Antonio Vivaldi was the creator of the genre. Concerts of Antonio Vivaldi. Falling from steep heights into valleys

Vivaldi's unique style revolutionized the European musical world beginning of the 18th century. Vivaldi's work is the quintessence of all the best that Italian art has achieved since the beginning XVIII century. This brilliant Italian made all of Europe talk about “great Italian music.”

During his lifetime, he received recognition in Europe as a composer and virtuoso violinist, who established a new, dramatized, so-called “Lombard” style of performance. Known as a composer capable of creating a three-act opera in five days and composing many variations on one theme. He is the author of 40 operas, oratorios, and more than 500 concerts. 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 I.S. Bach.

Vivaldi wrote music in the Baroque style. The word "baroque" translated from Italian sounds strange, whimsical. The Baroque era has its own time boundaries - the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century (1600-1750). The Baroque style influenced not only the fashion of that time, it dominated all art: architecture, painting and, of course, music. Baroque art has a passionate character: pomp, brightness, and emotionality.
Vivaldi entered the history of music as the creator of the instrumental concert genre. It was Vivaldi who gave it the traditional three-part form. From three concertos, he also created a work of a larger form, reminiscent of a modern symphony. One of the first works of this kind was his work “The Seasons,” written around 1725. Truly innovative in concept, the “Seasons” cycle was significantly ahead of its time, anticipating the searches in the field of program music of the romantic composers of the 19th century.

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Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4, 1678. His father Giovanni Battista (nicknamed "Red" for his fiery hair color), the son of a baker from Brescia, moved to Venice around 1670. There for some time he worked as a baker, and then mastered the profession of a barber. In his free time from earning his daily bread, Giovanni Battista played the violin. And he turned out to be such a gifted musician that in 1685 the famous Giovanni Legrenzi, conductor of the Cathedral of St. Mark, accepted him into his orchestra.

Vivaldi House in Venice

The first and most famous of the six children of Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio, Antonio Lucio, was born ahead of schedule due to a sudden earthquake. The boy's parents saw the birth of a new life under such strange circumstances as a sign from above and decided that Antonio should become a priest.

From birth, Antonio had a serious illness - a compressed chest, he was tormented by asthma all his life, suffered from asthma attacks, could not climb stairs or walk. But a physical disability could not affect the boy’s inner world: his imagination truly knew no barriers, his life was no less bright and colorful than that of others, he simply lived in music.

When the future great composer was 15 years old, his tonsure (symbol of the crown of thorns) was shaved, and on March 23, 1703, twenty-five-year-old Antonio Vivaldi was ordained. However, he did not feel a sincere desire to be a priest. One day, during a solemn mass, the “red priest” could not wait for the end of the service and left the altar in order to capture on paper in the sacristy an interesting idea that had come to his mind about a new fugue. Then, as if nothing had happened, Vivaldi returned to " workplace" It ended with him being banned from serving Mass, which young Vivaldi was probably only too happy about.

From his father, Antonio inherited not only his hair color (quite rare among Italians), but also a serious love of music, especially playing the violin. Giovanni Battista himself gave his son his first lessons and brought him to his place in the orchestra of the Cathedral of St. Brand. Antonio studied composition and learned to play the harpsichord and flute.

Among the many palaces and churches that adorned Venice, there was a modest monastery - a shelter for girls “Ospedale della Pietà” (literally “hospital of compassion”), where in September 1703 Vivaldi began teaching music. All music lovers in Europe considered it an honor to visit there and hear the famous orchestra, consisting entirely of orphan girls. This " musical miracle" was led by Abbot Antonio Vivaldi, who was called Pretro Rosso - Red Monk, Red Priest. The nickname revealed a cheerful disposition and fiery temperament. And all this despite the fact that Maestro Vivaldi was seriously ill all his life and was out of breath while walking.

