A View of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins

This composition consists of three movements of which we will further examine movement II, Adagio Cantabile. This movement is placed in high contrast with the other two, particularly in tempo.

The Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Opus 26 is one of the most famous violin concertos over the musical history. It is also considered to be the most renowned work by the German composer Max Bruch. I will begin with a short explanation of why I choose to analyse this piece followed by what makes this piece so remarkable. I will then present the musical context – German Romantic period – in which this piece was composed and discuss how it is representative of this period. Also, I will present briefly the biography of the composer and relate his life and style with this particular piece of music. After, I will explain the basic structure of a concerto, associate it with this violin concerto, and analyse how each movement is related. Then,

Antonio Vivaldi was a 17th and 18th century world-renowned classical composer. He is well known for composing many pieces in his lifetime, one of his most notable pieces being The Four Seasons. Being a composer in the 17th and 18th centuries, he was composing in the midst of the baroque era. In the Concerto in A Minor, he utilizes the popular techniques to effectively engage the audience in the intense and bizarre feelings that come from listening. The intent of this time period was to use drastic dynamic changes, apparent contrast between soloists and orchestra parts, and recurring melodies to effectively evoke emotional responses from the audience.

I selected Antonio Vivaldi as from the list of composers due to his vast influence in the development of music, including current popular styles such as the double violin concertos and ritornellos, and his influence on future composers such as Bach. Vivaldi’s significance to the music world is further emphasized by the introduction and popularization of concepts such as his usage of rhythm to create escalating tension and the application of motivic elements as themes for his pieces. Vivaldi’s life was set out to pursue priesthood from a young age yet, ironically, an illness allowed him to follow his true passion as both a violinist and composer. Antonio Vivaldi remained pious throughout his life and it was his particular education as a priest

Antonio Vivaldi was born in 1678 in Venice; he was the eldest of nine children born to Giovanni Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio. His family was fairly poor; his father was a barber turned professional violinist. His father cofounded a musical fraternity called the Sovvegno Dei Musicisti di Santa Cecilia in 1685 with Giovanni Legrenzi, a famous Venetian music figure. Antonio traveled around performing with his father

The first movement Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso played in sonata form beginning with a soft pianissimo which then developed into a stormy fortissimo which recapitulated throughout the movement. The second movement Scherzo: Molto vivace - Presto also features recapitulation throughout the movement, while the movement’s rapidity was facilitated by the presto tempo of the movement. The third movement Adagio molto e cantabile played in variation form by repeating the same basic melody, with minor alterations. The fourth and final movement called Presto; Allegro molto assai (Alla marcia); Andante maestoso; Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato, represents the most iconic movement of the symphony. This movement begins with a suspenseful presto then developing to reveal the iconic melody of the symphony. Soon after the National Youth Choir of Great Britain performed the chorus which gave the movement a polyphonic

A great interest in hearing only instrumental music tell the story without text arise. The development of the concerto grosso which is a small unit of soloists against a full orchestra (Wright, 7-4) brought about one of the most popular and recognized concerto pieces, Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in E Major (the “Spring). As one of

Then follows a scherzo with trio - Molto vivace - also in D minor. The scherzo itself is in sonata form with all parts repeated. The octave tuned drums immediately announcing the important role they play in the tonality of the movement as a whole. Then follows a hushed fugato, which serves an introductory purpose as the full force of the orchestra. Then follows a more harmonic path with the utmost vigor. The second subject in C major adds an unusual harmonic flavor. The trio has a quasi-pastoral flavor, The trio is played only once, although Beethoven fools us into believing we will here it once more at the end, like in the first movement but it abruptly ends.

Concerto No. 5 starts as a bright and happy song that is fast in pace and variety. Arguably, the most famous piece of this song occurs, more than once, within the first nine minutes. With harmonies layered and moving throughout the entire piece, there is a fullness and warmth to the song. The beginning of the song is play in allegro and alludes to something exciting or fun happening. The piece suggests movement.

Music is constantly changing. The Baroque period (1600-1750) and the Classical period (1750-1820) have both differences and similarities in elements such as form, texture, and dynamics. I will be comparing the first movement of Spring from the Four Seasons composed by Antonio Vivaldi and the first movement of Symphony No. 5 in C minor by Ludwig van Beethoven. I will construct a stylistic comparison of the two compositions and their musical stylings with regard to the periods of music of which they belong.

Two versions of the piece will be created.There will be two versions of this piece. The first will be the composer’s original manuscript, the control. The other version will be same piece but will be void of a title, tempo markings, articulations, or any other indicator of the composer’s intent. The object of this process is to rid conductors of any preconceived notions he or she may have based on the markings on the score. The score will be sent to ten conductors of varying school/performer ability levels: two middle school directors, three high school directors, four collegiate/professional

In the 1700s, Antonio Vivaldi composed his highly accredited Four Seasons concerto. The autumn movement in this concerto follows the allegro-adagio-allegro pattern. Vivaldi provided sonnets to go along with each movement to explain what the true meanings are. As a group, we felt it was necessary to provide all of our reactions to the piece. This allowed us to interpret what each of the others were visualizing throughout the composition. Some of our opinions may have varied, but overall the general mood of the piece allowed us each to have the same emotions toward the Autumn movement of the Four Seasons.

His inspiration for this music came from when Vivaldi was inspired by Marco Ricci’s painting of all four seasons. This specific type of concerto brings the story of the seasons to life. The orchestra performing this concert is the Berlin Philharmonic

The second movement, Andante con moto, however has two main different interpretations that it could be analyzed as song form or sonata form. The third movement, Con moto moderato, was composed in form of minuet and trio. Finally, for the finale, which consists of the Roman saltarello and the Neapolitan tarantella dance rhythm, contains characteristics of both sonata and rondo form.

Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678 in the town of Venice, Italy. His father was quite the musician and helped his son master the violin and also helped him get find lessons from some the best composers in Italy. Sadly, do to his symptoms that were similar to asthma often causing him to have severe shortness of breath he was unable to master several instruments. At one point in his early life he even became a priest but this was short lived do to his continuing health issues therefore he had to give up his priesthood. “At the age of 25, Antonio Vivaldi was named master of violin at the Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice” (). This is where he spent in upwards of thirty years teaching his students and only having