Download Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer, a Catholic priest, and an

Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer, a Catholic priest, and an expert violinist. He
was born in Venice, Italy on March 4, 1678 in the heart what would later be dubbed the Baroque
era. Being born and raised in Venice during this time meant that “Antonio was surrounded by
music characterized by an elaborate and ornamental style.” (Getzinger and Felsenfeld 22).
Vivaldi would grow up to become one of the greatest composers of this time period, most
famous for his concertos that featured the violin. As a young boy Vivaldi’s father taught him to
play many different instruments but he became known as an amazing violinist. At 10 years old
Vivaldi became the youngest member of the acclaimed St. Marks Orchestra (Getzinger and
Felsenfeld 20). In order to receive an education Vivaldi went to school to become a priest at the
age of 15. By the time he was 25 in 1703 he became ordained and was known as The Red Priest
because of his bright red hair. (Getzinger and Felsenfeld 31). Very soon after becoming a priest
Vivaldi went to work as the violin teacher at an orphanage for girls called the Ospedale della
Pietà. This orphanage was famous for its music and soon Vivaldi became “well-known in Venice
as a promising young composer.” (Vernon 11). He taught the girls extremely advanced pieces
and used them to showcase his works. His music was exciting and different from anything
people had heard before and he wrote vast amounts of it. “Over the course of his time at the Pieta
he composed more than 500 pieces of music.” (Getzinger and Felsenfeld 45).
After the first
7 years of teaching at the Pieta, Vivaldi began publishing his pieces so that people outside of
Venice could hear his work. “Musicians all over Europe became fascinated with the concertos.
The collection came to define how Baroque concertos ought to work.” (Getzinger and felsenfeld
51). Vivaldi’s work is considered some of the most influential and masterful work of his time.
He was the first composer to use ritornello form regularly in fast movements,
and his use of it became a model; the same is true of his three-movement
plan (fast-slow-fast). His methods of securing greater thematic unity were
widely copied, especially the integration of solo and ritornello material. (PBS.org).
After Vivaldi published his music he was able to influence many talented musicians from
all over the world. He would go on to publish many works and even created Operas. Throughout
Vivaldi’s lifetime his work was well received, but by the time of his death his popularity had
decreased and he died poor and virtually unknown. (Vernon 28). Even so, Vivaldi’s work was
highly influential on some important musicians of the time and had profound effects on
musicians who would become even more important than Vivaldi himself.
“Vivaldi's highly distinctive and recognizable musical style had a profound impact on his
contemporaries and future composers… His deft coordination of melody and harmony
was much admired by Johann Sebastian Bach, who absorbed Italian style through his
study and transcription of Vivaldi's concertos and trio-sonatas…” (Heller and Kroll).
Johann Sebastian Bach was also a Baroque composer, who would go on to become even more
widely known than Vivaldi. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Germany in 1685 to a very large
family of musicians, choirmasters and composers. (Venezia 4). When he was nine years old his
mother died, and a year later his father died so Sebastian Bach went to live with his older brother
Christoph who was “known as an excellent church organist”. (Venezia 10). This is how
Sebastian Bach learned to play the organ for which he became famous.
One of Bach’s most famous organ compositions…is called Toccata and Fugue
In D Minor. This piece is filled with big, powerful sounds. It had an energy and
force that had never been heard before. (Venezia 15)
He was also famous for his cantatas as he was a very religious man. Bach wrote hundreds of
cantatas and became well known as an organist and composer of church music. In 1723 Bach
became the director of music for the city of Leipzig, Germany. “This was probably Sebastian’s
busiest time. He was responsible for composing and directing music for four churches, a school
choir, a university choir, and any music the city might need for special events.” (Catucci 15). It
is amazing to think of this man composing such vast amounts of work constantly. He was like a
creative machine. Some people are so moved by his musical genius that they are sure that his
compositions are divine. “Bach has the impact of a testimonial to God’s providence not because
he wrote the most searingly beautiful church music ever heard, but because he wrote the most
beautiful music ever written.” (Buckley, “Happy Birthday JSB”). During Bach’s life though, he
went almost completely unnoticed as a composer. Like Vivaldi, Bach’s music was not fully
appreciated or widely circulated until many years after his death. But the impact of such gifted
musicians lives on. The music of Vivaldi and Bach and so many other composers will forever be
studied and remembered, and will forever impact musicians, even those who are unaware of it.
Works Cited
Buckley, William F., Jr. "Happy birthday, JSB." National Review 3 May 1985: 63. Gale Power
Search. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Catucci, Stefano. Masters of Music: Bach and Baroque Music. N.p.: Barrons Educational Series,
1997. Print.
Getzinger, Donna, and Daniel Felsenfeld. Antonio Vivaldi and the Baroque Tradition.
Greensboro: Morgan Reynolds, 2004. Print.
Heller, Wendy; Kroll, Mark. “Vivaldi, Antonio (1678–1741)." Europe, 1450 to 1789:
Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Feb. 2014
<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Lipman, Samuel (American pianist). "Back to Bach." National Review 19 Oct. 1992: 60+. Gale
Power Search. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
PBS.org. Macmillian, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Venezia, Mike. Johann Sebastian Bach. New York: Groiler, 1998. Print.
Vernon, Roland. Introducing Vivaldi. UK: Belitha Press, 1996. Print.