In 1705, the Venetian publisher Giuseppe Sala published the first collection of sonatas for three instruments (two violins and bass) by Antonio Vivaldi. The next “portion” of Vivaldi’s violin sonatas was published four years later by Antonio Bortoli. Soon the works of the “red-haired priest” gained extraordinary popularity. In just a few years, Antonio Vivaldi became the most famous violin composer in Europe. Subsequently, Vivaldi's works were published in London and Paris - the then publishing centers of Europe.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi

At the beginning of 1718, he received an invitation to serve as conductor at the court in Mantua. The composer stayed here until 1720. And here, in Mantua, Vivaldi met the singer Anna Giraud, owner of a beautiful contralto. At first she was his student, then the main performer in his operas and, finally, to everyone's outrage, she became his mistress.

Mantua

Returning to Venice, Vivaldi devoted himself entirely to theatrical activities. He tried his hand both as an author and as an impresario. In 1720-1730 Vivaldi is known throughout Italy. His fame reached such proportions that he was even invited to give a concert in front of the Pope himself.

In 1740, Vivaldi finally abandoned work at the Ospedale della Pietà and went to Vienna, to the court of Emperor Charles VI, his longtime and powerful admirer. But the great composer’s rosy plans were not destined to come true. Arriving in Vienna, he no longer found the monarch alive. In addition, by this time Vivaldi's popularity had begun to decline. The public's preferences changed, and baroque music quickly found itself on the periphery of fashion.

A sixty-three-year-old musician who has never distinguished himself good health, could not recover from these blows of fate and fell ill with an unknown disease.

Vivaldi died on July 28, 1741 in Vienna from “internal inflammation” (as it was written in the funeral protocol), in the arms of his student and friend Anna Giraud. The funeral was modest: only a few bells sounded, and the procession consisted only of people hired to carry the coffin.

After his death, the musical heritage of Antonio Vivaldi was forgotten for almost 200 years. Only in the twenties of the twentieth century, an Italian musicologist accidentally discovered a collection of Vivaldi manuscripts. It contained 19 operas and more than 300 instrumental works, as well as large number works of vocal and sacred music. From that time on, the revival of the former glory of this once widely famous composer began.

Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice. His first lessons in playing the violin were given to him by his father. Antonio was such a capable student that at the age of 11 he could replace his mentor in the chapel of St. Mark's Cathedral.

From his early youth, having decided to devote his life to music, Anthony at the same time wanted to be a clergyman. He was ordained in 1704.

Unfortunately, Vivaldi's health was so poor that he was unable to celebrate the entire Mass. Therefore, he was given some relief. Vivaldi soon left his duties as a priest, but did not relinquish his priesthood.

The beginning of a creative journey

In 1709, Vivaldi was presented to the monarch of Denmark, Frederick IV. The composer dedicated 12 sonatas written for violin to him.

In 1712, Vivaldi met with the German composer, G. Stötzl.

Composer's activities

Vivaldi began as an opera composer. In 1713 he created the 3-act work “Ottone at the Villa”. A year later, a new opera was created, “The Imaginary Madman.” It was based on the poem by L. Ariosto, “Roland the Furious.”

Around this time, the composer's talent was recognized by his colleagues, music critics, and opera fans. Vivaldi began to have more and more students. He devoted his free time from teaching to composing new musical works. The composer also actively collaborated with the theater, from where he regularly received a large number of orders.

Over time, the musician's name became known outside of Venice. In 1718, his opera “Skanderberg” was staged in Florence.

In the same year, the composer accepted the invitation of Prince F. Hesse-Darmstadt and, moving to Mantua, became bandmaster at his court.

There the musician met A. Giraud. She became a student of the great composer, and the latter played a significant role in her development as opera singer.

When studying the biography of A. Vivaldi, you should know the most important thing. In 1725, a series of his works was published entitled “The Art of Harmony and Invention.” It included the “Seasons” concerts. The creativity of this period is filled with drama. Many works contain solemn and gloomy notes.

Vivaldi made his greatest contribution to the development of the orchestral ensemble concert.

