villagers returning from the fields. He also creates poetic pictures of nature in other program concerts, such as "Storm at Sea", "Night", "Pastoral". He also has concerts that depict the state of mind: “Suspicion”, “Rest”, “Anxiety”. His two concertos on the theme "Night" can be considered the first symphonic nocturnes in world music.

His writings amaze with the richness of imagination. With an orchestra at his disposal, Vivaldi is constantly experimenting. The solo instruments in his compositions are either severely ascetic or frivolously virtuosic. Motority in some concerts gives way to generous song, melodic - in others. Colorful effects, play of timbres, such as in the middle part of the Concerto for three violins with a charming pizzicato sound, are almost "impressionistic".

Vivaldi created with phenomenal speed: “He is ready to bet that he can compose a concerto with all his parts faster than a scribe can rewrite it,” wrote de Brosse. Perhaps this is where the spontaneity and freshness of Vivaldi's music comes from, which has delighted listeners for more than two centuries.

L. Raaben, 1967

1.2 The creative contribution of A. Vivaldi to the development of the instrumental concerto

The outstanding violinist and composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) is one of the brightest representatives of the Italian violin art of the 18th century. Its significance, especially in the creation of a solo violin concerto, goes far beyond Italy.

A. Vivaldi was born in Venice, in the family of an excellent violinist and teacher, a member of the chapel of the Cathedral of San Marco, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi. From early childhood, his father taught him to play the violin, took him to rehearsals. From the age of 10, the boy began to replace his father, who also worked in one of the city's conservatories.

The head of the chapel, J. Legrenzi, became interested in the young violinist and studied organ and composition with him. Vivaldi visited Legrenzi's home concerts, where they listened to new compositions by the owner himself, his students - Antonio Lotti, cellist Antonio Caldara, organist Carlo Polarolli and others. Unfortunately, in 1790, Legrenzi died and classes ceased.

By this time, Vivaldi had already begun to compose music. His first work that has come down to us is a spiritual work dating from 1791. The father considered it best to give his son a spiritual education, since the dignity and vow of celibacy gave Vivaldi the right to teach at the women's conservatory. Thus began spiritual training in the seminary. In 1693 he was ordained an abbot. This gave him access to the most prestigious conservatory "Ospedale della Pieta". However, the holy dignity turned out to be a further obstacle to the deployment of Vivaldi's enormous talent. After the abbot, Vivaldi moved up the steps of the spiritual ranks, and finally in 1703 he was consecrated to the last lower rank - the priest, which gave him the right to serve an independent service - mass.

Father fully prepared Vivaldi for teaching, doing the same at the Conservatory of the "beggars". Music at the conservatory was the main subject. Girls were taught to sing, play various instruments, and conduct. The conservatory had one of the best orchestras in Italy at that time, 140 pupils participated in it. B. Martini, C. Burney, K. Dittersdorf spoke enthusiastically about this orchestra. Together with Vivaldi, a student of Corelli and Lotti, Francesco Gasparini, an experienced violinist and composer, whose operas were performed in Venice, taught here.

At the conservatory, Vivaldi taught the violin and the English viola. The Conservatory Orchestra became for him a kind of laboratory where his ideas could be realized. Already in 1705, his first opus of trio sonatas (chamber) was published, in which the influence of Corelli is still felt. It is characteristic, however, that no sign of apprenticeship is discernible in them. These are mature artistic compositions, attracting with the freshness and descriptiveness of the music.

As if emphasizing a tribute to the genius of Corelli, he completes Sonata No. 12 with the same variations on the Folia theme. Already next year, the second opus, concerti grossi "Harmonic Inspiration", appeared three years earlier than Torelli's concerts. It is among these concerts that the famous a-moll is located.

The service at the conservatory went well. Vivaldi is entrusted with the leadership of the orchestra, then the choir. In 1713, in connection with the departure of Gasparini, Vivaldi became the main composer with the obligation to compose two concertos a month. He worked at the conservatory almost to the end of his life. He brought the orchestra of the conservatory to the highest perfection.

