Composers

Antonio Vivaldi

String ensemble
Violin
Voice
Orchestra
Bassoon
Cello
Oboe
Soprano
Flute
Alto
Concerto
Sonata
Operas
Opera seria
Libretto
Writings
Religious music
Cantatas
Secular cantatas
Motet
by popularity

#

12 Violin Sonatas, Op.26 Cello Sonatas, Op.14

A

All'ombra di sospetto, RV 678All'or che lo sguardo, RV 650Amor hai vinto, RV 651Amor hai vinto, RV 683Anche in mezzo a perigliosaAnna Maria's PartbookArmida al campo d'Egitto, RV 699Arsilda, regina di PontoArtabano, re de' Parti, RV 706-bAscende læta, RV 635Atenaide

B

BajazetBassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 497Bassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 498Bassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 499Bassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 500Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, RV 501Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, RV 502Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, RV 503Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, RV 504Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 466Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 467Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 469Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 470Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 471Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 472Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 473Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 474Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 475Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 476Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 477Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 478Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 479Bassoon Concerto in C minor, RV 480Bassoon Concerto in D minor, RV 481Bassoon Concerto in E minor, RV 484Bassoon Concerto in E-flat major, RV 483Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 485Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 486Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 487Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 488Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 489Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 490Bassoon Concerto in F major, RV 491Bassoon Concerto in G major, RV 492Bassoon Concerto in G major, RV 493Bassoon Concerto in G major, RV 494Bassoon Concerto in G minor, RV 495Bassoon Concerto in G minor, RV 496Beatus virBeatus vir, RV 597Beatus vir, RV 795

C

Canta in prato, ride in monte, RV 623Catone in Utica, RV 705Cello Concerto in A minor, RV 418Cello Concerto in A minor, RV 419Cello Concerto in A minor, RV 421Cello Concerto in A minor, RV 422Cello Concerto in B minor, RV 424Cello Concerto in C major, RV 398Cello Concerto in C major, RV 399Cello Concerto in C major, RV 400Cello Concerto in C minor, RV 401Cello Concerto in D major, RV 403Cello Concerto in D minor, RV 406Cello Concerto in D minor, RV 407Cello Concerto in E minor, RV 409Cello Concerto in E-flat major, RV 408Cello Concerto in F major, RV 410Cello Concerto in F major, RV 411Cello Concerto in F major, RV 412Cello Concerto in G major, RV 413Cello Concerto in G major, RV 414Cello Concerto in G minor, RV 417Cello Sonata in A majorCello Sonata in A minor, RV 43Cello Sonata in A minor, RV 44Cello Sonata in B-flat major, RV 45Cello Sonata in B-flat major, RV 46Cello Sonata in B-flat major, RV 47Cello Sonata in E minor, RV 40Cello Sonata in E-flat major, RV 39Cello Sonata in F major, RV 41Cello Sonata in G minor, RV 42Cessate, omai cessate, RV 684Chamber Concerto in A minor, RV 108Chamber Concerto in C major, RV 87Chamber Concerto in C major, RV 88Chamber Concerto in D major, RV 84Chamber Concerto in D major, RV 90Chamber Concerto in D major, RV 91Chamber Concerto in D major, RV 92Chamber Concerto in D major, RV 94Chamber Concerto in D major, RV 95Chamber Concerto in D minor, RV 96Chamber Concerto in F major, RV 100Chamber Concerto in F major, RV 97Chamber Concerto in F major, RV 98Chamber Concerto in F major, RV 99Chamber Concerto in G major, RV 101Chamber Concerto in G minor, RV 103Chamber Concerto in G minor, RV 104Chamber Concerto in G minor, RV 105Chamber Concerto in G minor, RV 106Chamber Concerto in G minor, RV 107Clarae stellae, scintillate, RV 625Concerto for 2 Cellos in G minor, RV 531Concerto for 2 Flutes in C major, RV 533Concerto for 2 Mandolins in G major, RV 532Concerto for 2 Oboes in A minor, RV 536Concerto for 2 Oboes in C major, RV 534Concerto for 2 Oboes in D major, RV 563Concerto for 2 Oboes in D minor, RV 535Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C major, RV 537Concerto for 2 Violins in A major, RV 519Concerto for 2 Violins in A major, RV 520Concerto for 2 Violins in A major, RV 521Concerto for 2 Violins in A major, RV 552Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor, RV 522Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor, RV 523Concerto for 2 Violins in B-flat major, RV 524Concerto for 2 Violins in B-flat major, RV 525Concerto for 2 Violins in B-flat major, RV 526Concerto for 2 Violins in B-flat major, RV 527Concerto for 2 Violins in B-flat major, RV 529Concerto for 2 Violins in B-flat major, RV 530Concerto for 2 Violins in C major, RV 505Concerto for 2 Violins in C major, RV 506Concerto for 2 Violins in C major, RV 507Concerto for 2 Violins in C major, RV 508Concerto for 2 Violins in C minor, RV 509Concerto for 2 Violins in C minor, RV 510Concerto for 2 Violins in D major, RV 511Concerto for 2 Violins in D major, RV 512Concerto for 2 Violins in D major, RV 513Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor, RV 514Concerto for 2 Violins in E-flat major, RV 515Concerto for 2 Violins in G major, RV 516Concerto for 2 Violins in G minor, RV 517Concerto for 3 Violins in F major, RV 551Concerto for 4 Violins in B-flat major, RV 553Concerto for 4 Violins in E minor, RV 550Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Bassoon and Strings in F major, RV 570Concerto for Oboe and Violin in B-flat major, RV 548Concerto for Strings in A major, RV 158Concerto for Strings in A major, RV 159Concerto for Strings in A major, RV 160Concerto for Strings in A minor, RV 161Concerto for Strings in B-flat major, RV 163Concerto for Strings in B-flat major, RV 164Concerto for Strings in B-flat major, RV 165Concerto for Strings in B-flat major, RV 166Concerto for Strings in B-flat major, RV 167Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 109Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 110Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 113Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 114Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 115Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 117Concerto for Strings in C minor, RV 118Concerto for Strings in C minor, RV 119Concerto for Strings in C minor, RV 120Concerto for Strings in D major, RV 121Concerto for Strings in D major, RV 123Concerto for Strings in D major, RV 124Concerto for Strings in D major, RV 126Concerto for Strings in D minor, RV 127Concerto for Strings in D minor, RV 128Concerto for Strings in D minor, RV 129Concerto for Strings in F major, RV 136Concerto for Strings in F major, RV 138Concerto for Strings in F major, RV 141Concerto for Strings in F major, RV 142Concerto for Strings in F minor, RV 143Concerto for Strings in G major, RV 145Concerto for Strings in G major, RV 150Concerto for Strings in G major, RV 151Concerto for Strings in G minor, RV 152Concerto for Strings in G minor, RV 153Concerto for Strings in G minor, RV 154Concerto for Strings in G minor, RV 155Concerto for Strings in G minor, RV 156Concerto for Strings in G minor, RV 157Concerto for Viola d'amore and Lute in D minor, RV 540Concerto for Violin and Cello in A major, RV 546Concerto for Violin and Cello in B-flat major, RV 547Concerto for Violin and Cello in F major, RV 544Concerto for Violin and Organ in C minor, RV 766Concerto for Violin and Organ in D minor, RV 541Concerto for Violin and Organ in F major, RV 542Concerto for Violin and Organ in F major, RV 767Concerto for Violino in Tromba Marina in D major, RV 221Concerto for Violino in Tromba Marina in G major, RV 311Concerto for Violino in Tromba Marina in G major, RV 313Concerto funebre in B-flat major, RV 579Concerto in A major, RV 585Concerto in B minor, RV 580Concerto in C major, RV 554Concerto in C major, RV 555Concerto in C major, RV 556Concerto in C major, RV 558Concerto in C major, RV 559Concerto in C major, RV 560Concerto in C major, RV 561Concerto in D major, RV 549Concerto in D major, RV 562Concerto in D major, RV 564Concerto in D major, RV 564aConcerto in D minor, RV 565Concerto in D minor, RV 566Concerto in F major, RV 567Concerto in F major, RV 568Concerto in F major, RV 571Concerto in F major, RV 574Concerto in G major, RV 575Concerto in G minor, RV 576Concerto in G minor, RV 577Concerto in G minor, RV 578Concerto in G minor, RV 578aConcerto/Sinfonia for Strings in E minor, RV 134Confitebor tibi, Domine, RV 596CredoCredo, RV 592Cunegonda, RV 707Cur sagittas, cur tela, cur faces, RV 637