Illness and death

Like many composers, Vivaldi was often in dire need of money. In 1740 he arrived in Vienna to stage his operas. But due to the worsening political crisis, the musician was forced to leave for Saxony.

The composer suffered from bronchial asthma since childhood, and this forced move adversely affected his health.

A year later he returned to Austria, but the public soon forgot their recent favorite. In July 1741 great composer passed away. He was buried in a cemetery for the poor.

Other biography options

• Vivaldi was born at seven months old. According to some reports, the newborn was so frail and sickly that he was immediately baptized.
• Vivaldi never married. But because of his warm relationship with A. Giraud, which still remained platonic, the composer was more than once criticized by high-ranking clergy.

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The exquisite luxury, pomp and whimsical aesthetics of the Baroque era were fully embodied in the work of the famous Venetian Antonio Vivaldi. He is called the “Italian Bach,” and for good reason: over the 63 years of his life, the musician wrote about 800 works, including operas, choral works, and more than 500 concerts for various instruments and orchestra. A talented innovative composer, virtuoso violinist, brilliant conductor and teacher, he left behind not only a rich creative heritage, but also so many mysteries that many of them have not been solved to this day. Even his exact resting place is unknown to his descendants. But the extraordinary music of Vivaldi, over whose magnetism time has no power, has been preserved in its original form and today occupies an honorable place among the greatest treasures of the world musical art.

A short biography of Antonio Vivaldi and many interesting facts Read about the composer on our page.

Brief biography of Vivaldi

In 1678, in Venice, a son, Antonio, was born into the family of the barber Giovanni Batista Vivaldi. At the end of the 17th century, Venice was the recognized capital of entertainment, a holiday city, where all life passed to the sounds of music, and the house of the future composer was no exception in this sense. The head of the Vivaldi family was so skilled at playing the violin that he was invited to perform in the orchestra of St. Mark's Cathedral.

Antonio suffered from a physical illness from birth - a form of asthma. But of all six of Vivaldi’s children, he was most like his father - not only with his fiery red hair, rare for the inhabitants of Venice, but most importantly, with his ability to hear and feel music. The musical talent of Antonio Vivaldi made itself felt with early childhood. He quickly mastered the game violin and at the age of 10 he often performed in the cathedral orchestra instead of his father. And at the age of 13, the boy first tried to compose his own music.

Vivaldi’s biography says that at the age of 15, Antonio’s life took a sharp turn - at the insistence of his parents, he chose a career as a clergyman and devoted the next 10 years of his life to the study of church sciences. However, he did not give up his music studies and by 1703 he not only received holy orders, but also became famous as a virtuoso violinist. He was nicknamed the “red priest” for his hair color, but Vivaldi did not perform church duties for long. Very quickly he refused to lead masses - according to one version, because his health did not allow it, according to another, again because of his passion for music.

Almost immediately after receiving the rank, Vivaldi began working in one of the schools in Venice, “Ospedale della Pieta” - that was the name of the orphanage house at the monastery. “Ospedale della Pietà” became a real cradle for Vivaldi’s work. In his status as a violin teacher and choirmaster, he acquired a unique opportunity to implement the most daring and diverse creative ideas. Due to his duty, he had to write a lot of music for school students, both spiritual and secular - cantatas, chorales, oratorios, vocal and symphonic compositions, concerts. The results of such vigorous and diverse activities quickly made themselves felt - among connoisseurs and connoisseurs of music, the school began to be considered the best in the city.

Vivaldi composed more than 450 concertos for the Pieta orchestra and often performed solo violin parts himself. Such a violin that gave birth to sounds as if from the depths human soul, Venice still hasn't heard.

Very quickly, the young composer’s popularity spread far beyond the borders of his hometown. Every distinguished guest coming to Venice considered it his duty to attend the performances of Antonio Vivaldi. In 1705 and 1709, the musician’s sonatas were published in separate collections.

