| A | B |
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| Antonio Vivaldi | Early 18th c. Italian composer= Worked at Pio Ospedale della Pieta (hospital/school...paralleled the Naples conservatories) |
| Vivaldi's Concertos: Instrumentation | Achieved great sound through diff. groupings of solo and orchestral instruments= His orchestra had 20-25 string instruments, with harpsichord or organ for continuo= Strings were divided in what was becoming the norm of Violin I and II, violas, cellos, bass violas (doubled cellos)= Used pizzicato and muted strings as well |
| Vivaldi's Concertos for 2 Violins | Give soloists equal prominence, resulting in "duet" for 2 high voices |
| Vivaldi's Concertos for several solo instruments | Are NOT concerti grossi like Corelli's (where the orchestra serves to double and reinforce the concertino of 2 violins and cello)= Rather, feature same opposition between virtuoso soloists orchestra as in Vivaldi's solo concertos |
| Vivaldi's Concertos: Movements | Followed 3-movement plan introduced by Albinoni= an opening fast movement, a slow movement in the same or closely related key (relative minor, dominant, or subdominant), and a final fast movement in the tonic, often shorter and sprightlier than the first |
| Ritornello Form | Vivaldi expanded on Torelli's structure of the fast movements of his concertos (structured like the A section of a da capo aria with a ritornello at the beginning, middle, and end framing 2 long episodes for the soloist)= Is less a formal mold than an approach/set guidelines that allows a great deal of variety |
| Ritornello Form | Ritornellos for the full orchestra alternate with episodes for the soloist or soloists= The opening ritornello is composed of several small units, typically 2 to 4 measures in length, some of which may be repeated or varied= These segments can be separated from each other or combined in new ways without losing their identity as the ritornello= Later statemetns of the ritornello are usually partial, comprising only one or some of the units, sometimes varied= Ritornellos are guideposts to tonal structure of the music, confirming keys that music modulates to (first and last statemetns are in tonic; least one [usually first to be in new key] is in dominant; others may be in closely related keys)= Solo parts are virtuosic, idiomatic playing, sometimes repeating/varying elements from the ritornello, but often presenting scales, arpeggiations, or other figuration (many episodes modulate to new key, which is then confimred by the following ritornello; sometimes soloist interrupts/plays some part of the closing ritornello) |
| SEE pg. 424-427 | SEE pg. 424-427 |
| Vivaldi: first concerto composer to... | Make the slow movement as important as the fast ones |
| Op. 3, No. 6 | (Vivaldi) Unusual slow movement in that bass instruments and continuo are silent, and the soloist is accompanied only by the upper strings playing sustained notes |
| Vivaldi's speed at writing concertos | One reason was that ritornello form allowed him to write long movements from a small amount of material that he repeated, transposed, varied, and recombined= In both fast/slow movements, he often used sequences making many measures from a short motive while dramatizing a strong chord progression |
| Vivaldi: Solo and Tutti | Gave the soloist contrasting figuration (as Torelli had done) but also let the soloist stand out as a music personality |