The fame of Vivaldi - the composer is rapidly spreading not only in Italy. His works are published in Amsterdam. In Venice, he meets with Handel, A. Scarlatti, his son Domenico, who studies with Gasparini. Vivaldi also gained fame as a virtuoso violinist, for whom there were no impossible difficulties. His skill was manifested in impromptu cadences.

One such case, who was present at the production of Vivaldi’s opera at the San Angelo Theater, recalled his game: “Almost at the end, accompanying the singer’s superb solo, in the end, Vivaldi performed a fantasy that really frightened me, because it was something incredible, like which no one has played and cannot play, because with his fingers he climbed so high up that there was no longer any room for the bow, and this on all four strings he performed the fugue with incredible speed. Recordings of several such cadences remain in manuscript.

Vivaldi composed rapidly. His solo sonatas and concertos are out of print. For the conservatory, he creates his first oratorio "Moses, the god of the Pharaoh", prepares the first opera - "Otto in Villa", which was held with success in 1713 in Vicenza. In the next three years, he creates three more operas. Then comes a break. Vivaldi wrote so easily that even he himself sometimes noted this, as on the manuscript of the opera Tito Manlio (1719) - "worked out in five days."

In 1716, Vivaldi created one of his best oratorios for the conservatory: “Judith triumphant, defeating Holofernes of the barbarians.” Music attracts with energy and scope and at the same time with amazing brilliance and poetry. In the same year, during the musical celebrations in honor of the arrival of the Duke of Saxony in Venice, two young violinists, Giuseppe Tartini and Francesco Veracini, were invited to perform. The meeting with Vivaldi had a profound impact on their work, especially on Tartini's concertos and sonatas. Tartini said that Vivaldi is a composer of concertos, but he thinks that he is an opera composer by vocation. Tartini was right. Vivaldi's operas are now forgotten.

Vivaldi's pedagogical activity at the conservatory gradually brought success. Other violinists also studied with him: J. B. Somis, Luigi Madonis and Giovanni Verocai, who served in St. Petersburg, Carlo Tessarini, Daniel Gottlob Troy - bandmaster in Prague. A pupil of the conservatory - Santa Taska became a concert violinist, then a court musician in Vienna; Hiaretta also performed, with whom the prominent Italian violinist G. Fedeli studied.

In addition, Vivaldi was also a good vocal teacher. His pupil Faustina Bordoni received the nickname "New Sirena" for the beauty of her voice (contralto). The most famous student of Vivaldi was Johann Georg Pisendel, the concertmaster of the Dresden Chapel.

In 1718, Vivaldi unexpectedly accepted an invitation to work as head of the Landgrave's chapel in Mantua. Here he stages his operas, creates numerous concertos for the chapel, and dedicates a cantata to the Count. In Mantua, he met his former pupil, the singer Anna Giraud. He undertook to develop her vocal abilities, succeeded in this, but was seriously carried away by her. Giraud became a famous singer and sang in all Vivaldi's operas.

In 1722 Vivaldi returned to Venice. At the conservatory, he must now compose two instrumental concertos a month and conduct 3-4 rehearsals with students to learn them. In case of departure, he had to send concerts by courier.

In the same year, he created Twelve Concertos, which made up the op. 8 - "The Experience of Harmony and Fantasy", which includes the famous "Seasons" and some other program concerts. It was published in Amsterdam in 1725. The concerts quickly spread throughout Europe, and The Four Seasons gained immense popularity.

During these years, the intensity of Vivaldi's work was exceptional. For the 1726/27 season alone, he creates eight new operas, dozens of concertos, and sonatas. Since 1735, Vivaldi has developed a fruitful collaboration with Carlo Goldoni, on whose libretto he creates the operas Griselda, Aristide and many others. This also affected the composer's music, in whose work the features of opera buffa and folk elements are more clearly manifested.

Little is known about Vivaldi - the performer. He performed as a violinist very rarely - only at the Conservatory, where he sometimes played his concertos, and sometimes at the opera, where there were violin solos or cadences. Judging by the surviving records of some of his cadenzas, his compositions, as well as fragmentary testimonies of his contemporaries that have come down to us about his playing, he was an outstanding violinist who masterfully mastered his instrument.

