Vivaldi-en

Details: Hits: 851

Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Each concert captures a particular mood. Most are happy, while some others are pensive. These melodies date to the first part of Vivaldi's life. He was 27 when these sonatas were published, a coming star in Venice. They sparkle with melodies and life.

I created two adaptations, one for "pleasant listening" and another for a "recreation of a tonality that Vivaldi could have heard himself".

For "pleasant listening" I used standard tuning, using the equal temperament frequency of 440 Hz.

For the harpsichord version I used an instrument produced in Sicily in 1697 by Grimaldi, tuned to its native Werkmeister III settingof 415 Hz (available from Pianoteq at Modartt). This gives an attractive mellow tone to these compositions.

1. Trio Sonatas (1705)

Vivaldi wrote these sonatas for two violins and “continuo”, typically a harpsichord or an organ. For high-quality automatic renditions, we must use instruments that are pleasant with commonly available technology. Current favourites are pianos, harpsichords, harps, guitar and flutes. The present standard adaptations are built with flutes, a piano and a harpsichord.

“Trio Sonatas”, standard tuning, Op1, 1, rv73, rv66, rv62

mp3

flac

mp3

flac

“Trio Sonatas”, harpsichord version, Op1, 2, rv65, rv64, rv78, rv79, rv63

mp3

flac

mp3

flac

2. La Stravaganza Series

La stravaganza [literally 'Extravagance' or 'Eccentricity'] concerts were written in 1712–1713. They were first published in 1716 in Amsterdam and were dedicated to Venetian nobleman Vettor Delfino, who had been a violin student of Vivaldi. The concertos were originally scored for solo violin, strings, and basso continuo. For our standard instruments, we made these changes: the dominant section is performed by either flutes, guitars or trumpets. The remaining are performed by a modern piano.

"La stravaganza" series, standard tuning

mp3

flac

"La stravaganza" series, harpsichord version

mp3

flac

3. Early Concerts
Vivaldi passed through various musical epochs. Some of his early successes date from the 1720's, and we selected a few pieces for you.

“Concerts from the 1720's”, standard tuning

Concerto G minor, RV107

mp3