D

Dixit Dominus in D major, RV 807Dorilla in Tempe

E

Era la notte, RV 655Ercole su'l Termodonte, RV 710

F

Farnace, RV 711Feraspe, RV 713Filiae maestae Jerusalem, RV 638Flute Concerto in A minor, RV 440Flute Concerto in D major, RV 427Flute Concerto in D major, RV 428Flute Concerto in D major, RV 429Flute Concerto in E minor, RV 430Flute Concerto in E minor, RV 431Flute Concerto in E minor, RV 432Flute Concerto in F major, RV 433Flute Concerto in F major, RV 434Flute Concerto in G major, RV 435Flute Concerto in G major, RV 436Flute Concerto in G major, RV 437Flute Concerto in G major, RV 438Flute Concerto in G minor, RV 439Flute Sonata in C major, RV 48Flute Sonata in D minor, RV 49Flute Sonata in E minor, RV 50Flute Sonata in F major, RV 52Flute Sonata in G minor, RV 51Fonti di pianto piangete, RV 656

G

Gaude Mater Ecclesia, RV 613Geme l'onda che parte, RV 657Giustino, RV 717Gloria e Himeneo, RV 687Gloria in D major, RV 588Gloria in D major, RV 589Griselda, RV 718

I

Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventioneIl giorno felice, RV Anh.92In exitu Israel, RV 604In furore iustissimae irae, RV 626In turbato mare irato, RV 627Indarno cerca la tortorella, RV 659Invicti, bellate, RV 628Ipermestra, RV 722

J

Jubilate, o amoeni chori, RV 639Jubilate, o amoeni chori, RV 639aJuditha triumphans

