The Classical Music Book

94

I

n Italy, in the 1720s, Vivaldi

was best known as a composer

of operas, but in northern

Europe—as well as after the

composer’s death—his fame

rested on his concertos, a form he

shaped, developed, and made his

own, perhaps most famously in

Le quattro stagioni (The Four

Seasons) of 1725.

Since Vivaldi’s day, the word

“concerto” has found a clear

meaning as a piece for one or

more instrumental soloists and

an orchestra: a solo concerto

showcases one musician; a

concerto grosso (“big concerto”)

has two or more. Before Vivaldi,

however, the term was used more

fluidly to describe works written

for combined ensembles, whether

of voices and instruments or

comprising different groups of

instruments. In Rome, for example,

Arcangelo Corelli wrote concerti

grossi for an ensemble of two

violins and keyboard. These

instruments could be joined by a

larger string ensemble, the role of

which was more to augment than

to stand in musical contrast to the

smaller group.

The concerto develops

It was in Northern Italy, and Venice

in particular, that the concerto

started to take the form that Vivaldi

would come to use. In Bologna,

ITALIAN BAROQUE SOLO CONCERTO

violinist and composer Giuseppe

Torelli wrote works for solo violin

and a larger instrumental ensemble,

while in Venice, wealthy amateur

Tomaso Albinoni composed

beautiful oboe concertos. Written

for one or two oboes and a larger

ensemble, they were among the

first notable solo works written

for the instrument.

In the works of both Torelli and

Albinoni, a contrast was starting to

emerge between the solo sections

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Italian Baroque solo

concerto

BEFORE

1692 Giuseppe Torelli, based

in Bologna, publishes the first

of three collections of concertos

that give a new prominence to

the solo violinist.

1707 Concertos published by

the Venetian Tomaso Albinoni

use the three-movement

(fast–slow–fast) structure that

will become the standard.

1721 J.S. Bach’s six

Brandenburg Concertos use

the structure and principles

standardized by Vivaldi in

his concertos.

AFTER

1773 Mozart composes his

first violin concerto using the

three-movement structure.

The Ospedale della Pietà, a

foundling hospital on the Grand Canal

in Venice, where Vivaldi became violin

master in 1703. The ospedale had an

all-female choir and orchestra.

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