Antonio Vivaldi is now recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers. Born just a few years before the more famous Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel in 1678, his music has been well known in classical music circles since the middle of the 20th century. However, this prolific composer was a model for most of the composers that followed him.
Vivaldi was lucky to be born in Venice, at the time one of the great centers of music in Europe. Previously it had been well known as a bustling port city and center of commerce. By 1700, that importance had declined but had been replaced by its recognition as a tourist destination, especially by lovers of music.
A visitor to Venice could experience great opera. During the peak season there were many musical and theatrical activities at multiple opera houses to choose from every night. During the 18th century there were 1,274 different operas written for Venetian opera houses, each performed multiple times. Vivaldi was an opera impresario throughout much of his career and wrote at least 51 operas himself. Very few of these pieces has come down to us, however.
A visitor could also experience great sacred choral music at cathedrals throughout the city, although the undisputed center of this music was the Doge’s own St. Mark’s Cathedral. The music there was spectacular. Composers utilized the double choir lofts and wrote dazzling antiphonal music in which two choirs would answer each other in 8 parts or more with instrumental accompaniment. The choir directors there during this period included some of the most well-known to us today: Andrea and Giovanni Gabrielli and Claudio Monteverdi. It was also the place to go to study this style of choral music. German composers Heinrich Schuetz and Hans Leo Hassler studied at St. Mark’s during the 18th century as well as a young Mozart.
Another center of music in Venice that surprises contemporary music lovers was the many ospedale. The word ospedale means “hospital.” At at the time the ospedali were orphanages for girls, each one run by a different church. Church leaders felt that it was beneficial to the girls to learn instruments to increase their deportment. The ospedali exceeded expectations in this regard as they became the best place in Venice to hear instrumental music. Many parents at the time sent their daughters to the “orphanage” in order to reap the benefits of such a fine education. The performers also became a great source of income for the churches, each competing with the other for audiences. The orchestra made up of young girls produced music of top quality in technique and expression. Jean-Jacques Rousseau described a vocal and instrumental concert he attended in 1770:
I have not an idea of anything so voluptuous and affecting as this music; the richness of the art, the exquisite taste of the vocal part, the excellence of the voices, the justness of the execution, everything in these delightful concerts concurs to produce an impression which certainly is not the mode, but from which I am of opinion no heart is secure.
Vivaldi began his professional musical career as the head violin teacher at the Ospedale della Pieta, regarded as the top school and best orchestra in Venice. He quickly moved up to director of the orchestra there. He wrote 100’s of concerti and orchestral compositions for the students and orchestra. On a personal note, as an undergraduate bassoon player looking for a piece to perform I astounded to find thirteen concerti for bassoon by Vivaldi. Vivaldi is still considered a musical star in Venice. During a visit to Venice a few years ago my wife Marilyn and I looked for a concert to attend. We could not find one concert that did not feature the music of Vivaldi.
Vivaldi is known as the “Red Priest” because his career actually began as a priest. He worked as a part of the clergy for 10 years, beginning at age 15. Antonio was drawn inevitably to music, however. As an example, the story is told about Vivaldi that he once left the pulpit during mass to write down a musical idea. He did not return to finish the service.
At the Ospedale Vivaldi took on the position of maestro di coro from 1713 – 1717. This is most likely the time during which he wrote the famous Gloria which the Siskiyou Singers will be performing in January. Though he is primarily known as an instrumental composer, he actually wrote over 60 sacred choral works.
As happens to musicians, especially during the 18th century, audiences eventually tired of Vivaldi’s music. This left him without a job. It was in 1740 that Vivaldi moved to Vienna in the hopes of securing a position at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI. Unfortunately for Vivaldi Charles VI died almost immediately upon his arrival. Vivaldi died soon thereafter in 1741 and was buried in a very modest grave, quite inappropriate for a composer of his stature.
Siskiyou Singers is very proud to be performing Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria RV 589 with orchestra accompaniment at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall at 3:00 PM on January 18 and 19. This work will be paired with the exciting Chichester Psalms by the 20th century composer Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was well-known as a composer and conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the 20th century and has recently been the subject of the biopic “Maestro” starring Bradley Cooper.