K

Kyrie

L

La Candace o siano Li veri amici, RV 704La cetraLa cetra, A-Wn Mus.Hs.15996La costanza trionfante degl'amori e degl'odii, RV 706La farfalletta s'aggira, RV 660La fede tradita e vendicata, RV 712La fida ninfa, RV 714La Sena festeggiante, RV 693La SilviaLa stravaganzaLa verità in cimentoL'Adelaide, RV 695Laetatus sum in C major, RV 827Laetatus sum, RV 607Largo e Andante, RV 746L'Artabano, RV 706-dLauda Jerusalem, RV 609Laudate Dominum, RV 606Laudate pueri Dominum, RV 602Laudate pueri, RV 601Le opere di Antonio VivaldiL'estro armonicoL'incoronazione di Dario, RV 719L'inganno trionfante in amore, RV 721List of operas by Antonio VivaldiL'OlimpiadeLonge mala, umbrae, terrores, RV 629Lungi dal vago volto, RV 680Lute concerto in D major

M

MagnificatManchester SonatasMandolin Concerto in C major, RV 425Mio cor, povero cor, RV 690Motezuma, RV 723

N

Nerone fatto Cesare, RV 724Nisi Dominus, RV 608Nisi Dominus, RV 803Non in pratis aut in hortis, RV 641Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630

O

O mie porpora più belle, RV 685O qui coeli terraeque serenitas, RV 631Oboe Concerto in A minor, RV 461Oboe Concerto in A minor, RV 462Oboe Concerto in A minor, RV 463Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 446Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 447Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 448Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 449Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 450Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 451Oboe Concerto in D major, RV 453Oboe Concerto in D minor, RV 454Oboe Concerto in F major, RV 455Oboe Concerto in F major, RV 457Oboe Concerto in G minor, RV 460Oboe Sonata in C minor, RV 53Oracolo in Messenia, RV 726Orlando finto pazzoOrlando furioso, RV 819Orlando, RV 728Ostro picta, armata spina, RV 642Ottone in villa

P

Par che tardo oltre il costume, RV 662Perfidissimo cor, RV 674Pianti sospiri e dimandar mercede, RV 676

Q

Qual in pioggia dorata, RV 686Qual per ignoto calle, RV 677

R

Recorder Concerto in A minor, RV 445Recorder Concerto in C major, RV 443Recorder Concerto in C major, RV 444Recorder Concerto in C minor, RV 441Recorder Concerto in F major, RV 442Recorder Sonata in G major, RV 806Regina coeli, RV 615Rosilena ed Oronta, RV 730Rosmira, RV 731

S

Salve Regina, RV 616Scanderbeg, RV 732Scherza di fronda in fronda, RV 663Semiramide, RV 733Sento ancor quel dolce labbro, RV 749.25Sinfonia in B minor, RV 168Sinfonia in B minor, RV 169Sinfonia in B-flat major, RV 162Sinfonia in C major, RV 111aSinfonia in C major, RV 112Sinfonia in C major, RV 192Sinfonia in C major, RV 192aSinfonia in E major, RV 131Sinfonia in F major, RV 135Sinfonia in G major, RV 147Sinfonia in G major, RV 149Sinfonia/Concerto for Strings in F major, RV 140Sinfonia/Concerto for Strings in G major, RV 146Siroe re di Persia, RV 735Six Flute Concertos, Op. 10Six Violin Concertos, Op. 6Six Violin Sonatas, Op. 5Sonata for Recorder, Bassoon and Continuo, RV 86Sonata in B-flat major, RV 34Sonata in D major, RV 810Sonata in E-flat major, RV 130Sonata in G minor, RV 28Sorge vermiglia in ciel, RV 667Stabat Mater, RV 621Sum in medio tempestatum, RV 632

T

TeuzzoneThe Four SeasonsTieteberga, RV 737Tito ManlioTra l'erbe, i zeffiri, RV 669Trio Sonata in B-flat major, RV 76Trio Sonata in B-flat major, RV 77Trio Sonata in C major, RV 60Trio Sonata in C major, RV 779Trio Sonata in C major, RV 82Trio Sonata in C minor, RV 83Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 63Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 64Trio Sonata in E minor, RV 67Trio Sonata in F major, RV 68Trio Sonata in F major, RV 70Trio Sonata in G major, RV 71Trio Sonata in G major, RV 820Trio Sonata in G minor, RV 72Trio Sonata in G minor, RV 81Trio Sonata in G minor, RV 85Twelve Concertos, Op. 7Twelve Trio Sonatas, Op. 1

