Caricature of Vivaldi "The Red Priest"

Nicknamed “The Red Priest” because of his bright hair color, he was a talented violinist and one of the great composers of the Baroque era.

His instrumental concertos, mainly for violin, holy chorales, as well as more than 40 operas are known. One of his best concerts– “Seasons” – has gone through many rebirths, and some of its parts are used everywhere. Let's turn to the master's biography.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678 in Venice. His father was a violinist at St. Mark's Cathedral. Most likely, it was the parent who gave Antonio his first musical education. Vivaldi trained as a clergyman and, renouncing secular pretensions, was ordained in 1703. There is an opinion that he intended to insure himself against financial difficulties, receive a free education, and also be able to focus on his musical career. Orphanage for girls ("Ospedale della Pietà"), run by Antonio

There was a joke that Vivaldi called in sick, left the altar and hid in the sacristy to compose another work. Be that as it may, this is how the composer’s path to fame began. The violinist’s skills and good organizational skills made the instrumental ensemble of the orphanage for girls (“Ospedale della Pietà”), led by Antonio, so popular that large crowds flocked to the Sunday concert in the Church of La Pietà.

The development of Vivaldi as a composer

Vivaldi always strived for simplicity and clarity

By 1705, the composer's reputation allowed him to publish a series of 12 trio sonatas, and three years later a collection of violin sonatas. The Venitians began to realize that their compatriot was musical genius, who perfected the Baroque concert form, and at the same time found a new approach to the development of expressiveness in instrumental music. Very important in this regard was the publication of the collection of 12 concerts “L’Estro Armonico”. This collection has become the standard of the organization musical material in a single form, which opened up enormous opportunities for new research.

Vivaldi always strived for simplicity and clarity, avoiding bombast and focusing on the expressive development of a single melody, accompanying it with impeccable transparent harmony. These concerts became a revelation for contemporaries, crossing out everything that had previously been written in this genre. They became a challenge for others who sought to surpass Antonio, but few could come close to such a combination of passion, imagination, grace and harmony.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that the young man, having become acquainted with L’Estro Armonico, used it as a model for his own compositions.

His biographer Nikolaus Forkel commented on this fact: “He listened to them often, with great attention, and finally decided to transcribe them for his clavier. Thus, he learned the logic of musical ideas, structure, correct sequence modulations and much more... he learned musical thinking... to take his musical ideas not from his fingers, but from his imagination."

Vivaldi's appeal to vocal genres of music

The opera “Ottone in villa” marked new stage in the composer's life

Vivaldi, meanwhile, did not rest on his laurels, becoming interested in opera. The debut of Ottone in villa in 1713 marked a new stage in the life of the composer, who began to devote more and more time to composing, finding funding and directing opera productions. Another important and turning point was the transfer in 1714 of his superior Gasparini to Rome. As a consequence of this event, Antonio had to create material for the Pietà choir, in addition to working on his instrumental and operatic works.

Already at the end of the next year, Vivaldi presented a mass, oratorio, vespers and more than 30 chants. Before this, in 1714, he managed to publish another successful work in the concert genre - “La stravanganza”. Time after time, the audience gratefully accepted his works, in which the development of musical forms took place, both solo instrumental concerts and ensemble-orchestral concerts - concerto grosso. In 1714, Vivaldi published another successful work in the concert genre - “La stravanganza”

Years of wandering

After a series of victories, Vivaldi decides to take a long vacation, traveling around Italy and Europe. There was a period of time when he was in the service of the governor of Mantua, Philip von Hesse-Homburg. While there, Antonio met the singer Anna Giraud, who later appeared as a soprano in his operas. Their relationship was quite close; Anna and her sister were often the composer’s companions on his trips.

While living in Rome in 1723-1724, the composer had the opportunity to present his music to the Pope, where he made a good impression on him.

In Amsterdam he continues to publish concerts. The crowning achievement of his creativity was a set of 8 concertos, published in 1725. The collection, entitled "Il cimento dell' armonia e dell' inventione", included internationally acclaimed concerts entitled "The Seasons". They were accompanied by short poems describing seasonal scenes, which Vivaldi tried to repeat in his music. Other works in this collection, such as the violin concertos “Storm at Sea” and “The Hunt,” were no less picturesque.
The concerts, entitled "The Seasons" of Vivaldi, were accompanied by short poems describing the seasonal scenes.

The next, last published, cycle of concerts “La Cetra” was published in 1727. This collection was dedicated to the Austrian Emperor Charles VI, whom Vivaldi met in Vienna in the early 20s. The Emperor, being an amateur composer, was impressed by Antonio's works.

This is confirmed in the report of their meeting in 1728: “The Emperor talked with Vivaldi for a long time about music; they say that in 15 days he talked more privately with him than he talked with his ministers in two years.”

It is curious that, called “La Cetra”, there is a second cycle of 12 concerts, also dedicated to the emperor, but containing only one common composition. The music in this collection is no less interesting than the earlier collection, and is of the same high quality.

Return to the homeland and period of decline

Since the beginning of the 30s, A. Vivaldi has been going through a period of long decline

From the beginning of the 30s, the fame of Antonio Vivaldi went into a period of long decline. New composers and new styles of music captured the attention of the public. His long absence from Venice took its toll, and he was no longer able to return to his previous activities in Pieta.

Death of Antonio Vivaldi

In 1737, his operas were banned under the pretext that, due to his relationship with Anne Giraud, he could no longer be a priest. This also led to the termination of the contract with Pieta. At the end of 1740, tired of his long isolation, Vivaldi headed to Vienna, but his friend, Emperor Charles VI, died shortly before the composer's arrival, and Austria plunged into the War of the Royal Succession. As a result, not finding support at the end of his life, Antonio Vivaldi died on July 28, 1741, and was buried as a beggar.

The first orchestras appeared at the turn of the 17th – 18th centuries. They consisted of royal court musicians, and composers wrote music for the instruments they had available. The orchestra as we know it today begins to take shape in the mid-17th century, after the group string instruments established her place in it.

VENICE

1678–1741

Antonio Vivaldi

1678–1741

March 4, 1678 in Venice in family Vivaldi the firstborn appeared. The child born in the seventh month had such a weak constitution that due to mortal danger was immediately baptized by a midwife under the name Antonio Lucio. Although Vivaldi Then two more sons and three daughters were born, none of them, with the exception of the first-born, became a musician. The younger brothers inherited the profession of hairdressers from their father.

About the first years of life Antonio little is known. His musical talent manifested itself very early. Already at the age of ten, he often replaced his father in the orchestra of St. Mark's Cathedral when he performed outside of Venice. The first and main teacher Antonio was Giovanni Battista Vivaldi(his father), who by that time had already become a famous virtuoso. The first composition attributed to Vivaldi dates back to 1691 (13 years). The virtuoso playing style of the young Vivaldi and the features of his first works also give reason to believe that in the early 1700s he studied with Arcangelo Corelli, famous Italian violinist and composer.

Huge influence on the formation of young people Vivaldi influenced by the musical atmosphere of the city where he was born and raised. I decided to choose a career as a priest. Probably, this decision of Antonio was influenced by his father’s many years of activity in the cathedral St. Mark. According to documents, on September 18, 1693, at the age of 15 and a half, Antonio Vivaldi became an assistant priest. Judging by the documents, Vivaldi used the opportunity to become one, bypassing a special spiritual seminar. Thanks to this, he had much more time to study music. It is not surprising that even before completing his spiritual education he acquired a reputation outstanding violin virtuoso .

