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Vivaldi's life * Vivaldi's times * Vivaldi's music * Creator and the Seasons by C.J. Taylor
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Vivaldi's Life
Imagine for a moment that you are a composer so famous that you are a tourist attraction. You are someone a foreigner might approach to write a piece of music as a souvenir of his visit to your city. Such a man was Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), one of the greatest musical figures of the Baroque period.
Vivaldi knew kings and princes and twice was invited to play the violin for the pope. Strangely, after his death people ignored his music for two hundred years. His music was not rediscovered until the mid-twentieth century. Now, once again, Vivaldi is tremendously popular, the way he was during his lifetime. Let's find out more about this remarkable man and the exciting times he lived in.
Danger of death
Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4, 1678. He was baptized immediately at home by the midwife due to 'danger of death.' What did this mean? We're not sure, but it was probably either an earthquake that shook the city that day, or the infant's poor health. Vivaldi's official church baptism did not take place until two months later.
Antonio was born into a large family. He had four brothers and four sisters. We know little more about his early years. But we do know that, at age fifteen, he began studying to be a priest. He became a priest in 1703, but he said mass only a few times. Vivaldi became known as 'the red priest' because of his bright red hair.
Vivaldi had a medical problem he called 'tightening of the chest.' Today we would call it asthma. His medical problems did not prevent him, however, from learning to play the violin, to compose, and to take part in many musical activities. As far as we know, his father was his only important teacher, and they sometimes played the violin together in church.
In 1703, Vivaldi joined the staff of the school of the Ospedale della Piet (Hospital of Mercy, so called because it was attached to a hospital) as a music teacher. The Pietà's musical reputation was so great that Vivaldi received a starting salary double that of his father, who worked at the city's most important church, St. Mark's. Vivaldi remained at the Pietà for most of his professional life. There he wrote hundreds of compositions for the girls to perform in the orchestra or to sing in the choir.
After forty years of service, Vivaldi left the Pietà and moved to Vienna to work for a former friend who was now an emperor, Charles VI. But Charles died suddenly from food poisoning and no one else in Vienna was interested in hiring Vivaldi. Sadly, within a year, Vivaldi also died on July 28, 1741. The cause was given as 'internal inflammation,' which could have meant almost anything in those days. He received the cheapest possible funeral. The field where he was buried has disappeared entirely. It is now probably covered by a shopping mall or an office tower.
Arturo Vivaldi Wikipedia
Famous Women
Vivaldi's orchestra was largely made up of residents of the Pietà, a refuge for poor and orphaned girls. His music was written for this talented group, which was famous throughout Europe. Visitors were surprised that young women could play such large or 'unusual' instruments as the bassoon and clarinet. It was not considered proper for women to perform in public so they played from a gallery, as in this picture, or from behind an iron lattice, to protect their privacy. Similar institutions provided musical training for young men.
Listen to excerpts of the National Arts Centre Orchestra performing The Four Seasons.
Biografia De Arturo Vivaldi
Vivaldi's life * Vivaldi's times * Vivaldi's music * Creator and the Seasons by C.J. Taylor