He, as a composer, thought like a violinist. The instrumental style also shines through in his operatic work, oratorio compositions. The fact that he was an outstanding violinist is also evidenced by the fact that many violinists of Europe aspired to study with him. The features of his performing style are certainly reflected in his compositions.

The creative heritage of Vivaldi is huge. More than 530 of his works have already been published. He wrote about 450 different concertos, 80 sonatas, about 100 symphonies, more than 50 operas, over 60 spiritual works. Many of them are still in manuscript today. The Ricordi publishing house has published 221 solo violin concertos, 26 concertos for 2-4 violins, 6 viol damour concertos, 11 cello concertos, 30 violin sonatas, 19 trio sonatas, 9 cello sonatas and other compositions, including for wind instruments.

In any genre touched by the genius of Vivaldi, new unexplored possibilities opened up. This was evident already in his first work.

Twelve trio sonatas by Vivaldi were first published as op. 1, at Venice in 1705, but composed long before that; probably, this opus included selected works of this genre. In style, they are close to Corelli, although they also show some individual features. It is interesting that, just as it takes place in op. 5 Corelli, Vivaldi's collection ends with nineteen variations on the theme of the Spanish folia, popular in those days. Attention is drawn to the unequal (melodic and rhythmic) presentation of the theme by Corelli and Vivaldi (the latter is more strict). Unlike Corelli, who usually distinguished between chamber and church styles, Vivaldi already in the first opus gives examples of their interweaving and interpenetration.

In terms of genre, these are rather chamber sonatas. In each of them, the part of the first violin is singled out, it is given a virtuoso, freer character. The sonatas open with magnificent preludes of a slow, solemn character, with the exception of the Tenth Sonata, which begins with a fast dance. The rest of the parts are almost all genre. Here are eight allemands, five jig, six chimes, which are instrumentally rethought. The solemn court gavotte, for example, he uses five times as a quick finale in Allegro and Presto tempo.

The form of the sonatas is quite free. The first part gives a psychological mood to the whole, just as Corelli did. However, Vivaldi further refuses the fugue part, polyphony and development, strives for a dynamic dance movement. Sometimes all the other parts go almost at the same tempo, thus violating the old principle of tempo contrast.

Already in these sonatas, Vivaldi's richest imagination is felt: no repetitions of traditional formulas, inexhaustible melody, the desire for convexity, characteristic intonations, which will then be developed both by Vivaldi himself and by other authors. Thus, the beginning of the Grave of the second sonata will then appear in The Four Seasons. The melody of the prelude of the eleventh sonata will affect the main theme of Bach's Concerto for two violins. Wide movements of figuration, the repetition of intonations, as if fixing the main material in the mind of the listener, and the consistent implementation of the principle of sequential development become characteristic features.

The strength and ingenuity of Vivaldi's creative spirit was especially clearly manifested in the concert genre. It is in this genre that most of his works are written. At the same time, the concerto heritage of the Italian master freely combines works written in the form of concerto grosso and in the form of a solo concerto. But even in those of his concertos that gravitate toward the concerto grosso genre, the individualization of the concert parts is clearly felt: they often acquire a concert character, and then it is not easy to draw a line between concerto grosso and a solo concerto.

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On March 4, 1678, Antonio Vivaldi was born - a composer without whose music no violinist could learn. Among his many concerts, there are those that are within the power of students of music schools - while others will do honor to recognized virtuosos. The creative heritage of Antonio Vivaldi is striking in its scale - he wrote 90 operas alone, but his other creations are much more famous - 49 works in the concerto grosso genre, 100 sonatas, cantatas, oratorios, spiritual works, and the number of concerts for one solo instrument with an orchestra - violins, flutes, cellos, bassoons, oboe - more than three hundred.

Antonio Vivaldi was a pioneer in many ways. He became one of the first who gave a “start in life” to the horn, bassoon and oboe, using these instruments as independent instruments, not duplicating them. Along with Arcangelo Corelli, he became the founder of the solo instrumental concerto.