But Antonio was already fascinated by another idea - to become an opera composer. At that time, opera was considered the most popular genre among audiences, and Vivaldi, with his characteristic determination and indomitable temperament, plunged into a new type of creativity for him. His opera debut, entitled Ottone at the Villa, staged in 1713, was a great success. Vivaldi begins to work at a crazy pace - he manages to create 3-4 operas per year. His fame as an opera composer grows, and Antonio receives an invitation from the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, a keen connoisseur of the art of music and the governor of Mantua, to become conductor at his court.

In 1721-22, Vivaldi worked in Milan and Rome, continuing to compose new operas.

In his declining years, the composer's affairs greatly deteriorated. He decided to return to Venice, hoping to find peace of mind in his hometown, which had applauded him for almost 40 years. But disappointment awaited him. The music he composed no longer aroused the former delight; the public had new idols. Even at his native conservatory, with which he was associated for 38 years of fruitful work, they made it clear to him that his services were not really needed.

According to Vivaldi’s biography, the composer, in 1740, in search of a way out of the situation, went to Vienna, to the court of Emperor Charles VI, his longtime and powerful admirer, in the hope that his talent would be in demand there. But fate prepared another blow for Vivaldi - before he could arrive in Vienna, Charles VI died. The composer did not survive his failed patron for long. He died on July 28, 1741 and was buried in Vienna in a poor grave.

Interesting facts:

• After 1840, many handwritten versions of Vivaldi's works were lost and disappeared from people's memory for a long time. Some notes fell into the hands of his fellow composers, as well as close relatives.

• Vivaldi owes his “second birth” to the Italian musicologist Alberto Gentili, who was actively searching for the composer’s works. In the 20s of the 20th century, he heard a rumor about the sale of handwritten scores that were kept in the monastery college in San Martino. Among them, Gentili discovered 14 volumes of Vivaldi's works, which until now remained unknown to the public - 19 operas, more than 300 concerts, many sacred and secular vocalises.
• The search for Vivaldi's lost works continues to this day. In 2010, his Flute Concerto was found in Scotland. In 2012, the world learned about his unknown opera “Orlando Furioso”.
• Admirers of Vivaldi's art were famous contemporaries musician. Among his listeners were King Frederick IV of Denmark and Pope Benedict.
• In a Venetian guide for foreigners dating from 1713, Vivaldi's father and son are mentioned as the most accomplished violinists among the musicians of Venice.

• The most popular image of the composer is considered to be a painting by the French portraitist François Morelon de la Cavaie. For the portrait, Antonio had to wear a white wig - the etiquette of those times did not allow men to appear in society without a wig.
• Vivaldi's "calling card" - a cycle of violin concertos "Seasons"- in the original version it is called “The Four Seasons” “Le quattro stagioni”.
• Only 40 of the 90 operas mentioned by the composer were able to confirm his authorship.
• The epigraphs to the concerts that make up the “Seasons” cycle are sonnets. Their author is unknown, but it is assumed that they also belong to Vivaldi.
• In 1939, Gloria was revived. It was performed in Siena as part of the “Vivaldi Week”, organized by the Italian Alfredo Casella.
• The Siena Institute is named after Vivaldi.
• In the building former school“Ospedale della Pieta” currently houses a restaurant and hotel complex.
• Vivaldi and Mozart buried in a cemetery in Vienna, where some of the poorest members of the population were buried.

• “To the Music of Vivaldi” is the name of the song by the luminaries of the original song V. Berkovsky and S. Nikitin, based on the verses of A. Velichansky. Vivaldi's music in this song text is a symbol of the spiritual harmony of the lyrical hero.
• One of the open craters on the planet Mercury is named after the composer.
• “Vivaldi Orchestra” is the name of the group, which was founded in 1989 by violinist and conductor Svetlana Bezrodnaya. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that its members are exclusively women. This is a kind of “remake” of the orchestra of students organized by Vivaldi at the Ospedale della Pieta school at the beginning of the 18th century.
• In the famous film “Pretty Woman,” Vivaldi’s music, according to the directors’ plans, became one of the illustrations of the world of high society. The film features Vivaldi's “The Seasons” - three out of four concerts.

