![]() Some women took to the opera stage, but in doing so they were confirming their sexual availability and precluding the possibility of marriage. Women in Venetian society were generally prohibited from performing publicly. This, however, presented a serious problem. Naturally enough, the citizens of Venice wanted to hear the girls perform. ![]() Source: Wikimedia Commons Attribution: Unknown License: Public Domain Source: Wikimedia Commons Attribution: Canaletto License: Public Domain Image 6.13: This 19th- century engraving depicts the orphanage at which Vivaldi was employed. The coastal city is interwoven with canals and therefore largely navigable by boat. Image 6.12: This painting captures Venice in the time of Vivaldi. The other were mostly for bassoon, flute, oboe, and cello-all instruments played by girls at the Hospital. About half were for violin, including 37 for his most successful protege, a virtuoso known as Anna Maria dal Violin. Over the course of his career, Vivaldi wrote 500 concertos. His primary vehicle was the concerto, which is a work for an instrumental soloist accompanied by an orchestra. He not only taught them how to play their instruments but wrote music for them to play. Vivaldi was exceptionally good at his job, and soon the girls at the orphanage became the best musicians in the city. His job was to teach them the musical skills that would allow them to secure desirable husbands. The Devout Hospital of Mercy, at which Vivaldi took a position, was an orphanage for girls. Source: Wikimedia Commons Attribution: Pier Leone Ghezzi License: Public Domain The text refers to Vivaldi as “The Red Priest,” a nickname he was given due to his curly red hair. ![]() Image 6.11: This portrait of Antonio Vivaldi was completed by Pier Leone Ghezzi in 1723. The children were brought up with all of the advantages (except parents), and were prepared for comfortable lives. While not all of the surrendered infants were of high birth, the city’s noblemen took an interest in the welfare of their illegitimate children, which meant that the orphanages were always well-funded. Instead, unwanted infants were deposited at orphanages via the scaffetta, which was an opening just large enough to fit a newborn. It was common- even acceptable-for Venetian aristocrats to keep mistresses, but the children of these relationships could not be brought up in the marital home. Venetian orphanages were not the squalid workhouses we know from Victorian literature. However, he became highly skilled as a violinist and composer, and in 1703 he took the position of violin master at a local orphanage, the Devout Hospital of Mercy (Italian: Ospedale della Pietà note that Hospital at this time does not indicate a center for medical care). He initially trained as a Catholic priest, but ill health prevented him from performing many of his duties. Vivaldi spent his life in the city of Venice, which at the time was a wealthy and independent Republic. Watch the video below and listen to the music of the 1st movement of "Spring".\) This is an excellent example of early programme music, that which paints a picture, tells a story or creates a mood. On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him. Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven, Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more. The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by theīreezes. This was called basso continuo and is a feature of Baroque music.Īs a descriptive basis for his Four Seasons, Vivaldi took four Sonnets, apparently written by himself. The function of the harpsichord was to fill out the bass and inner harmonies as the ensembles were small. Notice in the 2nd video below there is a keyboard instrument called the harpsichord. This could also be called a chamber orchestra, meaning a small orchestra. It features solo violin as well as an ensemble (group) of strings, a string orchestra. The first 2 movements of "Spring" is the concerto on your course. Each concerto has 3 movements (sections), a fast, a slow and a fast again. Each concerto is named after one of the seasons. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque (late 17th to early 18th centuries) music. A concerto is a work in several movements for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra. ![]() ![]() The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. ![]()
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