"Ospedale della Pieta" . Thus began the first period of his brilliant teaching and creative activity.

Having become a teacher at one of the best “conservatories” in Venice, Vivaldi found himself in an environment with brilliant musical traditions, where opportunities opened up for him to implement a wide variety of creative ideas. Like others composers XVIII centuries, who acted as teachers, Vivaldi had to regularly create for his students a huge amount of sacred and secular music - oratorios, cantatas, concerts, sonatas and works of other genres. In addition, he taught choristers, rehearsed with the orchestra and conducted concerts, and also taught music theory. Thanks to such intensive and multifaceted activities Vivaldi his “conservatory” began to stand out noticeably among others in Venice.

"Seasons" Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi- the first four of the twelve violin concertos of his eighth opus, some of his most famous works and some of the most famous musical works in the style baroque. Concertos written in 1723 and first published two years later. Each concert is dedicated to one time of year and consists of three parts corresponding to each month.

The composer prefaced each of the concerts with sonnet- a kind of literary program. It is assumed that the author of the poems is Vivaldi himself. It should be added that baroque artistic thinking is not limited to a single meaning or plot, and involves secondary meanings, hints, and symbols.

The first obvious allusion is the four ages of man, from birth to death.

Equally overt is the allusion to the four regions of Italy, according to the four cardinal directions and the path of the sun across the sky. This is sunrise (east, Adriatic, Venice), midday (sleepy, hot south), magnificent sunset (Rome, Latium) and midnight (cold foothills of the Alps, with their frozen lakes).

At the same time, Vivaldi here reaches the heights of genre and direct depiction, without shying away from humor: the music contains the barking of dogs, the buzzing of flies, the roar of a wounded animal, etc.

All this, together with the impeccably beautiful form, led to the recognition of the cycle as an indisputable masterpiece.

Antonio Vivaldi is an outstanding violinist and composer, one of the brightest representatives of Italian violin art XVIII century. Unlike Corelli, with his rare focus on a few genres, the composer-violinist Vivaldi, who wrote more than 500 concertos for different compositions and 73 sonatas for various instruments, created 46 operas, 3 oratorios, 56 cantatas, and dozens of cult works. But his favorite genre in his work was undoubtedly the instrumental concert. Moreover, concerti grossi make up only a little more than a tenth of his concerts: he always preferred solo works. More than 344 of them are written for one instrument (with accompaniment) and 81 for two or three instruments. Among the solo concerts there are 220 violin concerts. Possessing keen sense sound coloring, Vivaldi created concerts for a wide variety of compositions.

The concerto genre especially attracted the composer due to the breadth of its impact, accessibility to a large audience, the dynamism of the three-part cycle with a predominance of fast tempos, the striking contrasts of tutti and soli, and the brilliance of virtuoso presentation. The virtuoso instrumental style contributed to the overall brightness of the impressions of the figurative structure of the work. It was in this creative interpretation that the concert at that time was the largest and most accessible of the instrumental genres and remained so until the establishment of the symphony in concert life.

In Vivaldi's work, the concerto for the first time acquired a complete form, realizing the hidden possibilities of the genre. This is especially noticeable in the interpretation of the solo beginning. If in Corelli’s Concerto grosso the short solo episodes of a few bars each have a closed character, then in Vivaldi, born of an unlimited flight of fantasy, they are structured differently: in a free, close to improvisational presentation of their parts, the virtuoso

nature of tools. Accordingly, the scale of orchestral ritornellos increases, and the whole form acquires a completely new dynamic character, with emphasized functional clarity of harmonies and sharply accentuated rhythms.

As already mentioned, Vivaldi owns a huge number of concertos for various instruments, primarily for the violin. During the composer's lifetime, relatively few of the concertos were published - 9 opuses, of which 5 opuses cover 12 concertos and 4 cover 6. All of them, with the exception of 6 concertos op. 10 for flute and orchestra, intended for one or more violins with accompaniment. Thus, less than 1/5 of the total number of Vivaldi concertos was published, which is explained not only by the underdeveloped music publishing business at that time. Perhaps Vivaldi deliberately did not allow the publication of his most complex and technically successful concerts, trying to keep the secrets of his performing skills secret. (Later, N. Paganini did the same.) It is significant that the vast majority of opuses published by Vivaldi himself (4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12) consist of the easiest violin concertos to perform. The exception is the famous opuses 3 and 8: op. 3 includes Vivaldi's first published and therefore particularly significant concertos, with the dissemination of which he sought to establish his reputation as a composer; from 12 concerts op. 8–7 have program names and occupy a very special place in the composer’s work.

Twelve concertos from op. 3, called by the composer “Harmonic Inspiration” (“L"Estro Armonico”), were undoubtedly widely known long before their publication in Amsterdam (1712). This is confirmed by handwritten copies of individual concerts located in many European cities. Features of style and original “ The two-chord division of the orchestra's parts allows us to date the origins of the cycle to the early 1700s, when Vivaldi played in the Cathedral of St. Mark. The orchestral parts of each of the concerts are presented in an 8-voice version - 4 violins, 2 violas, cello and double bass with cymbal. or organ); thanks to this, the orchestral sonority is divided in due cori (into two choirs), which is later found extremely rarely in Vivaldi’s creations. in this case“two-chorus” compositions, Vivaldi followed a long tradition, which at that time had already completely exhausted itself.

Or. 3 reflects a transitional stage in development instrumental concert when traditional techniques still coexist with new trends. The entire opus is divided into 3 groups of 4 concerts each according to the number of solo violins used. There are 4 of them in the first group, 2 in the second and one in the third. Concertos for 4 violins, with one exception, were no longer created. This group of concertos, with its small dismemberment of solo sections and tutti, is closest to Corelli's Concerto grosso. Concertos for two violins with more developed ritornellos in the interpretation of the solo beginning are also in many ways reminiscent of Corelli. And only in concerts for one violin do solo episodes receive sufficiently full development.

The best concertos of this opus are among the most frequently performed. These are the concertos in B minor for 4 violins, A minor for 2 and E major for one. Their music was supposed to amaze contemporaries with the novelty of their sense of life, expressed in unusually vivid images. Already in our days, one of the researchers wrote about the penultimate solo episode from the third part of the double concert in A minor: “It seems that in the luxurious hall of the Baroque era the windows and doors opened, and free nature entered with a greeting; the music sounds a proud, majestic pathos, not yet familiar to the 17th century: the exclamation of a citizen of the world.”

Publication op. 3 marked the beginning of Vivaldi's strong contact with Amsterdam publishers, and for less than two decades, until the end of the 1720s, all the others were published in Amsterdam lifetime editions composer's concerts. Some of these opuses also have titles, although not programmatic in the strict sense of the word, but helping to understand the musical intention of the author. Apparently, they reflect the fascination of composers with figurative associations that was characteristic of that period. So 12 concerts for one violin with op. accompaniment. 4 are called “La Stravaganza”, which can be translated as “eccentricity, strangeness”. This title, perhaps, should have emphasized the extraordinary courage of musical thinking inherent in this opus. 12 concertos for one and two violins with accompaniment from op. 9 have the title “Lyre” (“La Cetra”), which obviously symbolizes the art of music here. Finally, the already mentioned op. 8 with its 7 program concerts is called “An Experience of Harmony and Fantasy” (“II Cimento dell'Armonia e dell" Inventione”), as if the author wanted to warn listeners that this is just a modest attempt, a tentative search in a hitherto unknown area of ​​musical expressiveness .