Not much is known about his childhood. His homeland is Venice, he was the eldest among the six children of a violinist who served in the Cathedral of St. Mark (and before that combined amateur music-making with the work of a barber) - and the only one who followed in his father's footsteps as a musician (other sons inherited their father's first profession). The boy was not born prematurely and weak - so much so that he was urgently baptized, fearing that he would not survive. Antonio survived, but his health was never strong. The symptoms of his illness were described as "chest tightness" - apparently, it was about asthma, and for this reason Vivaldi could not play wind instruments, but he perfectly mastered the violin and harpsichord.

At the age of fifteen, Antonio became a monk, but health problems prevented him from living in a monastery. After ten years, he takes the holy orders. Contemporaries called the musician a "red priest", which was quite true - combining a musical career with a spiritual career was the norm in those days. Another thing was considered reprehensible - the habit of the holy father to leave the temple during worship. The holy father himself explained this by a state of health - but it was clear to many that he was simply leaving in order to record the melodies that came to mind. However, relations with the church leadership are heating up more and more, and in the end, Vivaldi, under the pretext of poor health, seeks release from the obligation to participate in worship.

At the age of twenty-five, the young priest and violin virtuoso has other duties - he becomes a "violin master" in the women's orphanage "Pio Ospedale delia Pieta". He is in charge of the acquisition of instruments, ensures the safety of the existing ones, and most importantly, teaches pupils to play the violin and viola. At the same time he creates a lot of music. Through the efforts of Vivaldi, divine services in the church at the shelter turn into real concerts, the inhabitants of Venice come there to listen to beautiful music.

But Vivaldi's work is not limited to liturgical music. He creates many secular works: sonatas for violin and harpsichord, trio sonatas, collections of concertos Extravagance and Harmonic Inspiration. Vivaldi also performs as a virtuoso violinist. In this capacity, he was so famous that his name was included in the Guide to Venice. There were a lot of travelers visiting Venice, which allowed Vivaldi's fame to spread far beyond its borders. The concerts were especially popular. made organ and clavier transcriptions of some of them.

But although today the name of Vivaldi is associated with an instrumental concerto, the beginning of his composing activity was associated with opera. His first creation in this genre was "Otto in the Villa" - a typical opera seria: a plot from ancient Roman history, intricate intrigue, the participation of castrati. The opera was a success, followed by others. However, in this area, Vivaldi was never able to achieve such success as, for example, Alessandro Scarlatti. He was much more successful in the concert genre. One of his most famous works - "The Experience of Harmony and Invention" - appears in 1725. More precisely, four concertos included in this collection, entitled "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn" and "Winter" gained special fame - subsequently they began to be performed as a cycle under the title "Seasons", although the author did not have such a name. These concerts became one of the first examples of a program symphonic work.

In the 1730s the composer travels a lot. This passion for travel was the reason for his dismissal from Pio Ospedale delia Pieta. On his last journey - to Vienna - the composer went in 1740, where he died.

During his life, Vivaldi knew a lot: the threat of death in infancy - and a long life, ups and downs, the delights of the public - and the lonely old age of a forgotten person. But it is unlikely that his creations will ever be forgotten. The name of Antonio Vivaldi is immortalized even in space - one of the craters on Mercury is named after him.

Music Seasons

Exquisite luxury, splendor and whimsical aesthetics of the Baroque era are fully embodied in the work of the famous Venetian Antonio Vivaldi. He is called the "Italian Bach", and for good reason: over 63 years of his life, the musician wrote about 800 works, including operas, choral works, more than 500 concertos for various instruments and orchestra. A talented innovative composer, virtuoso violinist, brilliant conductor and teacher, he left behind not only a rich creative heritage, but also so many mysteries that many of them have not yet been solved. Even the exact place of his rest is unknown to his descendants. But the extraordinary music of Vivaldi, whose magnetism is not dominated by time, has been preserved in its original form and today occupies an honorable place among the greatest assets of world musical art.

Read a brief biography of Antonio Vivaldi and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.

Brief biography of Vivaldi

In 1678, in Venice, the son of Antonio was born in the family of the barber Giovanni Battista Vivaldi. At the end of the 17th century, Venice was the recognized capital of entertainment, a city-festival, where all life passed to the sounds of music, and the house of the future composer was no exception in this sense. The head of the Vivaldi family was so skillful in playing the violin that he was invited to perform as part of the orchestra of St. Mark's Cathedral.