• Vivaldi belongs catchphrase: “When one violin is enough, two are not used.”
• Italian scientists made an amazing discovery about three years ago - they identified the so-called “Vivaldi effect”. They conducted an experiment, which revealed that periodic listening to “Seasons” strengthens memory in older people.
• Swiss figure skater Stephane Lambiel won a silver medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics skating to Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons."

"The Red-haired Priest's Girlfriend"

There are many “blank spots” in the composer’s biography, and his personal life is no exception. His name is closely associated with only one woman - singer Anna Giraud. The musician met Anna during his work in Mantua. He returned to Venice with her. The famous Venetian playwright C. Goldoni mentions that Vivaldi introduced Anna Giraud to him, calling her his student. But evil tongues quickly dubbed the young singer “the red-haired priest’s girlfriend,” and not without reason. The composer clearly favored her; from the moment they met, he wrote operas especially for her, and it was Vivaldi that Anna owed her fame as an opera singer. In addition, Anna, together with her sister Paolina, was part of his inner circle, accompanied the composer on all his trips, and this gave rise to a bunch of rumors about the fact that the composer led a lifestyle that was not appropriate for a clergyman.

There is no direct evidence of their romantic connection. Moreover, Vivaldi fiercely defended Anna's honor, explaining to everyone that due to health problems he needed help, and Anna and Paolina, who was a nurse, were only looking after him. In a letter to his patron Bentivoglio dated November 16, 1737, he explained that he and Anna were connected only by friendship and professional cooperation. The only hint that Anna was the composer’s muse and the lady of his heart is the magical music he wrote after meeting her. It was then that the “Seasons” cycle, which immortalized his name, appeared, the “Night” concerts, and the masterpiece of sacred music “Gloria”.

Whatever Anna was for Vivaldi, we must give her credit - she did not leave the composer in difficult times for him and was his devoted companion and friend until his last breath.

The role of Vivaldi in the development of world musical art

Vivaldi's influence on the development of musical art extends to a wide range of musical activities, which confirms the uniqueness of creative personality talented composer and virtuoso violinist.

• It was thanks to Vivaldi that a completely unique performance technique in terms of dramatic intensity was strengthened, which is called “Lombard”, when the duration of the first note was shortened and the next one became rhythmically supporting.
• The composer genius Vivaldi came up with the idea of ​​a new genre of solo instrumental concert.
• He brought the popular Italian genre of the concerto grosso - the ensemble-orchestral concerto - to a new stage of development, for which he assigned a three-part form and, instead of a group of soloists, singled out a separate solo instrument, giving the orchestra the function of accompaniment.
• Vivaldi's contribution to the evolution of the art of orchestration was enormous - he was the first to introduce oboes, horns, bassoons and other instruments into the orchestra as independent instruments.
• Vivaldi's undoubted achievement is that he brought to life a special type of concerto - for orchestra and violin, and another version - for two and four violins. In total, his creative heritage includes about two dozen similar concerts, including the only one in the world for two mandolins.

Vivaldi's works had a great influence on the most famous representative musical art of the Baroque era - Johann Sebastian Bach. He was seriously interested in and studied in detail the works of Vivaldi, actively applying the techniques of musical language and symbolism of his predecessor, making their meaning deeper. Some musicologists find undoubted echoes of Bach’s famous Mass in B minor Italian master compositions. Subsequently, Bach arranged 6 Vivaldi violin concertos for clavier, converted 2 more into organ concertos, and adapted one for 4 claviers. Ironically, these musical masterpieces for more than 150 years they were considered to have been composed by Bach.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Austrian composer and musician Fritz Kreisler, a recognized master of stylization, wrote a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in C major, to which he put the subtitle “In the Style of Vivaldi.” The enormous success accompanying this brilliant creation of Kreisler, by inertia, aroused interest in the works of Vivaldi, which had been thoroughly forgotten. Thus began the victorious return of the famous Venetian and his masterpieces to the musical Olympus. Today, Vivaldi's music is one of the most beloved by violinists around the world.