The publication of the concertos coincided with the heyday of Vivaldi's activity as a virtuoso violinist and leader of the Ospedale orchestra. IN mature years During his life he was one of the most famous violinists in Europe at that time. The scores published during the musician’s lifetime do not give a complete picture of his amazing performing skills, which played a huge role in the development of violin technique. It is known that in that era there was still a common type of violin with a short neck and a small neck, which did not allow the use of high positions. Judging by the testimony of his contemporaries, Vivaldi possessed a violin with a specially elongated neck, thanks to which he could freely reach the 12th position (in one of the cadenzas of his concerts, the highest note is F sharp of the 4th octave - for comparison, we note that Corelli was limited to using 4 -th and 5th positions).

This is how one of his contemporaries describes the stunning impression of Vivaldi’s performance at the Teatro Sant’Angelo on February 4, 1715: “... accompanying the singer at the end of the performance, Vivaldi excellently performed a solo, which then turned into a Fantasia, which brought me into real horror, because such no one has ever been able or will ever be able to play; With incredible speed, performing something resembling a fugue on all 4 strings, he raised the fingers of his left hand so high on the fingerboard that they were separated from the stand by a distance no greater than the thickness of a straw, and there was no room left for the bow to play on the strings...” .

Despite possible exaggerations, this description seems generally plausible, as confirmed by the surviving cadenzas of Vivaldi (in total, 9 manuscripts of his cadenzas are known). They most fully reveal Vivaldi's amazing technical talent, which allowed him to significantly expand the expressive capabilities of not only the violin, but also other instruments. His music for bowed players inventively uses new technical techniques that became widespread at that time: playing chords with various arpeggiation options, using high positions, bowing effects of staccato, sharp throws, bariolage, etc. His concerts show that he was a violinist with a highly developed bowing a technique that included not only simple and volatile staccato, but also sophisticated arpeggiation techniques with shading that was unusual at that time. Vivaldi's imagination in inventing various options for playing arpeggios seems inexhaustible. It is enough to refer to the 21-bar Larghetto from the second movement of the Concerto in B minor Op. 3, throughout which three types of arpeggios are used simultaneously, alternately coming to the fore.

And yet most strong point Vivaldi the violinist apparently had extraordinary mobility in his left hand, which knew no restrictions in using any position on the fingerboard.

The peculiarities of Vivaldi's performing style gave the stamp of unique originality to the playing of the Ospedale orchestra, which he led for many years. Vivaldi achieved extraordinary subtlety of dynamic gradations, leaving far behind everything known in this area among his contemporaries. It is also important that the performances of the Ospedale orchestra took place in a church, where the strictest silence reigned, making it possible to distinguish the slightest nuances of sonority. (In the 18th century, orchestral music usually accompanied noisy meals, where there could be no question of attention to detail in the performance.) Vivaldi's manuscripts show an abundance of subtle transitions of sonority shades, which the composer usually did not transfer to printed scores, since at that time such nuances were considered unenforceable. Researchers of Vivaldi's work have established that the full dynamic scale of his works covers 13 (!) gradations of sonority: from pianissimo to fortissimo. The consistent use of such shades actually led to crescendo or diminuendo effects - then completely unknown. (In the 1st half of the 18th century, the change in sonority in strings had a “terrace-like” character, like a multi-manual cymbal or organ.)

After the violin, the cello attracted Vivaldi's greatest attention among the strings. His legacy includes 27 concertos for this instrument with accompaniment. The number is amazing, since at that time the cello was still rarely used as a solo instrument. In the 17th century it was known mainly as a continuo instrument and only at the beginning of the next century it became a soloist. The first cello concertos appeared in the north of Italy, in Bologna, and were undoubtedly familiar to Vivaldi. His numerous concerts testify to a deeply organic understanding of the nature of the instrument and its innovative interpretation. Vivaldi clearly highlights the low tones of the cello, reminiscent of the sound of a bassoon, sometimes limiting the accompaniment to one continuo to enhance the effect. The solo parts of his concerts contain significant technical difficulties, requiring the performer to have great mobility of his left hand.

Gradually, Vivaldi introduced new techniques of violin playing into the cello parts: expanding the number of positions, staccato, bow throws, using non-adjacent strings in rapid movement, etc. The high artistic level of Vivaldi’s cello concertos allows us to rank them among the most outstanding examples of this genre. The composer's work spans two 10-year periods, especially significant for the development of the new instrument, the 10-year anniversary preceding the appearance of Bach's suites for solo cello (1720).

Captivated by new varieties of strings, Vivaldi paid almost no attention to the viol family. The only exception is viola d'amore (lit. - viola of love), for which he wrote six concerts. Vivaldi was undoubtedly attracted by the delicate silvery sound of this instrument, created by the overtones of resonant (aliquot) metal strings stretched under the stand. Viola d'amore is used many times as an indispensable solo instrument in his vocal works (in particular, in one of best arias oratorio "Judith". Vivaldi also owns one concerto for viola d'amore and lute.

Of particular interest are Vivaldi's concertos for wind instruments - wood and brass. Here he was one of the first to turn to new varieties of instruments, laying the foundations of their modern repertoire. By creating music for instruments outside the scope of his own performing practice, Vivaldi discovered inexhaustible inventiveness in the interpretation of their expressive possibilities. Even today, his concertos for winds impose serious technical demands on performers.

The flute is used in a variety of ways in Vivaldi's work. At the beginning of the 18th century, there were two varieties of it - longitudinal and transverse. Vivaldi wrote for both types of instrument. His contribution to the creation of the repertoire for the transverse flute as a solo concert instrument was especially significant. Note that there were practically no concert compositions for her. Flutists often performed works intended for violin or oboe. Vivaldi was one of the first to create concertos for the transverse flute, which revealed new expressive and dynamic possibilities of its sound.

In addition to the two main varieties of the instrument, Vivaldi also wrote for the flautino, a flute apparently similar to the modern piccolo flute. Vivaldi paid great attention to the oboe, which occupied a place of honor in opera orchestras of the 17th century. The oboe was especially often used in “open-air music.” 11 Vivaldi concertos for oboe and orchestra and 3 concertos for two oboes have been preserved. Many of them were published during the composer's lifetime.

In 3 concerts for various instruments (“con molti Istromenti”), Vivaldi used the clarinet, which was then still in the experimental phase of its development. The clarinet is also included in the score of the oratorio “Judith”.

Vivaldi wrote an amazing amount for the bassoon - 37 solo concertos with accompaniment. In addition, the bassoon is used in almost all chamber concerts, in which it is usually combined with the timbre of the cello. The interpretation of the bassoon in Vivaldi concertos is characterized by the frequent use of low, dense registers and rapid staccato, which requires highly developed technique from the performer.

Vivaldi turned to brass instruments much less frequently than to woodwinds, which is explained by the difficulty of using them in a recital at that time. In the 18th century, the brass scale was still limited to natural tones. Therefore, in solo concerts, brass parts usually did not go beyond C and D major, and the necessary tonal contrasts were entrusted to the strings. Vivaldi's Concerto for two trumpets and two concertos for two horns and orchestra show the composer's remarkable ability to compensate for the limitations of the natural scale with the help of frequent imitations, repetitions of sounds, dynamic contrasts and similar techniques.