U

Usignoletto bello, RV 796

V

Vengo a voi, luci adorate, RV 682Vestro Principi divino, RV 633Viola d'amore Concerto in A major, RV 396Viola d'amore Concerto in A minor, RV 397Viola d'amore Concerto in D major, RV 392Viola d'amore Concerto in D minor, RV 393Viola d'amore Concerto in D minor, RV 394Viola d'amore Concerto in D minor, RV 395Violin Concerto in A major, RV 335Violin Concerto in A major, RV 336Violin Concerto in A major, RV 339Violin Concerto in A major, RV 340Violin Concerto in A major, RV 341Violin Concerto in A major, RV 342Violin Concerto in A major, RV 343Violin Concerto in A major, RV 344Violin Concerto in A major, RV 345Violin Concerto in A major, RV 347Violin Concerto in A major, RV 349Violin Concerto in A major, RV 350Violin Concerto in A major, RV 352Violin Concerto in A major, RV 817Violin Concerto in A minor, RV 356Violin Concerto in A minor, RV 357Violin Concerto in A minor, RV 358Violin Concerto in B minor, RV 384Violin Concerto in B minor, RV 386Violin Concerto in B minor, RV 387Violin Concerto in B minor, RV 388Violin Concerto in B minor, RV 389Violin Concerto in B minor, RV 390Violin Concerto in B minor, RV 391Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 359Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 360Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 362Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 363Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 364Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 364aViolin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 366Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 367Violin Concerto in B-flat Major, RV 369Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 370Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 372Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 375Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 378Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 379Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 381Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 383Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 383aViolin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 583Violin Concerto in C major, RV 170Violin Concerto in C major, RV 171Violin Concerto in C major, RV 172Violin Concerto in C major, RV 173Violin Concerto in C major, RV 176Violin Concerto in C major, RV 177Violin Concerto in C major, RV 178Violin Concerto in C major, RV 179Violin Concerto in C major, RV 180Violin Concerto in C major, RV 181aViolin Concerto in C major, RV 183Violin Concerto in C major, RV 184Violin Concerto in C major, RV 185Violin Concerto in C major, RV 186Violin Concerto in C major, RV 187Violin Concerto in C major, RV 189Violin Concerto in C major, RV 190Violin Concerto in C major, RV 191Violin Concerto in C major, RV 195Violin Concerto in C minor, RV 196Violin Concerto in C minor, RV 197Violin Concerto in C minor, RV 198Violin Concerto in C minor, RV 199Violin Concerto in C minor, RV 202Violin Concerto in D major, RV 203Violin Concerto in D major, RV 204Violin Concerto in D major, RV 205Violin Concerto in D major, RV 206Violin Concerto in D major, RV 207Violin Concerto in D major, RV 208Violin Concerto in D major, RV 210Violin Concerto in D major, RV 211Violin Concerto in D major, RV 212Violin Concerto in D major, RV 212aViolin Concerto in D major, RV 213Violin Concerto in D major, RV 215Violin Concerto in D major, RV 218Violin Concerto in D major, RV 219Violin Concerto in D major, RV 222Violin Concerto in D major, RV 224Violin Concerto in D major, RV 224aViolin Concerto in D major, RV 225Violin Concerto in D major, RV 226Violin Concerto in D major, RV 228Violin Concerto in D major, RV 229Violin Concerto in D major, RV 230Violin Concerto in D major, RV 231Violin Concerto in D major, RV 233Violin Concerto in D major, RV 234Violin Concerto in D major, RV 582Violin Concerto in D major, RV 772Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 235Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 236Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 237Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 238Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 239Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 240Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 241Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 242Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 243Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 244Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 245Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 246Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 247Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 248Violin Concerto in D minor, RV 249Violin Concerto in E major, RV 263aViolin Concerto in E major, RV 265Violin Concerto in E major, RV 267Violin Concerto in E major, RV 268Violin Concerto in E major, RV 269Violin Concerto in E major, RV 270Violin Concerto in E major, RV 271Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 273Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 275Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 277Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 278Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 279Violin Concerto in E-flat major, RV 252Violin Concerto in E-flat major, RV 253Violin Concerto in E-flat major, RV 254Violin Concerto in E-flat major, RV 259Violin Concerto in E-flat major, RV 260Violin Concerto in E-flat major, RV 262Violin Concerto in F major, RV 282Violin Concerto in F major, RV 283Violin Concerto in F major, RV 284Violin Concerto in F major, RV 285Violin Concerto in F major, RV 286Violin Concerto in F major, RV 287Violin Concerto in F major, RV 292Violin Concerto in F major, RV 293Violin Concerto in F major, RV 294Violin Concerto in F major, RV 294aViolin Concerto in F major, RV 295Violin Concerto in F major, RV 296Violin Concerto in F major, RV 569Violin Concerto in F minor, RV 297Violin Concerto in G major, RV 298Violin Concerto in G major, RV 299Violin Concerto in G major, RV 300Violin Concerto in G major, RV 301Violin Concerto in G major, RV 302Violin Concerto in G major, RV 303Violin Concerto in G major, RV 308Violin Concerto in G major, RV 310Violin Concerto in G major, RV 312Violin Concerto in G major, RV 314Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 315Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 316aViolin Concerto in G minor, RV 317Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 318Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 319Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 321Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 322Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 323Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 324Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 325Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 326Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 328Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 329Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 331Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 332Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 333Violin Concerto in G minor, RV 334Violin Sonata in A major, RV 205/2Violin Sonata in A major, RV 29Violin Sonata in A major, RV 30Violin Sonata in A major, RV 31Violin Sonata in A major, RV 758Violin Sonata in A minor, RV 32Violin Sonata in B minor, RV 35Violin Sonata in B minor, RV 36Violin Sonata in B minor, RV 760Violin Sonata in B-flat major, RV 33Violin Sonata in B-flat major, RV 759Violin Sonata in C major, RV 1Violin Sonata in C major, RV 2Violin Sonata in C major, RV 3Violin Sonata in C major, RV 754Violin Sonata in C minor, RV 5Violin Sonata in C minor, RV 6Violin Sonata in C minor, RV 8Violin Sonata in D major, RV 10Violin Sonata in D major, RV 755Violin Sonata in D major, RV 9Violin Sonata in D minor, RV 12Violin Sonata in D minor, RV 14Violin Sonata in D minor, RV 15Violin Sonata in E minor, RV 16Violin Sonata in E minor, RV 17aViolin Sonata in E-flat major, RV 756Violin Sonata in F major, RV 18Violin Sonata in F major, RV 19Violin Sonata in F major, RV 20Violin Sonata in F minor, RV 21Violin Sonata in G major, RV 22Violin Sonata in G major, RV 23Violin Sonata in G major, RV 25Violin Sonata in G minor, RV 26Violin Sonata in G minor, RV 27Violin Sonata in G minor, RV 757
Wikipedia
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (UK: /vɪˈvældi/, US: /vɪˈvɑːldi, -ˈvɔːl-/; Italian: [anˈtɔːnjo ˈluːtʃo viˈvaldi] (listen); 4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, impresario, and Roman Catholic priest. Born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic, Vivaldi is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, being paramount in the development of Johann Sebastian Bach's instrumental music. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other musical instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children. Vivaldi had worked there as a Catholic priest for 18 months and was employed there from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for royal support. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died in poverty less than a year later.
After almost two centuries of decline, Vivaldi's music underwent a revival in the early 20th century, with much scholarly research devoted to his work. Many of Vivaldi's compositions, once thought lost, have been rediscovered - in one case as recently as 2006. His music remains widely popular in the present day and is regularly played the world over.
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on 4 March 1678 in Venice, then the capital of the Venetian Republic. He was baptized immediately after his birth at his home by the midwife, which led to a belief that his life was somehow in danger. Though the reasons for the child's immediate baptism are not known for certain, it was done most likely due either to his poor health or to an earthquake that shook the city that day. In the trauma of the earthquake, Vivaldi's mother may have dedicated him to the priesthood. The ceremonies which had been omitted were supplied two months later.
Vivaldi's parents were Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio, as recorded in the register of San Giovanni in Bragora. Vivaldi had five known siblings: Bonaventura Tomaso Vivaldi, Margarita Gabriela Vivaldi, Cecilia Maria Vivaldi, Francesco Gaetano Vivaldi, and Zanetta Anna Vivaldi. His father, Giovanni Battista, who was a barber before becoming a professional violinist, taught Antonio to play the violin and then toured Venice playing the violin with his young son. Antonio was probably taught at an early age, judging by the extensive musical knowledge he had acquired by the age of 24, when he started working at the Ospedale della Pietà. Giovanni Battista was one of the founders of the Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecilia, an association of musicians.
The president of the Sovvegno was Giovanni Legrenzi, an early Baroque composer and the maestro di cappella at St Mark's Basilica. It is possible that Legrenzi gave the young Antonio his first lessons in composition. The German scholar Walter Kolneder has discerned the influence of Legrenzi's style in Vivaldi's early liturgical work Laetatus sum (RV Anh 31), written in 1691 at the age of thirteen. Vivaldi's father may have been a composer himself: in 1689, an opera titled La Fedeltà sfortunata was composed by a Giovanni Battista Rossi—the name under which Vivaldi's father had joined the Sovvegno di Santa Cecilia.
Vivaldi's health was problematic. One of his symptoms, strettezza di petto ("tightness of the chest"), has been interpreted as a form of asthma. This did not prevent him from learning to play the violin, composing, or taking part in musical activities, although it did stop him from playing wind instruments. In 1693, at the age of fifteen, he began studying to become a priest. He was ordained in 1703, aged 25, and was soon nicknamed il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest". (Rosso is Italian for "red", and would have referred to the color of his hair, a family trait.)
Not long after his ordination, in 1704, he was given a dispensation from celebrating Mass most likely because of his ill health. Vivaldi said Mass as a priest only a few times, and appeared to have withdrawn from liturgical duties, though he remained a member of the priesthood. It is thought that this is also due to his habit of composing while performing mass. He seems to have remained committed to Catholicism, since the entry in the Vienna death records for him reads, "Antonio Vivaldi, Secular Priest". It is thought that he remained a devout Catholic, indeed, in 1792, the Protestant composer Ernst Ludwig Gerber, wrote of the aged Vivaldi that "the rosary never left his hand except when he picked up the pen to write an opera".
In September 1703, Vivaldi became maestro di violino (master of violin) at an orphanage called the Pio Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice. While Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well. The German architect Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach referred to Vivaldi as "the famous composer and violinist" and said that "Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment excellently, and at the conclusion he added a free fantasy [an improvised cadenza] which absolutely astounded me, for it is hardly possible that anyone has ever played, or ever will play, in such a fashion."