Antonio suffered from a physical ailment from birth - a form of asthma. But of all the six children of Vivaldi, he was most like his father - not only with fiery red hair, rare for the inhabitants of Venice, but most importantly - the ability to hear and feel music. The musical talent of Antonio Vivaldi made itself felt from early childhood. He quickly mastered the game violin and at the age of 10 often performed in the cathedral orchestra instead of his father. And at the age of 13, the boy first tried to compose his own music.

The biography of Vivaldi says that at the age of 15, Antonio's life took a sharp turn - at the insistence of his parents, he chose a career as a clergyman and devoted the next 10 years of his life to the study of church sciences. At the same time, he did not give up music lessons, and by 1703 he not only received the priesthood, but also became famous as a virtuoso violinist. For the color of his hair, he was nicknamed the "red priest", but Vivaldi did not perform church duties for long. Very quickly, he refused to lead masses - according to one version, due to the fact that his health did not allow, according to another, again because of his addiction to music.

Almost immediately after receiving the rank, Vivaldi began working in one of the schools in Venice, "Ospedale della Pieta" - that was the name of the orphanage at the monastery for orphans. "Ospedale della Pieta" became a real cradle for Vivaldi's work. As a violin teacher and choirmaster, he acquired a unique opportunity to implement the most daring and diverse creative ideas. On duty, he had to write a lot of music for the pupils of the school, both spiritual and secular content - cantatas, chorales, oratorios, vocal and symphonic compositions, concerts. The results of such a vigorous and diverse activity quickly made themselves felt - among connoisseurs and connoisseurs of music, the school began to be considered the best in the city.

For the Pieta orchestra, Vivaldi composed more than 450 concertos and often performed solo violin parts himself. Venice has never heard such a violin, which seemed to give rise to sounds from the depths of the human soul.

Very quickly, the popularity of the young composer stepped far beyond the borders of his native city. Every distinguished guest who comes to Venice considered it his duty to attend the performances of Antonio Vivaldi. In 1705 and 1709, the musician's sonatas were published in separate collections.

But Antonio was already carried away by another idea - to become an opera composer. At that time, the opera was considered the most popular genre among the audience, and Vivaldi, with his inherent determination and indomitable temperament, plunged into a new kind of creativity for him. His operatic debut, Otto at the Villa, staged in 1713, was a resounding success. Vivaldi begins to work at a crazy pace - he manages to create 3-4 operas a year. His fame as an opera composer grows, and Antonio receives an invitation from the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, a connoisseur of musical art, who holds the position of governor of Mantua, to become a bandmaster at his court.

In 1721-22, Vivaldi worked in Milan and Rome, continuing to compose new operas.

In his declining years, the composer's affairs were greatly shaken. He decided to return to Venice, hoping to find peace of mind in his native city, which applauded him for almost 40 years. But disappointment awaited him. The music he composed no longer aroused its former delight, the public had new idols. Even in his native conservatory, with which he was associated for 38 years of fruitful work, he was given to understand that his services were not really needed.

According to Vivaldi's biography, in 1740, in search of a way out, the composer went to Vienna, to the court of Emperor Charles VI, his longtime and powerful admirer, in the hope that his talent would be in demand there. But fate prepared another blow for Vivaldi - he did not have time to arrive in Vienna, when Charles VI died. The composer survived his failed patron for a short time. He died on 28 July 1741 and was buried in Vienna in a pauper's grave.

Interesting Facts:

• After 1840, many handwritten versions of Vivaldi's works were lost and disappeared from people's memory for a long time. Some of the notes ended up in the hands of his fellow composers, as well as close relatives.