In December 1736, two Vivaldi concertos for one and two mandolins and orchestra appeared. Thanks to the transparent orchestration with frequent pizzicatos, they achieved an organic unity with the timbre of the solo instruments, full of the enchanting beauty of the sound. The mandolin attracted Vivaldi's attention with its colorful timbre and as an accompaniment instrument. In one of the arias of the oratorio “Judith” the mandolin was used as a mandatory instrument. The parts of two mandolins are included in the score of a concert performed at the Ospedale in 1740.

Among other plucked instruments, Vivaldi used the lute, using it in two of his concerts. (Nowadays, the lute part is usually played on the guitar.)

Being a violinist by vocation, Vivaldi the composer essentially always followed the patterns of the violin cantilena. It is not surprising that he almost never used keyboards as solo instruments, although he invariably retained the continue function for them. An exception is the Concerto in C major for several instruments with two solo cymbals. Vivaldi was very interested in another keyboard instrument - the organ, with its rich palette of colors and sounds. There are six known Vivaldi concertos with solo organ.

Passionate about the possibilities new form recital, Vivaldi sought to use it in works for ensembles of various compositions. He wrote especially a lot for two or more instruments with orchestral accompaniment - a total of 76 of his concerts of this kind are known. Unlike Concerto grosso, with its usual group of three soloists - two violins and basso continuo, these works represent a completely new type of ensemble concert. Their solo sections use groups of instruments that are very diverse in composition and number, including up to ten participants; in the development individual soloists come to the fore or the form of instrumental dialogue dominates.

Vivaldi also repeatedly turned to the type of orchestral concerto, in which tutti sonority predominates, only interspersed with performances by individual soloists. There are 47 works of this kind known, the ideas of which were far ahead of their time. He gave various names to their orchestral concerts, designating them as “Sinfonia”, “Concerto”, “Concerto a quattro” (four-piece) or “Concerto ripieno” (tutti).

The large number of orchestral concerts by Vivaldi indicates his constant interest in this type of genre. Apparently, his work at the Ospedale forced him to often use similar forms of music-making that did not require first-class soloists.

Finally, a special group consists of Vivaldi’s chamber concerts for several soloists without orchestral accompaniment. They use especially ingeniously the possibilities of combining instruments that are different in nature. Among the 15 works of this kind are the already mentioned 4 concertos from op. 10 in the first edition.

The development of the solo concert (primarily the violin concert) is the merit of A. Vivaldi, whose main area of ​​creativity was instrumental music. Among his many concerts, concertos for one or two violins and orchestra occupy a central place.

Vivaldi made important acquisitions in the field of thematic development and compositional form. For the first movements of his concerts, he finally developed and established a form close to the rondo, which was later adopted by I.S. Bach, as well as classical composers.

Vivaldi contributed to the development of virtuoso violin technique, establishing a new, dramatic style of performance. Vivaldi's musical style is distinguished by melodic generosity, dynamic and expressive sound, transparency of orchestral writing, classical harmony combined with emotional richness.

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IN IVALDI (Vivaldi) Antonio (1678-1741), Italian composer, virtuoso violinist. The creator of the genre of solo instrumental concert and, along with A. Corelli, concerto grosso. His cycle “The Seasons” (1725) is one of the earliest examples of programming in music. Over 40 operas, oratorios, cantatas; instrumental concerts of various compositions (465), etc.

He studied violin with his father Giovanni Battista Vivaldi, violinist at St. Brand; possibly composition - with Giovanni Legrenzi, and may also have studied with Arcangelo Corelli in Rome.

September 18, 1693 Vivaldi was tonsured as a monk. On September 18, 1700 he was elevated to the rank of deacon. On March 23, 1703, Vivaldi was ordained to the priesthood. The next day he celebrated his first independent mass in the Church of San Giovanni in Oleo. Because of his hair color, which was unusual for Venetians, he was nicknamed the red priest. On September 1, 1703, he was admitted to the Pieta Orphanage as a violin maestro. Order from Countess Lucrezia Trevisan to serve 90 votive matins in the Church of San Giovanni in Oleo. On August 17, 1704 he received additional compensation for teaching the viola d’amore. Having served half of the votive matins, Vivaldi refuses for health reasons the order of Lucrezia Trevisan. 1706 first public performance in the palace of the French embassy. An edition of the “Guide to Venice” prepared by the cartographer Coronelli, which mentions the father and son Vivaldi as violin virtuosos. Moving from Piazza Bragora to a new, larger house in the neighboring parish of San Provolo.

In 1723 the first trip to Rome. 1724 - second trip to Rome for the premiere of the opera Giustino. Audience with Pope Benedict XIII. 1711 publication of 12 concertos “L’estro armonico” (“Harmonic Inspiration”) Op. 3.1725 op. published in Amsterdam. VIII "Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Invenzione. In this cycle "The Art of Harmony and Invention" or ("The Controversy of Harmony with Invention"), Op. 8 (ca. 1720), which even then made an indelible impression on listeners with its frantic passion and innovation, now included four world-famous concerts “The Four Seasons.” Jean Jacques Rousseau, who worked at the French embassy in Venice at that time, highly appreciated Vivaldi’s music and loved to perform some of this cycle himself on his favorite flute. Vivaldi’s concerts are also widely known. — “La notte” (night), “Il cardellino” (the goldfinch), for flute and orchestra, concerto for two mandolins RV532, distinguished by the artistic expression and harmonic generosity characteristic of his works, as well as sacred works: “Gloria”, “Magnificat” ", "Stabat Mater", "Dixit Dominus".

From 1703 to 1725 he was a teacher, then an orchestra conductor and director of concerts, and from 1713 he was the director of the orchestra and choir at the della Pieta in Venice, an orphanage home that was famous as one of the best music schools for girls. In 1735 he again briefly served as bandmaster.

Vivaldi - largest representative Italian violin art of the 18th century, which established a new dramatized, so-called “Lombard” style of performance. He created the genre of solo instrumental concert and influenced the development of virtuoso violin technique. Master of the ensemble-orchestral concert - concerto grosso. Vivaldi set up a 3-part for the concerto grosso cyclic form, highlighted the virtuoso part of the soloist.

During his lifetime, he became known as a composer capable of creating a three-act opera in five days and composing many variations on one theme. He became famous throughout Europe as a virtuoso violinist. Although favored by Vivaldi, Goldoni, after the death of the red-haired priest, spoke of him in his memoirs as a rather mediocre composer. For a long time, Vivaldi was remembered only because J. S. Bach made a number of transcriptions of his predecessor’s works, and only in the 20th century was the publication of the complete collection of Vivaldi’s instrumental opuses undertaken. Vivaldi's instrumental concerts were a stage on the path to the formation of a classical symphony. The Vivaldi Italian Institute was created in Siena (headed by F. Malipiero).

In mid-May 1740, the musician finally left Venice. He arrived in Vienna at an unfortunate time, as Emperor Charles VI had just died and the War of the Austrian Succession had begun. Vienna had no time for Vivaldi. Forgotten by everyone, sick and without a livelihood, he died in Vienna on July 28, 1741. The quarterly doctor recorded the death of “the Reverend Don Antonio Vivaldi from internal inflammation.” He was buried in the cemetery for the poor for a modest fee of 19 florins 45 kreuzers. A month later, sisters Margherita and Zanetta received news of Antonio's death. On August 26, the bailiff seized his property to pay off his debts.

Contemporaries often criticized him for his excessive passion for the opera stage and his haste and illegibility. It is curious that after the production of his opera “Furious Roland”, his friends called Vivaldi, none other than Dirus (lat. Furious). The composer's opera heritage (approximately 90 operas) has not yet become the property of the world opera stage. It wasn't until the 1990s that Roland Furious was successfully staged in San Francisco.