Vivaldi was only 25 when he started working at the orphanage. Over the next thirty years he composed most of his major works while working there. There were four similar institutions in Venice; their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were abandoned or orphaned, or whose families could not support them. They were financed by funds provided by the Republic. The boys learned a trade and had to leave when they reached the age of fifteen. The girls received a musical education, and the most talented among them stayed and became members of the Ospedale's renowned orchestra and choir.
Shortly after Vivaldi's appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad, too. Vivaldi wrote concertos, cantatas and sacred vocal music for them. These sacred works, which number over 60, are varied: they included solo motets and large-scale choral works for soloists, double chorus, and orchestra. In 1704, the position of teacher of viola all'inglese was added to his duties as violin instructor. The position of maestro di coro, which was at one time filled by Vivaldi, required a lot of time and work. He had to compose an oratorio or concerto at every feast and teach the orphans both music theory and how to play certain instruments.
His relationship with the board of directors of the Ospedale was often strained. The board had to take a vote every year on whether to keep a teacher. The vote on Vivaldi was seldom unanimous, and went 7 to 6 against him in 1709. After a year as a freelance musician, he was recalled by the Ospedale with a unanimous vote in 1711; clearly during his year's absence the board had realized the importance of his role. He became responsible for all of the musical activity of the institution when he was promoted to maestro de' concerti (music director) in 1716.
In 1705, the first collection (Connor Cassara) of his works was published by Giuseppe Sala: his Opus 1 is a collection of 12 sonatas for two violins and basso continuo, in a conventional style. In 1709, a second collection of 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo appeared—Opus 2. A real breakthrough as a composer came with his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings, L'estro armonico (Opus 3), which was published in Amsterdam in 1711 by Estienne Roger, dedicated to Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany. The prince sponsored many musicians including Alessandro Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel. He was a musician himself, and Vivaldi probably met him in Venice. L'estro armonico was a resounding success all over Europe. It was followed in 1714 by La stravaganza (Opus 4), a collection of concerti for solo violin and strings, dedicated to an old violin student of Vivaldi's, the Venetian noble Vettor Dolfin.
In February 1711, Vivaldi and his father traveled to Brescia, where his setting of the Stabat Mater (RV 621) was played as part of a religious festival. The work seems to have been written in haste: the string parts are simple, the music of the first three movements is repeated in the next three, and not all the text is set. Nevertheless, perhaps in part because of the forced essentiality of the music, the work is considered to be one of his early masterpieces.
Despite his frequent travels from 1718, the Ospedale paid him 2 sequins to write two concerti a month for the orchestra and to rehearse with them at least five times when in Venice. The orphanage's records show that he was paid for 140 concerti between 1723 and 1733.
In early 18th-century Venice, opera was the most popular musical entertainment. It proved most profitable for Vivaldi. There were several theaters competing for the public's attention. Vivaldi started his career as an opera composer as a sideline: his first opera, Ottone in villa (RV 729) was performed not in Venice, but at the Garzerie Theater in Vicenza in 1713. The following year, Vivaldi became the impresario of the Teatro San Angelo in Venice, where his opera Orlando finto pazzo (RV 727) was performed. The work was not to the public's taste, and it closed after a couple of weeks, being replaced with a repeat of a different work already given the previous year.
In 1715, he presented Nerone fatto Cesare (RV 724, now lost), with music by seven different composers, of which he was the leader. The opera contained eleven arias, and was a success. In the late season, Vivaldi planned to put on an opera entirely of his own creation, Arsilda, regina di Ponto (RV 700), but the state censor blocked the performance. The main character, Arsilda, falls in love with another woman, Lisea, who is pretending to be a man. Vivaldi got the censor to accept the opera the following year, and it was a resounding success.
During this period, the Pietà commissioned several liturgical works. The most important were two oratorios. Moyses Deus Pharaonis, (RV 643) is now lost. The second, Juditha triumphans (RV 644), celebrates the victory of the Republic of Venice against the Turks and the recapture of the island of Corfu. Composed in 1716, it is one of his sacred masterpieces. All eleven singing parts were performed by girls of the orphanage, both the female and male roles. Many of the arias include parts for solo instruments—recorders, oboes, violas d'amore, and mandolins—that showcased the range of talents of the girls.
Also in 1716, Vivaldi wrote and produced two more operas, L'incoronazione di Dario (RV 719) and La costanza trionfante degli amori e degli odi (RV 706). The latter was so popular that it performed two years later, re-edited and retitled Artabano re dei Parti (RV 701, now lost). It was also performed in Prague in 1732. In the years that followed, Vivaldi wrote several operas that were performed all over Italy.
His progressive operatic style caused him some trouble with more conservative musicians such as Benedetto Marcello, a magistrate and amateur musician who wrote a pamphlet denouncing Vivaldi and his operas. The pamphlet, Il teatro alla moda, attacks the composer even as it does not mention him directly. The cover drawing shows a boat (the Sant'Angelo), on the left end of which stands a little angel wearing a priest's hat and playing the violin. The Marcello family claimed ownership of the Teatro Sant'Angelo, and a long legal battle had been fought with the management for its restitution, without success. The obscure text under the engraving mentions non-existent places and names: for example, ALDIVIVA is an anagram of "A. Vivaldi".
In a letter written by Vivaldi to his patron Marchese Bentivoglio in 1737, he makes reference to his "94 operas". Only around 50 operas by Vivaldi have been discovered, and no other documentation of the remaining operas exists. Although Vivaldi may have been exaggerating, it is plausible that, in his dual role of composer and impresario, he may have either written or been responsible for the production of as many as 94 operas—given that his career had by then spanned almost 25 years. While Vivaldi certainly composed many operas in his time, he never attained the prominence of other great composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Adolph Hasse, Leonardo Leo, and Baldassare Galuppi, as evidenced by his inability to keep a production running for an extended period of time in any major opera house.