The great and famous about the work of Vivaldi

• Violinist and conductor Vladimir Spivakov poetically called “The Seasons” a “fresco of human life,” since man has to overcome the same path as nature - from birth to death.
• According to the Austrian scientist W. Collender, Vivaldi was several decades ahead of the development of European music in terms of the use of dynamics and purely technical techniques of playing the violin.
• Vivaldi's ability to write an endless number of variations on the same musical theme became the basis for the sarcastic remark of I. Stravinsky, who called Vivaldi “a bore, capable of composing the same concerto six hundred times in a row.”
• "Vivaldi is a holiday instrumental music, violin extravaganza. Hehe himself was a virtuoso violinist and knew better than others how to show the bestspectacular in the sound of the violin,” this is how modern violinist, winner of the early music competition in Bruges Dmitry Sinkovsky spoke about the work of the great maestro.

Films-biographies:

The personality of the composer has always attracted the attention of film directors, who, based on the biography of Vivaldi, made several films that tell about the life of the musician.

• Documentary "4" (2007)
• "Viva, Vivaldi" (France, 2000)
• "Vivaldi in Vienna" (1979)
• "Vivaldi, Prince of Venice" (France, 2006)
• "Vivaldi, the Red Priest" (UK, Italy, 2009)
• "Antonio Vivaldi" (USA, Belgium, 2016)

Vivaldi's music in films

The work of Antonio Vivaldi has become the quintessence of all the best features and outstanding successes of the Italian music school. But the fate of the maestro is a clear illustration of the fact that fame and oblivion in human life go hand in hand. Just 30 years after his death, Vivaldi is not even mentioned in passing in any official sources, unlike other Italian composers. And only at the beginning of the 20th century, Vivaldi’s music returned to us, touching souls with its sincerity and melody. Today it adorns the repertoires of the most famous orchestras. It took almost two centuries for the world to rediscover the music of the great Venetian and be able to appreciate its magnificence.

Video: watch a film about Vivaldi

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 qualities are fully reflected in Vivaldi’s art, which is filled with a wealth of artistic imagination and strength of temperament and does not lose its 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 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 supplanted by the bourgeois, who 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 classical examples of bowed instruments (Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri).

The founders of the Italian school of violin makers were Andrea Amati and Gasparo da Salo, and the most outstanding masters during the heyday of the school (from the mid-17th to the mid-18th centuries) were 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 he exact date birth not registered. 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 musical creativity and performing arts, sometimes led to a motley picture of the coexistence of different styles in 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.

In the development of Italian musical culture violin art played a significant role. The leading role of Italian musicians in early bloom violin creativity as one of the leading phenomena of European music. 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 Bologna 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 entire 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. Corelli's musical activity 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, developing further means of expression and thus 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”. Modern Corelli Italian composers, as a rule, were much more prolific, creating many 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 plans and was in no hurry at all to publish finished works. 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. From 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 a 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, the holy order 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.

Vivaldi’s father fully prepared him for teaching, having done the same himself at the “Beggars” Conservatory. 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 viola”. 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 it vocal abilities, succeeded in this, but became seriously interested in it. Giraud became 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 character, with the exception of the Tenth Sonata, which begins 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. Characteristic features include 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, the Italian master’s concert heritage freely combines works written in the concerto grosso form and in the form of a solo concert. 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"