Vivaldi's work had a huge influence not only on contemporary Italian composers, but also on musicians of other nationalities, primarily German. Here it is especially interesting to trace the influence of Vivaldi’s music on J. S. Bach, the greatest German composer of the 1st half of the XVIII century. In the first biography of Bach, published in 1802, its author, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, singled out the name of Vivaldi among the masters who became the subject of study for the young Johann Sebastian. The strengthening of the instrumental-virtuoso character of Bach's thematicism during the Köthen period of his work (1717-1723) is directly related to the study of Vivaldi's music. But its influence was manifested not only in the assimilation and processing of individual expressive techniques - it was much broader and deeper. Bach adopted Vivaldi's style so organically that it became his own musical language. The inner intimacy with Vivaldi's music is palpable in the most various works Bach up to his famous “High” Mass in B minor. The influence that Vivaldi's music had on the German composer was undoubtedly enormous. According to A. Casella, “Bach is his greatest admirer and probably the only one who at that time was able to understand the greatness of the genius of this musician.”

Essays
More than 40 operas, including “Roland the Imaginary Madman” (Orlando fiato pozzo, 1714, Teatro Sant’Angelo, Venice), “Nero who became Caesar” (Nerone fatto Cesare, 1715, ibid.), “The Coronation of Darius "(L'incoronazione di Daria, 1716, ibid.), "Deception triumphant in love" (L'inganno trionfante in amore, 1725, ibid.), "Farnace" (1727, ibid., later also called "Farnace , ruler of Pontus"), "Cunegonde" (1727, ibid.), "Olympiad" (1734, ibid.), "Griselda" (1735, San Samuele Theater, Venice), "Aristide" (1735, ibid. ), “Oracle in Messenia” (1738, Teatro Sant’Angelo, Venice), “Theraspes” (1739, ibid.); oratorios - “Moses, God of Pharaoh” (Moyses Deus Pharaonis, 1714), “Juditha Triumphans devicta Holofernis barbarie” (1716), “Adoration of the Magi” (L'Adorazione delli tre Re Magi, 1722), etc. ;
Author of more than 500 concerts, including:
44 concertos for string orchestra and basso continuo;
49 concherti grossi;
352 concertos for one instrument with string orchestra and/or basso continuo accompaniment (253 for violin, 26 for cello, 6 for viol d'amore, 13 for transverse, 3 for longitudinal flutes, 12 for oboe, 38 for bassoon, 1 for mandolin );
38 concertos for 2 instruments with string orchestra and/or basso continuo accompaniment (25 for violin, 2 for cello, 3 for violin and cello, 2 for horns, 1 for mandolins);
32 concertos for 3 or more instruments with string orchestra and/or basso continuo accompaniment.

One of the most famous works is the cycle of 4 violin concerts “The Seasons” - an early example of program symphonic music. Vivaldi's contribution to the development of instrumentation was significant (he was the first to use oboes, horns, bassoons and other instruments as independent, rather than duplicating ones).

Introduction

Chapter I. The role of A. Vivaldi in the development of the violin concerto in the 18th century

1.1.

1.2.A. Vivaldi’s creative contribution to the development of the instrumental concert

Chapter II. The creative heritage of A. Vivaldi. Analysis of the composer's most famous works

1 "Seasons"

2 Violin Concerto “A minor”

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Antonio Vivaldi is a prolific composer, author of instrumental works and operas, the productions of which he largely directed himself, raising singers, conducting performances, even performing the duties of an impresario. The extraordinary intensity of this restless existence, seemingly inexhaustible creative forces, and the rare versatility of interests were combined in Vivaldi with manifestations of a bright, unrestrained temperament.

These personality traits are fully reflected in Vivaldi’s art, which is full of richness artistic fantasy and strength of temperament and does not lose vitality over the centuries. If some of his contemporaries saw frivolity in Vivaldi’s appearance and actions, then in his music the creative thought is always awake, the dynamics do not weaken, and the plasticity of form is not disturbed. Vivaldi's art is, first of all, a generous art, born from life itself, absorbing its healthy juices. There was and could not be anything in it that was far-fetched, far from reality, or untested by practice. The composer knew the nature of his instrument perfectly.

Target course work: study the interpretation of the instrumental concert genre in the works of Antonio Vivaldi.

Objectives of this course work:

.Study literature on a given topic;

2.Consider A. Vivaldi as a representative of the Italian violin school;

3.Analyze the most famous works of the composer.

This course work is relevant today, since the work of the composer A. Vivaldi is interesting to his contemporaries, his works are performed in concert halls all over the world.

Chapter I. The role of A. Vivaldi in the development of the violin concerto in the 18th century

1.1.Italian violin school and the development of instrumental and violin music genres

The early flowering of Italian violin art had its own social and cultural reasons, rooted in the socio-economic development of the country. Due to special historical conditions in Italy, earlier than in other European countries, feudal relations were replaced by bourgeois ones, which were more progressive in that era. In the country that F. Engels called “the first capitalist nation,” national features of culture and art began to take shape most early.

The Renaissance flourished actively on Italian soil. It led to the emergence of brilliant creations of Italian writers, artists, and architects. Italy gave the world the first opera, developed violin art, the emergence of new progressive musical genres, exceptional achievements of violin makers who created unsurpassed classic designs bowed instruments (Amati, Stradivarius, Guarneri).

The founders of the Italian school of violin makers were Andrea Amati and Gasparo da Salo, and most outstanding masters during the heyday of the school (from the mid-17th to the mid-18th centuries) - Niccolò Amati and his two students, Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù.

It is believed that Antonio Stradivari was born in the year 1644, although his exact date of birth is not recorded. He was born in Italy. It is believed that from 1667 to 1679 he served as a free student of Amati, i.e. did the grunt work.

The young man diligently improved Amati's work, achieving melodiousness and flexibility of voices in his instruments, changing their shape to a more curved one, and decorating the instruments.

The evolution of Stradivarius shows a gradual liberation from the influence of the teacher and the desire to create a new type of violin, distinguished by timbre richness and powerful sound. But the period of creative quest during which Stradivari searched for his own model lasted more than 30 years: his instruments achieved perfection of form and sound only in the early 1700s.

It is generally accepted that his finest instruments were made from 1698 to 1725, exceeding in quality the instruments subsequently made from 1725 to 1730. Among the famous Stradivarius violins are the Betts, Viotti, Alard and Messiah. .

In addition to violins, Stradivarius also made guitars, violas, cellos, and at least one harp—a total of more than 1,100 instruments, according to current estimates.

The great master died at the age of 93 on December 18, 1837. His working tools, drawings, drawings, models, and some violins ended up in the collection of the famous 18th-century collector Count Cosio di Salabue. Nowadays this collection is kept in the Stradivarius Museum in Cremona.

Changes in the historical situation, social and cultural needs, spontaneous processes of development of musical art, aesthetics - all this contributed to a change in styles, genres and forms of musical creativity and performing arts, sometimes leading to a motley picture of the coexistence of different styles in the world. common path the advancement of art from the Renaissance to the Baroque, and then to the pre-classicist and early classicist styles of the 18th century.

The art of violin played a significant role in the development of Italian musical culture. The leading role of Italian musicians in the early flowering of violin creativity as one of the leading phenomena of European music cannot be underestimated. This is convincingly evidenced by the achievements of Italian violinists and composers of the 17th-18th centuries, who led the Italian violin school - Arcangelo Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Tartini, whose work has retained great artistic significance.

