Antonio Vivaldi

Baroque

He is considered the leading figure of the Italian Baroque concerto.

💡 Did you know? Vivaldi shaped the Baroque solo concerto: he wrote over 500 concertos, many at a downright breathtaking pace.

Venice

Vivaldi was born in Venice and spent most of his life there: the city and its music shaped all his work.

💡 Did you know? An earthquake is said to have shaken Venice at his birth: his frightened mother vowed to make him a priest.

il Prete Rosso (the Red Priest)

He owed it to his red hair and his ordination as a priest.

💡 Did you know? He soon all but stopped saying Mass, supposedly because of his asthma.

The Four Seasons

Each concerto comes with a sonnet describing its scenes: from birdsong to winter storms.

💡 Did you know? „The Four Seasons“ is early programme music: the notes depict birdsong, a storm, chattering teeth in winter; Vivaldi even attached poems.

violin

Contemporaries marvelled at his breakneck playing technique.

💡 Did you know? Vivaldi was a celebrated violin virtuoso: contemporaries marvelled at his breakneck playing.

Ospedale della Pietà

He turned the Pietà's all-female orchestra into one of Europe's finest ensembles.

💡 Did you know? For almost four decades Vivaldi taught at the „Ospedale della Pietà“, an orphanage for girls: whose orchestra was considered one of the best in Europe.

around 500

Including nearly 230 violin concertos: plus concertos for bassoon, cello, oboe, flute and mandolin.

💡 Did you know? Detractors later joked he had written 'the same concerto 500 times': the sheer variety proves them wrong.

priest

Hence the 'Prete' (priest) in his nickname.

💡 Did you know? Vivaldi was an ordained priest, for his red hair he was called the „red priest“ (il prete rosso).

Johann Sebastian Bach

Bach studied Vivaldi's concerto form closely: it shaped his own style.

💡 Did you know? Johann Sebastian Bach admired Vivaldi so much that he arranged several of his concertos for harpsichord and organ and learned much from him.

Gloria

Like almost all his music, it was rediscovered only in the 20th century.

💡 Did you know? Vivaldi's radiant „Gloria“ in D major fell into oblivion after his death and was rediscovered only in the 20th century: like almost all his work.

1741 in Vienna

He had hoped for new opportunities in Vienna but died shortly after arriving and received only a simple burial.

💡 Did you know? His music lay forgotten for almost 200 years before its 20th-century rediscovery.

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer whose „Four Seasons“ is today among the best-known works of classical music.

💡 Did you know? He was an ordained priest and, for his hair colour, was called „il prete rosso“: the red priest.

Spring (The Four Seasons)

The radiant opening ritornello of ‘Spring’ from Vivaldi's violin-concerto cycle paints chirping birds and a waking countryside.

💡 Did you know? Each concerto comes with a sonnet that the music illustrates line by line.

Summer (The Four Seasons)

The stormy finale of ‘Summer’ races through a thunderstorm with hammering tremolos.

💡 Did you know? Vivaldi was a priest and, for his red hair, was nicknamed ‘il prete rosso’: the red priest.