The cycle of four concerts for solo violin with string orchestra and 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 versions, in particular pastoral, distinguished by the breadth of lyricism, they can even convey the constrained tension of feelings in the Sicilian genre or embody the poignancy of grief in the form of a passacaglia. 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 the scores of 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. A new passage episode - a short spring thunderstorm. And comes back again main topic Rondo "Spring has come" So she dominates the first part of the concert all the time, embodying the joyful feeling of spring, and visual episodes appear as a kind of detail big picture 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 of a 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; the peaceful sleep of the 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 the 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, 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 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 based on 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 their 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 the concert 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 a wide range of 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 musical content, its expressiveness and imagery, introducing programmatic elements, establishing, as a rule, a tripartite cycle (with a fast-slow-fast sequence), strengthening the actual concert performance, concert interpretation of the solo part, development of melodic language, 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

1.Barbier P. Venice Vivaldi: Music and holidays of the era St. Petersburg, 2009. 280 p.

2.Boccardi V. Vivaldi. Moscow, 2007. 272 ​​p.

.Grigoriev V. History of violin art. Moscow, 1991. 285 p.

4.Livanova T. History of Western European music until 1789. Volume 1. Moscow, 1983. 696 p.

.Panfilov A. Vivaldi. Life and creativity//Great composers. No. 21. Moscow, 2006. 168 p.

6.Panfilov A. Vivaldi. Life and creativity//Great composers. No. 4. Moscow, 2006. 32 p.

.Tretyachenko V.F. Violin “schools”: history of formation // Music and time. No. 3. Moscow, 2006. 71 p.

Similar works to - Interpretation of the instrumental concert genre in the works of Antonio Vivaldi

One of largest representatives Baroque era A. Vivaldi entered the history of musical culture as the creator of the instrumental concert genre, the founder of orchestral program music. Vivaldi's childhood is connected with Venice, where his father worked as a violinist in St. Mark's Cathedral. The family had 6 children, of whom Antonio was the eldest. Almost no details have been preserved about the composer’s childhood. It is only known that he studied violin and harpsichord.

On September 18, 1693, Vivaldi was tonsured a monk, and on March 23, 1703, he was ordained. At the same time, the young man continued to live at home (presumably due to a serious illness), which gave him the opportunity not to leave music lessons. Vivaldi was nicknamed the “red monk” for his hair color. It is believed that already in these years he was not too zealous about his duties as a clergyman. Many sources retell a story (possibly apocryphal, but revealing) of how one day during a service the “red-haired monk” hurriedly left the altar to write down a fugue theme that suddenly occurred to him. In any case, Vivaldi's relations with clerical circles continued to strain, and soon he, citing his poor health, publicly refused to celebrate Mass.

In September 1703, Vivaldi began working as a teacher (maestro di violino) at the Venetian charity orphanage "Pio Ospedale delia Pieta". His duties included teaching the violin and viol d'amore, as well as overseeing the preservation of stringed instruments and purchasing new violins. The “services” in the “Pieta” (they can rightfully be called concerts) were the center of attention of the enlightened Venetian public. For reasons of economy, Vivaldi was fired in 1709, but in 1711-16. reinstated in the same position, and from May 1716 he was already the concertmaster of the Pieta orchestra.

Even before his new appointment, Vivaldi had established himself not only as a teacher, but also as a composer (mainly the author of sacred music). In parallel with his work at Pieta, Vivaldi was looking for opportunities to publish his secular works. 12 trio sonatas op. 1 were published in 1706; in 1711 the most famous collection of violin concertos “Harmonic Inspiration” op. 3; in 1714 - another collection called “Extravagance” op. 4. Vivaldi’s violin concertos very soon became widely known in Western Europe and especially in Germany. I. Quantz, I. Matteson showed great interest in them, the Great J. S. Bach “for pleasure and instruction” personally arranged 9 Vivaldi violin concertos for clavier and organ. During these same years, Vivaldi wrote his first operas “Ottone” (1713), “Orlando” (1714), “Nero” (1715). In 1718-20 he lives in Mantua, where he mainly writes operas for the carnival season, as well as instrumental works for the Mantuan ducal court.