• Vivaldi owes his "second birth" to the Italian musicologist Alberto Gentili, who was actively searching for the composer's works. In the 1920s, he heard a rumor about the sale of handwritten scores that were kept in the monastic college in San Martino. Among them, Gentili discovered 14 volumes of Vivaldi's works, still unknown to the public - 19 operas, more than 300 concerts, many spiritual and secular vocalizations.
• Searches for the lost works of Vivaldi are ongoing to this day. In 2010, his Flute Concerto was found in Scotland. In 2012, the world recognized his unknown opera Orlando Furioso.
• Admirers of Vivaldi's art were famous contemporaries of the musician. Among his listeners were King Frederick IV of Denmark and Pope Benedict.
• In a Venetian guide for foreigners dated 1713, Vivaldi's father and son are mentioned as the most skilled violinists among the musicians of Venice.

• The most popular image of the composer is considered to be the canvas of the French portrait painter Francois Morelon de la Cave. For the portrait, Antonio had to wear a white wig - the etiquette of those times did not allow men to appear in society without a wig.
• "Business card" Vivaldi - a cycle of violin concertos "Seasons"- in the original version it is called "The Four Seasons" "Le quattro stagioni".
• Only 40 of the 90 operas mentioned by the composer managed to confirm his authorship.
• The epigraphs for the concerts that make up the cycle "The Seasons" are sonnets. Their author is unknown, but it is assumed that they also belong to Vivaldi.
• In 1939, the Gloria was revived. It was performed in Siena as part of the "Vivaldi Week", organized by the Italian Alfredo Casella.
• The Siena Institute is named after Vivaldi.
• The building of the former school "Ospedale della Pieta" currently houses a restaurant and hotel complex.
• Vivaldi and Mozart buried in a cemetery in Vienna, where some of the poorest members of the population were buried.

• "To the music of Vivaldi" - this is the name of the song of the luminaries of the author's song V. Berkovsky and S. Nikitin to the verses of A. Velichansky. Vivaldi's music in this song text is a symbol of the spiritual harmony of the lyrical hero.
• One of the open craters on the planet Mercury is named after the composer.
• "Vivaldi Orchestra" - this is the name of the group, the creator of which in 1989 was the violinist and conductor Svetlana Bezrodnaya. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it consists exclusively of women. This is a kind of "remake" of the orchestra of pupils, organized by Vivaldi at the Ospedale della Pieta school at the beginning of the 18th century.
• In the famous film "Pretty Woman", Vivaldi's music, according to the directors, became one of the illustrations of the world of high society. Vivaldi's "Seasons" sound in the tape - three concerts out of four.

• Vivaldi owns the catchphrase: "When one violin is enough, two are not used."
• About three years ago, Italian scientists made an amazing discovery - they revealed the so-called "Vivaldi effect". They conducted an experiment, as a result of which it turned out that periodic listening to "The Seasons" strengthens the memory of the elderly.
• Swiss figure skater Stéphane Lambiel won a silver medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics, skating to Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

"Girlfriend of the red-haired priest"

There are many "blank spots" in the composer's biography, and his personal life is no exception. His name is closely associated with only one woman - the singer Anna Giraud. The musician met Anna during his work in Mantua. He returned to Venice with her. The famous Venetian playwright K. Goldoni mentions that Vivaldi introduced Anna Giraud to him, calling her his student. But evil tongues quickly dubbed the young singer "the girlfriend of the red-haired priest", and not without reason. The composer clearly favored her, from the moment they met he wrote operas especially for her, and it was Vivaldi who owed Anna the fame of an opera singer. In addition, Anna, along with her own sister Paolina, was part of his inner circle, accompanied the composer on all trips, and this gave rise to a bunch of rumors about the fact that the composer leads a lifestyle that is not befitting a clergyman.

There is no direct evidence of their romantic connection. Moreover, Vivaldi fiercely defended Anna's honor, explaining to everyone that due to health problems he needed help, and Anna and Paolina, who was a nurse, only looked after him. In a letter to his patron Bentivoglio dated November 16, 1737, he explained that only friendship and professional cooperation connected them with Anna. The only hint that Anna was the composer's muse and the lady of his heart is the magical music he wrote after meeting her. It was then that the cycle “The Seasons”, the concerts “Night”, the masterpiece of sacred music “Gloria” appeared, which immortalized his name.

Whoever Anna is for Vivaldi, we must pay tribute to her - she did not leave the composer at a difficult time for him and was his devoted companion and friend until his last breath.