Arcangelo Corelli was born on February 17, 1653 in Fusignano, near Bologna, into an intelligent family. His musical talent was revealed early, and it developed under the direct influence of the Bolognese school: young Corelli mastered playing the violin in Bologna under the guidance of Giovanni Benvenuti. His successes amazed those around him and received high recognition from specialists: at the age of 17, Corelli was elected a member of the Bologna Philharmonic Academy. However, he then did not stay long in Bologna and in the early 1670s he moved to Rome, where he then spent his whole life. In Rome, the young musician further supplemented his education by studying counterpoint with the help of the experienced organist, singer and composer Matteo Simonelli from the Papal Chapel. Musical activities Corelli began first in the church (violinist in the chapel), then in the Capranica Opera House (kapellmeister). Here he distinguished himself not only as a wonderful violinist, but also as a leader of instrumental ensembles. Since 1681, Corelli began publishing his works: before 1694, four collections of his trio sonatas were published, which brought him wide fame. From 1687 to 1690 he headed the chapel of Cardinal B. Panfili, and then became the head of the chapel of Cardinal P. Ottoboni and organizer of concerts in his palace.

This means that Corelli communicated with a large circle of art connoisseurs, enlightened art lovers and outstanding musicians of his time. A rich and brilliant philanthropist, passionate about art, Ottoboni hosted the performance of oratorios and “academy” concerts, which were attended by a large society. Young Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti and his son Domenico, and many other Italian and foreign musicians, artists, poets, and scientists visited his house. The first collection of Corelli trio sonatas is dedicated to Christina of Sweden, the queen without a throne who lived in Rome. This suggests that Corelli took one or another part in the musical festivals organized in the palace she occupied or under her auspices.

Unlike most Italian musicians of his time, Corelli did not write operas (although he was associated with the opera house) or vocal works for the church. He was completely immersed as a composer-performer only in instrumental music and a few of its genres associated with the leading participation of the violin. In 1700, a collection of his sonatas for violin with accompaniment was published. Since 1710, Corelli stopped performing in concerts; two years later he moved from the Ottoboni Palace to his own apartment.

For many years, Corelli taught students. His students include composers and performers Pietro Locatelli, Francesco Geminiani, and J.B. Somis. He left behind a large collection of paintings, among which were paintings by Italian masters, landscapes by Poussin and one painting by Bruegel, highly valued by the composer and mentioned in his will. Corelli died in Rome on January 8, 1713. 12 of his concerts were published posthumously, in 1714.

With all its roots, Corelli's art goes back to the tradition of the 17th century, without breaking with polyphony, mastering the heritage of the dance suite, further developing expressive means and, thereby, the technique of his instrument. The work of Bolognese composers, especially based on the trio sonata model, has already gained significant influence not only within Italy: as is known, it captivated Purcell in his time. Corelli, the creator of the Roman school of violin art, won truly world fame. In the first decades of the 18th century, his name embodied, in the eyes of his French or German contemporaries, the highest successes and the very specificity of Italian instrumental music in general. The violin art of the 18th century developed from Corelli, represented by such luminaries as Vivaldi and Tartini, and a whole galaxy of other outstanding masters.

Corelli's creative legacy at that time was not so great: 48 trio sonatas, 12 sonatas for violin with accompaniment and 12 “grand concertos”. Corelli's contemporary Italian composers, as a rule, were much more prolific, creating dozens of operas, hundreds of cantatas, not to mention a huge number of instrumental works. Judging by Corelli's music itself, it is unlikely that creative work was difficult for him. Being, apparently, deeply concentrated on it, without scattering to the sides, he carefully thought through all his ideas and was in no hurry to publish finished essays. There are no traces of obvious immaturity in his early works, just as there are no signs of creative stabilization in his later works. It is quite possible that what was published in 1681 was created over a number of previous years, and that the concertos published in 1714 began long before the composer's death.

2 A. Vivaldi’s creative contribution to the development of the instrumental concert

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

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

The head of the choir, G. Legrenzi, became interested in the young violinist and studied organ playing and composition with him. Vivaldi attended Legrenzi's home concerts, where new works by the owner himself, his students - Antonio Lotti, cellist Antonio Caldara, organist Carlo Polarolli and others - were heard. Unfortunately, Legrenzi died in 1790 and the studies ceased.

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

His father fully prepared Vivaldi for teaching, having done the same himself at the Conservatory of the “Beggars”. Music was the main subject at the conservatory. The girls were taught to sing, play various instruments, and conduct. The conservatory had one of the best orchestras in Italy at that time, with 140 students participating in it. B. Martini, C. Burney, K. Dittersdorf spoke enthusiastically about this orchestra. Together with Vivaldi, Corelli and Lotti's student Francesco Gasparini, an experienced violinist and composer whose operas were staged in Venice, taught here.

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

As if emphasizing the tribute to Corelli's genius, he concludes Sonata No. 12 with the same variations on the Folia theme. Already next year, the second opus will be released - concerti grossi “Harmonic Inspiration”, which appeared three years earlier than Torelli’s concerts. It is among these concerts that the famous A-minor ny.

The service at the conservatory was successful. Vivaldi is entrusted with leading the orchestra, then the choir. In 1713, due to the departure of Gasparini, Vivaldi became the main composer with the obligation to compose two concerts a month. He worked at the conservatory almost until the end of his life. He brought the conservatory orchestra to the highest perfection.

The fame of Vivaldi the composer is quickly spreading not only in Italy. His works are published in Amsterdam. In Venice he meets 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 evident in improvised cadences.

On one such occasion, someone who was present at a production of Vivaldi’s opera at the San Angelo Theater recalled his performance: “Almost at the end, accompanying a superb solo singer, Vivaldi finally performed a fantasy that truly frightened me, because it was something incredible, like which no one has played and cannot play, for with his fingers he climbed so high up that there was no longer any room left for the bow, and this on all four strings he performed a fugue with incredible speed.” Records of several such cadenzas remain in manuscripts.

Vivaldi composed rapidly. His solo sonatas and concerts are published. For the conservatory, he created his first oratorio, “Moses, God of the Pharaoh,” and prepared his first opera, “Ottone in the Villa,” which was performed successfully in 1713 in Vicenza. Over 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 in the manuscript of the opera “Tito Manlio” (1719) - “worked in five days.”

In 1716, Vivaldi created one of his best oratorios for the conservatory: “Judith triumphant, defeating Holofernes of the barbarians.” The music attracts with its energy and scope and at the same time amazing color 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 were invited to perform - Giuseppe Tartini and Francesco Veracini. The meeting with Vivaldi had a profound impact on their work, especially on Tartini's concertos and sonatas. Tartini said that Vivaldi was a composer of concertos, but he thought that he was an opera composer by vocation. Tartini was right. Vivaldi's operas are now forgotten.

Vivaldi's teaching activities 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 - conductor in Prague. A student of the conservatory, Santa Tasca 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 turned out to be a good vocal teacher. His pupil Faustina Bordoni received the nickname “New Siren” for the beauty of her voice (contralto). The most famous student of Vivaldi was Johann Georg Pisendel, concertmaster of the Dresden Chapel.

In 1718, Vivaldi unexpectedly accepted an invitation to work as the head of the Landgrave's chapel in Mantua. Here he staged his operas, created numerous concerts for the chapel, and dedicated a cantata to the Count. In Mantua he met his former pupil, singer Anna Giraud. He undertook to develop her vocal abilities, succeeded in this, but became seriously interested in her. Giraud became a famous singer and sang in all Vivaldi 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 comprised op. 8 - “An 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 enormous popularity.

