I find this work incredibly atmospheric. I cannot decide if it is because of my long familiarity with it, or because of an intrinsic quality to it. It seems to transport me in its very own strange universe. Its first theme is an inversion of the one from the the sixth concerto of opus 3, but if that was from the real material world, this one is but an image, from the world of dreams. The soloist is the dreamer, spinning bizarre fantasies. I. Allegro (0:00) II. Largo (4:16) III. Allegro (7:22) Composed: not later than 1716 Source: Estienne Roger No. 399, Amsterdam (1716) Arte dei Suonatori, ‘La Stravaganza’ Rachel Podger, violino solo Channel Classics CCS SA 19503
The way Vivaldi handles tutti and solo material in this is delightful. And, of course, being Vivaldi, one cannot listen without noticing the rhythmic mastery as well. As Adrian Chandler puts it, Vivaldi did for rhythm what Bach did for counterpoint. Vivaldi quickly adds to the strong, hammered opening of the first movement a beautiful layer of slight lyricism-that dotted quarter note with the funny harmonic interest on its tail, repeating itself. Then there is the fall, those slurred sixteenth notes. The accompaniment jumps up and down. It repeats with another layer, those large string crossings so typical of Vivaldi, which are so effective for creating drama. Corelli despised virtuosity for the sake of virtuosity. An ignorant one might say Vivaldi is just that: a scammer of his audience, but the way Vivaldi forces one to move while playing-to struggle!-is a form of drama that accentuates the tragedy present in even the most cheerful of his music. Vivaldi knew, as a virtuoso himself, of course, the greatest violinist of his time, that performance is part of the art. The second movement? The forte-piano alternation, so simple, is fearsome. Oppressive even. From that ritornello emerges a brief solo. But then these oppressive chords shut the soloist up. The solo returns, this time ornamented, revealing (some of?) what it had to clip short because of that second ritornello. It is heartbreaking when the solo ends with that cadential trill, dying to the chords again. This sort of drama Vivaldi does expertly. I feel that whatever is singing that solo is doing so in immense pain. In the third movement, Vivaldi boasts his ability to set up rhythmic dialogue between parts. Without each other in the ritornello, these parts are not as interesting, but how they interact is fascinating! The triplets are well used, too, of course. Vivaldi's concision is amazing at the end-the way one expects a repeat of the beautiful sequence recalled by the fourth-to-last measure, I mean. He doesn't do that. Paying close attention to when Vivaldi's music interrupts itself, I think, makes for a thoughtful experience. He does it frequently. He interrupts his melodies, sequences, harmonies, textures-emotions even. Think of all those times Vivaldi has gone from euphoric to mournful-from comedy to tragedy. I think this is one of the factors that can make his music so sarcastic.
The drastic cuts in the recapitulation at the very end are most effective. Later on Vivaldi tended to do that in the course of a movement but left the end more or less intact by means of a perfunctory Da Capo [al Segno]. - Other than that I think the prevailing idea in this piece is impetus of downward motion, present in all three movements, both in the tutti and solos.
Upon reading the above two items I am wondering whether J Fung and Del Vivaldi are both musicologists? By the way J Fung is Top Commenter per this channel 🎵
It is always a delight when you upload another Vivaldi video! My classical music passion started with the discovery of Vivaldi's dramatic and passionate music. Today I enjoy a very broad and versatile range of music spanning from the middle ages to the romantic era, famous composers and forgotten masters alike - however, whenever I return to Vivaldi, I immediately get reminded why he is my all time favourite. He is truly a mastermind when it comes to portraying human emotions in music, even more so transporting the soul to a mystical wondrous paradise.
Op 4 is the departure from the concerto grosso (Op 3). This is truly a violin 🎻 concerto and not a concerto grosso! Furthermore, THREE movements vs the archaic multi movements!
Descubrí la música de Vivaldi gracias a mi madre cuando tenia 14 años de todos los compositores el es mi favorito es un verdadero maestro , a pesar q tengo ya 40 años disfrutó siempre de su música y aprendí a tocar violín y también a leer musica no fue sencillo ya q solo parte de hobby y su nusica no es fácil se requiere bastante virtud
Well, i go mad when i read "BACH so and so after Vivaldi" as if the REAL thing is Bach ; though I'm upset also when Bach does NOT transcribe Vivaldi !! Please , anyone knows of a Bach transcription FOR ORGAN of this awesome 279 ??? 😢😢😢
One of my favorite Vivaldi violin concertos, for sure! I' d really appreciate your take on this rendition of the third Allegro part: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-59m-KvONYQY.htmlsi=oj9lPFIWgbEh7x8X Vincent's work in arranging/transcribing Antonio's as well as J.S.Bach's pieces for the e-guitar is to be lauded IMHO. No drums at all, mind you! :D FYI/FYR: ru-vid.com/group/OLAK5uy_lJs0K16eRJwCOEWfmokvFK8LxEa-CTTWs ru-vid.com/group/OLAK5uy_l0yeJ1RY2vLR25Mz5WSFAEGo1L1LeEoyg