Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was a violinist, composer, and educator in the Baroque era, now most notable for his contributions to the concerto form. He was born in Venice to a musical father who worked as a violinist in the San Marco Basilica orchestra. His father was his main musical educator, and the two sometimes performed violin together in the orchestra. Vivaldi initially pursued a career as a priest, spending ten years in training before becoming ordained in 1703. Only a year later, however, Vivaldi withdrew from performing mass due to illness. He became known as a “secular priest” and began pursuing more opportunities in the music field.

In 1703, Vivaldi also took on the post of violin master at Pio Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage in Venice that provided young girls with music education. He remained at that post for over thirty years, composing numerous works for his students there. His first published compositions, a set of twelve trio sonatas, came in 1705, followed soon after by a set of sonatas for violin and basso continuo. In 1711, he composed a set of concertos for one, two, or four violins accompanied by a string orchestra, dedicated to the prince of Tuscany. These compositions circulated throughout Europe, gaining Vivaldi a reputation as an important composer. Over the course of his life, he would compose nearly a hundred instrumental sonatas and five hundred concertos. His role in developing the latter was essential; he standardized the concerto form and use of ritornello as well as increased the expected level of virtuosity and musical expression. J.S. Bach would later be deeply influenced by Vivaldi’s concertos. 

Vivaldi soon turned his attention to composing vocal works. He worked as an opera impresario while simultaneously composing music for the opera, premiering his first opera, Ottone in villa, in 1713. He would compose at least forty-six operas in his career. He also composed several important oratorios, including his masterpiece Juditha triumphans (1716), and several other sacred vocal works for the Ospedale. In 1718, Vivaldi briefly held the position of music director at the court of Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, where he continued to produce several operas. 

In the 1720s, Vivaldi traveled throughout Italy as a freelancer, though Venice once again became his home base. He received numerous important commissions and enjoyed great success and popularity. In 1723, he composed his most enduringly successful work, The Four Seasons, a set of virtuosic and programmatic concertos based on the four seasons in a year. Unfortunately, by the 1730s, his popularity began to dissipate, and his music fell out of style in Venice. Sensing that he would no longer receive much work there, he decided to move to Venice. Before much could come of his relocation, he took ill and died of an infection in 1741. Though the end of his life was marked by disappointment and poverty, his legacy remains hugely important. He is now regarded as one of the most influential composers of the Baroque era. 

Photo: François Morellon La Cave