During these years, the intensity of Vivaldi's creativity was exceptional. For the 1726/27 season alone, he created eight new operas, dozens of concerts, and sonatas. Since 1735, Vivaldi’s fruitful collaboration with Carlo Goldoni began, on whose libretto he created 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 cadenzas. Judging by the surviving recordings of some of his cadenzas, his compositions, as well as the fragmentary testimonies of his contemporaries about his playing that have come down to us, he was an outstanding violinist who masterfully controlled his instrument.

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

Vivaldi's creative legacy is enormous. Over 530 of his works have already been published. He wrote about 450 different concerts, 80 sonatas, about 100 symphonies, more than 50 operas, and over 60 spiritual works. Many of them still remain in manuscript. Ricordi Publishing House has published 221 concertos for solo violin, 26 concertos for 2-4 violins, 6 concertos for viol d cupid, 11 cello concertos, 30 violin sonatas, 19 trio sonatas, 9 cello sonatas and other works, including for wind instruments.

In any genre that Vivaldi’s genius touched, new, unexplored possibilities opened up. This was already evident in his first work.

Vivaldi's twelve trio sonatas were first published as op. 1, in Venice in 1705, but were composed long before that; This opus probably included selected works of this genre. In style they are close to Corelli, although they also reveal some individual traits. It is interesting that, just as it happens in op. 5 Corelli, Vivaldi’s collection ends with nineteen variations on the then popular theme of the Spanish folia. Noteworthy is the different (melodic and rhythmic) presentation of the theme in Corelli and Vivaldi (the latter is more strict). Unlike Corelli, who usually distinguished between chamber and church styles, Vivaldi already in his first opus provides examples of their interweaving and interpenetration.

In terms of genre, these are still rather chamber sonatas. In each of them, the first violin part is highlighted and given a virtuosic, freer character. The sonatas open with lush preludes of a slow, solemn nature, with the exception of the Tenth Sonata, which begins with a fast dance. The remaining parts are almost all genre. Here are eight allemandes, five jigs, six chimes, which are instrumentally reinterpreted. The solemn court gavotte, for example, he uses five times as a fast 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 abandons the fugue part, polyphony and elaborateness, and strives for dynamic dance movement. Sometimes all the other parts run at almost the same tempo, thereby violating the ancient principle of contrasting tempos.

Already in these sonatas one can feel the richest imagination of Vivaldi: no repetition of traditional formulas, inexhaustible melody, a desire for prominence, characteristic intonations, which would then be developed by Vivaldi himself and other authors. Thus, the beginning of the Grave of the second sonata will then appear in the “Seasons”. The melody of the prelude of the eleventh sonata will be reflected in the main theme of Bach's Concerto for two violins. Characteristics There are also broad movements of figuration, repetition of intonations, as if fixing the main material in the listener’s mind, and consistent implementation of the principle of sequential development.

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

violin composer Vivaldi

Chapter II. The creative heritage of A. Vivaldi. Analysis of the composer's most famous works

1 "Seasons"

Cycle of four concertos for solo violin with string orchestra and the cymbal “The Seasons” was presumably written in 1720-1725. These concerts were later included in opus 8, “The Controversy of Harmony with Invention.” As N. Harnoncourt writes, the composer collected and published those of his concerts that could be combined with such a sonorous title.

The “Spring” concert, like the other three “Four Seasons” concerts, is written in a three-part form, the establishment of which in the history of music is associated precisely with the name of A. Vivaldi. The extreme movements are fast and written in the old concert form. The second part is slow, with a melodious melody, written in the ancient two-part form.

For the composition of the first part of the concert, the activity and energy of movement inherent in its title theme is of paramount importance. Repeating itself more than once in the Allegro, as if returning in a circle, it seems to spur the overall movement within the form and at the same time holds it together, retaining the main impression.

The dynamic activity of the first parts of the cycle is contrasted with the concentration of the slow parts with the internal unity of their thematism and greater simplicity of composition. Within this framework, the numerous Largos, Adagios and Andantes in Vivaldi’s concertos are far from being of the same type. They can be calmly idyllic in various options, in particular, are pastoral, stand out for their breadth of lyricism, and can even in the Sicilian genre convey constrained tension of feelings or, in the form of a passacaglia, embody the severity of grief. The movement of music in the lyrical centers is more one-dimensional (internal contrasts are not characteristic of either thematics or the structure as a whole), more calm, but it is undoubtedly present here in Vivaldi - in the wide deployment of lyrical melodicism, in the expressive counterpointing of the upper voices, as if in a duet ( called Siciliana), in the variational development of the passacaglia.

The thematic theme of the finales, as a rule, is simpler, internally homogeneous, and closer to the origins of the folk genre than the thematic theme of the first Allegro. Fast movement in 3/8 or 2/4, short phrases, sharp rhythms (dance, syncopated), fiery intonations “in the Lombard taste” - everything here is defiantly vital, sometimes cheerful, sometimes scherzoic, sometimes buffoonish, sometimes stormy, sometimes dynamically picturesque.

However, not all finales in Vivaldi concertos are dynamic in this sense. Finale in concerto grosso op. 3 No. 11, where it is preceded by the mentioned Siciliana, is permeated with anxiety and is unusual in the sharpness of its sounds. The solo violins begin to lead in an imitative presentation of an alarming, evenly pulsating theme, and then, from the fourth bar, a chromatic descent in the same pulsating rhythm is marked in the bass.

This immediately gives the dynamics of the concert finale a gloomy and even somewhat nervous character.

In all parts of the cycle, Vivaldi’s music moves differently, but its movement occurs naturally both within each part and in the relationship between the parts. This is due to both the very nature of thematicism and the advancing maturity of mode-harmonic thinking in the new homophonic structure, when the clarity of mode functions and the clarity of gravity activate musical development. This is also entirely connected with the classical sense of form characteristic of the composer, who, without even avoiding the sharp intrusion of local folk-genre intonations, always strives to maintain the highest harmony of the whole in the alternation of contrasting patterns, on the scale of parts of the cycle (without lengths), in the plasticity of their intonation unfolding in the general dramaturgy of the cycle.

As for the program subtitles, they only outlined the nature of the image or images, but did not affect the form of the whole, did not predetermine the development within its limits. The relatively extensive program includes scores for four concerts from the “Seasons” series: each of them has a corresponding sonnet that reveals the content of the parts of the cycle. It is possible that the sonnets were composed by the composer himself. In any case, the program declared in them does not at all require any rethinking of the form of the concert, but rather “bends” according to this form. The imagery of the slow movement and the finale, with the peculiarities of their structure and development, was generally easier to express in poetry: it was enough to name the images themselves. But the first part of the cycle, the concert rondo, received such a programmatic interpretation that did not prevent it from retaining its usual form and naturally embodying the chosen “plot” in it. This happened in each of the four concerts.

In the “Spring” concert, the program of the first movement is revealed in the sonnet in this way: “Spring has come, and cheerful birds greet it with their singing, and brooks run and gurgle. The sky is covered with dark clouds, lightning and thunder also herald spring. And the birds return to their sweet songs again.” The light, strong, chord-dance theme (tutti) determines the emotional tone of the entire Allegro: “Spring has come.” Concert violins (episode) imitate birdsong. The “spring theme” sounds again. New passage episode - short spring thunderstorm. And comes back again main topic Rondo "Spring has come" So she always dominates the first part of the concert, embodying the joyful feeling of spring, and the visual episodes appear as a kind of detail of the overall picture of the spring renewal of nature. As you can see, the rondo form remains in full force here, and the program is easily “divided” into its sections. It seems that the sonnet “Spring” was actually composed by a composer who foresaw in advance the structural possibilities of its musical embodiment.

