Vivaldi - the name of this composer is well known to each of us. It’s hard not to recognize his virtuoso violin compositions, they accompany us everywhere. This is because each of them is incredibly beautiful, unique, but at the same time recognizable due to the unified style of the composer. The list of works of Vivaldi is extensive and varied. These are operas, concerts, sonatas and small plays, some of which have not survived to this day.
The article presents a list of Vivaldi's famous works, gives information on how and when he wrote them.
Life of a great creator
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi - Italian composer - was born on March 4, 1678 in the beautiful city of Venice. His father was a hereditary barber, but part-time he was fond of playing the violin. And so much a hobby enticed him that he became a virtuoso violinist, very famous in his city.
He handed over his talent along with the instrument to his son, and he already, multiplying the talents of his parent, was able not only to play the violin, but also to compose unique melodies.
Antonio became interested in writing musical texts in his youth - he composed simple “songs”, motives, sometimes wrote them down, sometimes just remembered. Soon he began to come up with full-fledged works that pleased the Venetian musical elite.
Vivaldi was invited to work as a composer at the Pieta Conservatory, where abandoned and orphaned girls studied music. It was for them that Antonio wrote 2 concerts a month, and they studied these creations as etudes. That's how the numerous works of Vivaldi came to the world. The list is endless, there are an incredible number of them, they are somewhat similar to each other, but at the same time each is unique.
Concerto Grosso
Antonio Vivaldi is rightfully considered the founder of a separate musical genre - Concerto Grosso, which translates as a "big concert". The bottom line is that during the performance of a piece, scores alternate in which the entire orchestra and individual parts perform, where one or another instrument solo (in the case of Vivaldi it is most often a violin). This is a variation of the pre-existing trio sonata, where the first part is fast, the second is slow and the third is fast again. Only now its sound has become more multifaceted and interesting due to such coloring. The list of works by Antonio Vivaldi has 517 concerts, which are divided into the following categories:
- 44 concerts for basso continuo and string orchestra;
- 49 Concerto Grosso;
- 38 concerts for two instruments with accompaniment of a string orchestra or basso continuo;
- 32 concerts for three instruments and accompaniment in the form of a basso continuo or string orchestra;
- 352 concerts for one instrument and accompaniment as a basso continuo or string orchestra.
The concert list of Vivaldi's works is still almost entirely in the possession of music schools and schools. Children learn and play concerts, thereby improving in virtuosity and sound technique.
Operas
Antonio Vivaldi was a composer who could write an entire opera in three days - it was such fame that spread throughout Venice. And that was true. He really very quickly and at the same time talentedly composed such complex vocal and instrumental works that were very successful.
The composer has 90 operas, many of which are undeservedly forgotten. Others still enjoy success in leading theaters in the world.
Consider the opera list of works by Vivaldi, touching only the most famous creations:
- "Frantic Roland."
- "Farnak, ruler of Pontus."
- "Olympics".
- Griselda.
- Aristide.
- Tamerlan.
- "Moses, the God of Pharaoh."
- "Adoration of the Magi".
- The Triumphant Judith.
Other works
Amazingly, given the pace with which Vivaldi wrote on demand, he still had time and inspiration to compose works for his own pleasure! So to speak for the soul, the composer wrote more than 100 sonatas, as well as serenades, cantatas, symphonies and small plays. But it is worth introducing another biographical fact about Antonio - he was a priest. He never retreated from the church, so he wrote a lot of Catholic sequences of the Stabat Mater.
For august persons
Thanks to his incomparable talent and genius, Vivaldi quickly became a favorite composer and musician. His creations were simply adored by Louis XV. On the day of the king’s wedding, Antonio wrote the cantata serenade Gloria and Igomen. A year later, on the birthday of the two august princesses, Vivaldi wrote another serenade - Celebrating Seine. The following creation was already created specifically for Charles VI and was called "Zither". They say that the emperor was so imbued with the creativity and personality of the composer that he could talk with him for days on end. He granted Vivaldi a gold medal and the title of knight, and also invited him to Vienna. For this, the composer sent him a copy of Zither.
Seasons
We turn to the list of Vivaldi's musical works that have won timeless success. We are talking about the famous "Seasons", which got such a simple and uncomplicated name only because there are 12 pieces in the opus.
In the early 1720s, Vivaldi set about writing a new opus at number 8. He called it “The Controversy of Harmony with the Invention,” but clearly these “sonatas” had a seasonal context. The fact is that before the execution of each of them a sonnet was read out, in which the specific time of the year was clearly presented. Presumably, Antonio himself wrote these sonnets, but hid his authorship. What is Opus No.8?
These are four concerts, each of which consists of three parts. The first is called Allegro, the second is Largo or Adagio, and the third is again Allegro or Presto. That is, the structure is like that of an ordinary sonata or concerto grosso - the two extreme parts are faster, and the middle is slow and long.
Often the "Seasons" sound in films, programs, they are performed at social events or just enjoy this beautiful music at home.
Conclusion
A complete list of Vivaldi's works, indicating the name of each work, would be incredibly huge and would not fit into the framework of a single article. It is difficult to imagine how talented and ingenious this man was, how masterfully he owned the instrument and his own inspiration. He gave the world a rich heritage in the form of countless concerts, sonatas, operas and other musical creations, which are played and listened to with great pleasure today.