In 1717 or 1718, Vivaldi was offered a prestigious new position as Maestro di Cappella of the court of prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, governor of Mantua, in the northwest of Italy. He moved there for three years and produced several operas, among them Tito Manlio (RV 738). In 1721, he was in Milan, where he presented the pastoral drama La Silvia (RV 734); nine arias from it survive. He visited Milan again the following year with the oratorio L'adorazione delli tre re magi al bambino Gesù (RV 645, now lost). In 1722 he moved to Rome, where he introduced his operas' new style. The new pope Benedict XIII invited Vivaldi to play for him. In 1725, Vivaldi returned to Venice, where he produced four operas in the same year.
During this period Vivaldi wrote the Four Seasons, four violin concertos that give musical expression to the seasons of the year. Though three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows motifs from a Sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera Il Giustino. The inspiration for the concertos was probably the countryside around Mantua. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, ice-skating children, and warming winter fires. Each concerto is associated with a sonnet, possibly by Vivaldi, describing the scenes depicted in the music. They were published as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by Michel-Charles Le Cène in 1725.
During his time in Mantua, Vivaldi became acquainted with an aspiring young singer Anna Tessieri Girò, who would become his student, protégée, and favorite prima donna. Anna, along with her older half-sister Paolina, moved in with Vivaldi and regularly accompanied him on his many travels. There was speculation as to the nature of Vivaldi's and Girò's relationship, but no evidence exists to indicate anything beyond friendship and professional collaboration. Vivaldi, in fact, adamantly denied any romantic relationship with Girò in a letter to his patron Bentivoglio dated 16 November 1737.
At the height of his career, Vivaldi received commissions from European nobility and royalty. The serenata (cantata) Gloria e Imeneo (RV 687) was commissioned in 1725 by the French ambassador to Venice in celebration of the marriage of Louis XV. The following year, another serenata, La Sena festeggiante (RV 694), was written for and premiered at the French embassy as well, celebrating the birth of the French royal princesses, Henriette and Louise Élisabeth. Vivaldi's Opus 9, La cetra, was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI. In 1728, Vivaldi met the emperor while the emperor was visiting Trieste to oversee the construction of a new port. Charles admired the music of the Red Priest so much that he is said to have spoken more with the composer during their one meeting than he spoke to his ministers in over two years. He gave Vivaldi the title of knight, a gold medal and an invitation to Vienna. Vivaldi gave Charles a manuscript copy of La cetra, a set of concerti almost completely different from the set of the same title published as Opus 9. The printing was probably delayed, forcing Vivaldi to gather an improvised collection for the emperor.
Accompanied by his father, Vivaldi traveled to Vienna and Prague in 1730, where his opera Farnace (RV 711) was presented; it garnered six revivals. Some of his later operas were created in collaboration with two of Italy's major writers of the time. L'Olimpiade and Catone in Utica were written by Pietro Metastasio, the major representative of the Arcadian movement and court poet in Vienna. La Griselda was rewritten by the young Carlo Goldoni from an earlier libretto by Apostolo Zeno.
Like many composers of the time, Vivaldi faced financial difficulties in his later years. His compositions were no longer held in such high esteem as they once had been in Venice; changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded. In response, Vivaldi chose to sell off sizeable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance his migration to Vienna. The reasons for Vivaldi's departure from Venice are unclear, but it seems likely that, after the success of his meeting with Emperor Charles VI, he wished to take up the position of a composer in the imperial court. On his way to Vienna, Vivaldi may have stopped in Graz to see Anna Girò.
It is also likely that Vivaldi went to Vienna to stage operas, especially as he took up residence near the Kärntnertortheater. Shortly after his arrival in Vienna, Charles VI died, which left the composer without any royal protection or a steady source of income. Soon afterwards, Vivaldi became impoverished and died during the night of 27/28 July 1741, aged 63, of "internal infection", in a house owned by the widow of a Viennese saddlemaker. On 28 July, Vivaldi was buried in a simple grave in a burial ground that was owned by the public hospital fund. His funeral took place at St. Stephen's Cathedral. Contrary to popular legend, the young Joseph Haydn had nothing to do with his burial, since no music was performed on that occasion. The cost of his funeral with a 'Kleingeläut' was 19 Gulden 45 Kreuzer which was rather expensive for the lowest class of peal of bells.
Vivaldi was buried next to Karlskirche, a baroque church in an area which is now part of the site of the TU Wien. The house where he lived in Vienna has since been destroyed; the Hotel Sacher is built on part of the site. Memorial plaques have been placed at both locations, as well as a Vivaldi "star" in the Viennese Musikmeile and a monument at the Rooseveltplatz.
Only two, possibly three original portraits of Vivaldi are known to survive: an engraving, an ink sketch and an oil painting. The engraving, which was the basis of several copies produced later by other artists, was made in 1725 by François Morellon de La Cave for the first edition of Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, and shows Vivaldi holding a sheet of music. The ink sketch, a caricature, was done by Ghezzi in 1723 and shows Vivaldi's head and shoulders in profile. It exists in two versions: a first jotting kept at the Vatican Library, and a much lesser-known, slightly more detailed copy recently discovered in Moscow. The oil painting, which can be seen in the International Museum and Library of Music of Bologna, is anonymous and is thought to depict Vivaldi due to its strong resemblance to the La Cave engraving.
Vivaldi's music was innovative. He brightened the formal and rhythmic structure of the concerto, in which he looked for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes. Many of his compositions are flamboyantly exuberant.
Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concertos and arias (recalled in his St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and cantatas). Bach transcribed six of Vivaldi's concerti for solo keyboard, three for organ, and one for four harpsichords, strings, and basso continuo (BWV 1065) based upon the concerto for four violins, two violas, cello, and basso continuo (RV 580).
During his lifetime, Vivaldi was popular in many countries throughout Europe, including France, but after his death his popularity dwindled. After the end of the Baroque period, Vivaldi's published concerti became relatively unknown, and were largely ignored. Even his most famous work, The Four Seasons, was unknown in its original edition during the Classical and Romantic periods.
In the early 20th century, Fritz Kreisler's Concerto in C, in the Style of Vivaldi (which he passed off as an original Vivaldi work) helped revive Vivaldi's reputation. This spurred the French scholar Marc Pincherle to begin an academic study of Vivaldi's oeuvre. Many Vivaldi manuscripts were rediscovered, which were acquired by the Turin National University Library as a result of the generous sponsorship of Turinese businessmen Roberto Foa and Filippo Giordano, in memory of their sons. This led to a renewed interest in Vivaldi by, among others, Mario Rinaldi, Alfredo Casella, Ezra Pound, Olga Rudge, Desmond Chute, Arturo Toscanini, Arnold Schering and Louis Kaufman, all of whom were instrumental in the revival of Vivaldi throughout the 20th century.
In 1926, in a monastery in Piedmont, researchers discovered fourteen bound volumes of Vivaldi's work that were previously thought to have been lost during the Napoleonic Wars. Some missing tomes in the numbered set were discovered in the collections of the descendants of the Grand Duke Durazzo, who had acquired the monastery complex in the 18th century. The volumes contained 300 concertos, 19 operas and over 100 vocal-instrumental works.
The resurrection of Vivaldi's unpublished works in the 20th century is mostly due to the efforts of Alfredo Casella, who in 1939 organized the historic Vivaldi Week, in which the rediscovered Gloria (RV 589) and l'Olimpiade were revived. Since World War II, Vivaldi's compositions have enjoyed wide success. Historically informed performances, often on "original instruments", have increased Vivaldi's fame still further.
Recent rediscoveries of works by Vivaldi include two psalm settings of Nisi Dominus (RV 803, in eight movements) and Dixit Dominus (RV 807, in eleven movements). These were identified in 2003 and 2005 respectively, by the Australian scholar Janice Stockigt. The Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot described RV 807 as "arguably the best nonoperatic work from Vivaldi's pen to come to light since […] the 1920s". Vivaldi's 1730 opera Argippo (RV 697), which had been considered lost, was rediscovered in 2006 by the harpsichordist and conductor Ondřej Macek, whose Hofmusici orchestra performed the work at Prague Castle on 3 May 2008—its first performance since 1730.
A composition by Vivaldi is identified by RV number, which refers to its place in the "Ryom-Verzeichnis" or "Répertoire des oeuvres d'Antonio Vivaldi", a catalog created in the 20th century by the musicologist Peter Ryom.
Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons) of 1723 is his most famous work. Part of Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione ("The Contest between Harmony and Invention"), it depicts moods and scenes from each of the four seasons. This work has been described as an outstanding instance of pre-19th century program music.
Vivaldi wrote more than 500 other concertos. About 350 of these are for solo instrument and strings, of which 230 are for violin, the others being for bassoon, cello, oboe, flute, viola d'amore, recorder, lute, or mandolin. About forty concertos are for two instruments and strings, and about thirty are for three or more instruments and strings.
As well as about 46 operas, Vivaldi composed a large body of sacred choral music, such as the Magnificat RV 610. Other works include sinfonias, about 90 sonatas and chamber music.
Some sonatas for flute, published as Il Pastor Fido, have been erroneously attributed to Vivaldi, but were composed by Nicolas Chédeville.
Vivaldi's works attracted cataloging efforts befitting a major composer. Scholarly work intended to increase the accuracy and variety of Vivaldi performances also supported new discoveries which made old catalogs incomplete. Works still in circulation today may be numbered under several different systems (some earlier catalogs are mentioned here).
Because the simply consecutive Complete Edition (CE) numbers did not reflect the individual works (Opus numbers) into which compositions were grouped, numbers assigned by Antonio Fanna were often used in conjunction with CE numbers. Combined Complete Edition (CE)/Fanna numbering was especially common in the work of Italian groups driving the mid-20th century revival of Vivaldi, such as Gli Accademici di Milano under Piero Santi. For example, the Bassoon Concerto in B♭ major, "La Notte" RV 501, became CE 12, F. VIII,1
Despite the awkwardness of having to overlay Fanna numbers onto the Complete Edition number for meaningful grouping of Vivaldi's oeuvre, these numbers displaced the older Pincherle numbers as the (re-)discovery of more manuscripts had rendered older catalogs obsolete.
This cataloging work was led by the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, where Gian Francesco Malipiero was both the director and the editor of the published scores (Edizioni G. Ricordi). His work built on that of Antonio Fanna, a Venetian businessman and the Institute's founder, and thus formed a bridge to the scholarly catalog dominant today.
Compositions by Vivaldi are identified today by RV number, the number assigned by Danish musicologist Peter Ryom in works published mostly in the 1970s, such as the "Ryom-Verzeichnis" or "Répertoire des oeuvres d'Antonio Vivaldi". Like the Complete Edition before it, the RV does not typically assign its single, consecutive numbers to "adjacent" works that occupy one of the composer's single opus numbers. Its goal as a modern catalog is to index the manuscripts and sources that establish the existence and nature of all known works.
The movie Vivaldi, a Prince in Venice [fr] was completed in 2005 as an Italian-French co-production under the direction of Jean-Louis Guillermou [fr]. In 2005, ABC Radio National commissioned a radio play about Vivaldi, which was written by Sean Riley. Entitled The Angel and the Red Priest, the play was later adapted for the stage and was performed at the Adelaide Festival of the Arts.