The role of Vivaldi in the development of world musical art

Vivaldi's influence on the development of musical art extends to a wide range of musical activities, which confirms the uniqueness of the creative personality of a talented composer and virtuoso violinist.

• It was thanks to Vivaldi that a performance technique that was completely unique in terms of dramatic intensity was strengthened, which is called “Lombard”, when the duration of the first note was shortened and the next became rhythmically supporting.
• The composer's genius Vivaldi came up with the idea of ​​a new genre of solo instrumental concerto.
• He put the genre of concerto grosso, an ensemble-orchestral concert, popular in Italy, to a new stage of development, after which he assigned a three-part form and, instead of a group of soloists, singled out a separate solo instrument, endowing the orchestra with an accompaniment function.
• Vivaldi's contribution to the evolution of the art of orchestration is enormous - he was the first to introduce oboes, horns, bassoons and other instruments into the orchestra as independent ones.
• The undoubted achievement of Vivaldi is that he embodied on the stage a special type of concerto - for the orchestra and violin, and another version - for two and four violins. In total, there are about two dozen such concertos in his creative heritage, among them the only concert for two mandolins in the world.

The compositions of Vivaldi had a great influence on the most famous representative of the musical art of the Baroque era - Johann Sebastian Bach. He was seriously interested in and studied in detail the compositions of Vivaldi, actively applied the techniques of the musical language and the symbolism of his predecessor, making their meaning deeper. Some musicologists in Bach's most famous mass in h-moll find undoubted echoes of the works of the Italian master of composition. Subsequently, Bach transcribed 6 Vivaldi violin concertos for the clavier, converted 2 more into organ concertos and adapted one for 4 claviers. Ironically, these musical masterpieces were considered to be composed by Bach for more than 150 years.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Austrian composer and musician Fritz Kreisler, a recognized master of stylization, wrote a Violin Concerto in C major, to which he puts the subtitle “In the Style of Vivaldi”. The huge success accompanying this bright creation of Kreisler, by inertia, aroused interest in the works of Vivaldi, which were thoroughly forgotten. Thus began the victorious return of the famous Venetian and his masterpieces to the musical Olympus. Today, Vivaldi's music is one of the most beloved by violinists around the world.

Great and famous about the work of Vivaldi

• Violinist and conductor Vladimir Spivakov poetically called "The Seasons" "a fresco of human life", since man has to overcome the same path as nature - from birth to death.
• According to the Austrian scientist W. Kollender, Vivaldi was several decades ahead of the development of European music in terms of the use of dynamics and purely technical methods of playing the violin.
• Vivaldi's ability to write an infinite number of variations on the same musical theme became the basis for I. Stravinsky's sarcastic remark, who called Vivaldi "a bore capable of composing the same concerto six hundred times in a row."
• “Vivaldi is a celebration of instrumental music, a violin extravaganza. Hehe himself was a virtuoso violinist and knew better than others how to show the mostspectacular in the sound of the violin,” said Dmitry Sinkovsky, a contemporary violinist and winner of the early music competition in Bruges, about the work of the great maestro.

Film biographies:

The personality of the composer has always attracted the attention of filmmakers, who, based on the biography of Vivaldi, shot several films that tell about the life of a musician.

• Documentary "4" (2007)
• "Viva, Vivaldi" (France, 2000)
• "Vivaldi in Vienna" (1979)
• "Vivaldi, Prince of Venice" (France, 2006)
• "Vivaldi, the red-haired priest" (Great Britain, Italy, 2009)
• "Antonio Vivaldi" (USA, Belgium, 2016)

Vivaldi music in films

The work of Antonio Vivaldi has become the quintessence of all the best features and outstanding successes of the Italian music school. But the fate of the maestro is a vivid illustration of the fact that fame and oblivion in human life go hand in hand. Just 30 years after his death, mention of Vivaldi, even in passing, is not found in any official sources, unlike other Italian composers. And only at the beginning of the 20th century, Vivaldi's music returned to us, touching souls with its sincerity and melody. Today it adorns the repertoires of the most famous orchestras. It took almost two centuries for the world to rediscover the music of the great Venetian and appreciate its magnificence.

Video: watch a film about Vivaldi