In all the second parts of “The Seasons” there is a unity of texture throughout the entire movement (although the size of the movement does not allow for particular contrasts). The piece is written in the old two-part form.

In total, the texture has three layers: upper - melodic - melodious, cantilen. Middle - harmonic filling - “rustling of grass and foliage”, very quiet, written in small dotted durations, conducting echoes in parallel thirds. The movement of the middle voices is mainly trill-like, circling. Moreover, the first two beats of the bar are static movement - a third “trill”, which, although monotonous, is moving, thanks to the exquisite dotted line. On the third beat, the melodic movement is activated - by this it seems to prepare the sound pitch of the next measure, creating a slight “shift” or “swaying” of the texture. And the bass - emphasizing the harmonic basis - is rhythmically characteristic, depicting the “barking of a dog.”

It is interesting to trace exactly how Vivaldi thought about the figurative structure of the slow movements in the concert cycle. The music Largo (cis-minor) from the concert “Spring” corresponds to the following lines of the sonnet: “On a flowering lawn, under the rustle of oak forests, a goat shepherd sleeps with a faithful dog next to him.” Naturally, this is a pastoral in which a single idyllic image unfolds. The octave violins sing a peaceful, simple, dreamy melody against a poetic background of swaying thirds - and all this is shaded after the major Allegro by a soft parallel minor, which is natural for the slow part of the cycle.

For the finale, the program also does not provide for any variety and does not even detail its content in the least: “Nymphs dance to the sounds of shepherd’s bagpipes.”

Light movement, dance rhythms, stylization folk instrument- everything here might not depend on the program, since it is usually for finals.

In each concerto from The Four Seasons, the slow movement is monotonous and stands out for its calm picturesqueness after the dynamic Allegro: a picture of the languor of nature and all living things in the summer heat; restful sleep villagers after the autumn harvest festival; “It’s good to sit by the fireplace and listen to the rain hitting the window behind the wall” - when the icy winter wind is fierce.

The finale of “Summer” is the picture of a storm, the finale of “Autumn” is “Hunting”. Essentially, the three parts of the program concert cycle remain in the usual relationships in terms of their figurative structure, the nature of internal development and contrasting comparisons between Allegro, Largo (Adagio) and the finale. And yet, the poetic programs revealed in four sonnets are interesting in that they seem to confirm with the author’s word the general impressions of the imagery of Vivaldi’s art and its possible expression in his main genre of concert.

Of course, the “Seasons” cycle, somewhat idyllic in the nature of its images, reveals only a little of the composer’s work. However, its idyllism was very much in the spirit of his contemporaries and over time gave rise to repeated imitations of “The Seasons”, even to the point of individual curiosities. Many years passed, and Haydn, already at a different stage in the development of musical art, embodied the theme of the “seasons” in a monumental oratorio. As one might expect, his concept turned out to be deeper, more serious, more epic than Vivaldi’s; she raised ethical issues in connection with the work and life of ordinary people close to nature. However, the poetic and pictorial aspects of the plot, which once inspired Vivaldi, also attracted Haydn’s creative attention: he also has a picture of a storm and thunderstorm in “Summer”, “Harvest Festival” and “Hunting” in “Autumn”, contrasts of a difficult winter road and home comfort in “Winter”.

2. Violin concerto “A minor”

The theme of the famous concerto in a minor (Op. 3 No. 6) could have opened a fugue in its first intonation, but the flow of further repetitions and sequences gives it dance dynamics, despite the minor key and its sharply memorable appearance.

Such naturalness of movement even within the first theme, such ease of combining various intonation sources is an amazing quality of Vivaldi, which does not leave him on a larger scale. Among his “headline” themes there are, of course, more homogeneous in intonation composition.

In an a-minor concert, the opening tutti is built on bright fanfare intonations, repetitions of sounds and phrases. Already the initial formula, characterized by the “drilling in” of one sound, becomes typical for the composer. The prevailing principle is: “no lengths.” Extreme dynamics and strong-willed pressure help to embody a courageous, aspiring image.

Strengthening the competitive nature, which gives special brightness to the music of Vivaldi concerts, their genre and programming, the contrast not only between in separate parts cycle, but also within its main, first part (in Vivaldi it usually takes on a ronda-shaped form) with a pointed opposition between tutti and soli, the subtle use of timbre, dynamic and rhythmic means of expression - all these features in their harmonious combination contributed to strengthening the features of concertoness and increasing strength emotional impact on the listener. Already contemporaries emphasized in Vivaldi’s concertos the special inherent expressiveness, passion, and widespread use of the so-called “Lombard style.”

If in his sonatas Vivaldi shifts the center of gravity to the middle movements, then in the concert there is a clear tendency to highlight the first movement as the main and most significant. In this regard, the composer somewhat complicates its traditional structure: he dynamizes the episodes from the first to the third, increasing the significance, scale and developmental and improvisational nature of the last episode, interpreted as an extended and dynamized reprise; comes close to two-darkness, which is of a contrasting nature.

In the middle parts, it enhances the psychological depth of revealing the inner world of a person; introduces lyrical elements into the genre finale, as if drawing a single lyrical line. All these features outlined here will be fully revealed in the following concerts.

In total, about 450 Vivaldi concertos have survived; approximately half of them are concertos written for solo violin and orchestra. Vivaldi's contemporaries (I. Quantz and others) could not help but pay attention to the new features he introduced into concert music. style XVIII centuries that attracted their creative interest. Suffice it to recall that J. S. Bach highly valued Vivaldi’s music and made several keyboard and organ transcriptions of his concertos.

Conclusion

In their totality, the instrumental genres of the 17th - early 18th centuries, with their various compositional principles and special techniques presentation and development, embodied wide circle musical images that were previously inaccessible to instrumental music, and thereby raised it to the first high level, on par with other genres of synthetic origin.

The most significant thing, undoubtedly, was that the achievements of instrumental music by the beginning of the 18th century (and partly in its first decades) opened up great prospects for its further movement along one line to the classical polyphony of Bach, along another, more extended one, to the classical symphony of the end century.

In general, both the figurative content of Vivaldi’s music and its main genres, without a doubt, reflected with great completeness the leading artistic aspirations of their time - and not only for Italy. Spreading throughout Europe, Vivaldi's concertos had a fruitful influence on many composers and served as examples of the concert genre in general for their contemporaries.

When completing the course work, the set goal was achieved, namely, the interpretation of the instrumental concert genre in the work of Antonio Vivaldi was studied.

The assigned tasks were also completed: literature on a given topic was studied, A. Vivaldi was considered as a representative of the Italian violin school, the most famous works of the composer were analyzed.

Vivaldi's style is the same type of intonation, repeated from concert to concert with some changes, "twists", but always recognizable as typically "Vivaldi".

What was new in Vivaldi’s concert genre was determined by the deepening of the musical content, its expressiveness and imagery, the introduction of programmatic elements, the establishment, as a rule, of a tripartite cycle (with the sequence fast-slow-fast), the strengthening of the actual concert performance, the concert interpretation of the solo part, the development of melodic language, a broad motive-thematic development, rhythmic and harmonic enrichment. All this was permeated and united by the creative imagination and ingenuity of Vivaldi as a composer and performer.

Bibliography

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