In 1725, one of the composer’s most famous opuses was published, bearing the subtitle “An Experience in Harmony and Invention” (op. 8). Like the previous ones, the collection is composed of violin concertos (there are 12 of them). The first 4 concerts of this opus are named by the composer, respectively, “Spring”, “Summer”, “Autumn” and “Winter”. In modern performing practice, they are often combined into the cycle “Seasons” (there is no such title in the original). Apparently, Vivaldi was not satisfied with the income from the publication of his concerts, and in 1733 he announced to a certain English traveler E. Holdsworth his intention to refuse further publications, since, unlike printed copies, handwritten copies were more expensive. In fact, since then, no new original works by Vivaldi have appeared.

Late 20's - 30's. often called “years of travel” (previously to Vienna and Prague). In August 1735, Vivaldi returned to the post of conductor of the Pieta orchestra, but the management committee did not like his subordinate’s passion for travel, and in 1738 the composer was fired. At the same time, Vivaldi continued to work hard in the opera genre (one of his librettists was the famous C. Goldoni), while he preferred to personally participate in the production. However, Vivaldi’s opera performances were not particularly successful, especially after the composer was deprived of the opportunity to act as director of his operas at the Ferrara theater due to the cardinal’s ban on entering the city (the composer was accused of having a love affair with Anna Giraud, his former student, and refusing "red monk" to serve mass). As a result, the opera premiere in Ferrara was a failure.

In 1740, shortly before his death, Vivaldi went to his last trip to Vienna. The reasons for his sudden departure are unclear. He died in the house of the widow of a Viennese saddler named Waller and was buried in poverty. Soon after his death, the name of the outstanding master was forgotten. Almost 200 years later, in the 20s. XX century Italian musicologist A. Gentili discovered a unique collection of the composer’s manuscripts (300 concertos, 19 operas, sacred and secular vocal works). From this time on, a true revival of Vivaldi's former glory begins. The music publishing house Ricordi began publishing the composer's complete works in 1947, and the Philips company recently began implementing an equally grandiose plan - publishing “everything” Vivaldi in recordings. In our country, Vivaldi is one of the most frequently performed and most beloved composers. Vivaldi's creative legacy is great. According to the authoritative thematic-systematic catalog by Peter Riom (international designation - RV), it covers more than 700 titles. The main place in Vivaldi’s work was occupied by the instrumental concerto (about 500 in total preserved). The composer's favorite instrument was the violin (about 230 concerts). In addition, he wrote concertos for two, three and four violins with orchestra and basso continue, concertos for viola d'amore, cello, mandolin, longitudinal and transverse flutes, oboe, bassoon. There are more than 60 concerts for string orchestra and basso continue, sonatas for various instruments. Of more than 40 operas (the authorship of Vivaldi has been accurately established), the scores of only half of them have survived. Less popular (but no less interesting) are his numerous vocal works - cantatas, oratorios, works on spiritual texts (psalms, litanies, “Gloria”, etc.).

Many of Vivaldi's instrumental works have programmatic subtitles. Some of them refer to the first performer (Carbonelli concerto, RV 366), others to the festival during which this or that composition was performed for the first time (“For the Feast of St. Lorenzo”, RV 286). A number of subheadings indicate some unusual detail of performance technique (in the concert entitled “L’ottavina”, RV 763, all solo violins must be played in the upper octave). The most typical titles are those that characterize the prevailing mood - “Rest”, “Anxiety”, “Suspicion” or “Harmonic Inspiration”, “Zither” (the last two are the names of collections of violin concertos). At the same time, even in those works whose titles seem to indicate external pictorial moments (“Storm at Sea”, “Goldfinch”, “Hunting”, etc.), the main thing for the composer always remains the transfer of the general lyrical mood. The score of “The Seasons” is provided with a relatively extensive program. Already during his lifetime, Vivaldi became famous as an outstanding expert on the orchestra, the inventor of many coloristic effects, and he did a lot to develop the technique of playing the violin.