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A brief biography of Antonio Vivaldi
A brief biography of Antonio Vivaldi
A brief biography of Antonio Vivaldi
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Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4th, 1678, in Venice, Italy, and died on July 28, 1741, in Vienna, Austria. His father, a barber and a talented violinist at Saint Mark's Cathedral himself, had helped him in trying a career in music and made him enter the Cappella di San Marco orchestra, where he was an appreciated violinist.
In 1703 Vivaldi became a priest and acquired the nickname "The Red Priest", since he had red hair. He had become a priest against his own will because it was the only possible way for his poor family to obtain free schooling. In 1704 he was pardoned from celebrating the Holy Mass because of his ill health, and later became a violin teacher at an orphanage for girls called Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. The orphans soon started to gain appreciation and esteem as Vivaldi wrote most of his concertos, cantate and sacred music for them. In 1705 the first collection of his works was published. He was a prolific composer and is most well known for composing over 500 concertos, 46 Operas, sinfonias, 73 sonatas, chamber music, and sacred music. His most famous work is said to be the Four Seasons.
Vivaldi's music is particularly innovative as he gave brightness to the formal and the rhythmic structure of concertos. He repeatedly looked for harmonic contrasts, creating innovative melodies and themes. Vivaldi’ main goal was to create a musical piece meant to be appreciated by the wide public, and not only by an intellectual minority. The joyful appearance of his music reveals a transmittable joy of composing. These are among the causes of the vast popularity of his music. This popularity soon made him famous also in countries like France, at the time very closed into its national schemes. He is considered one of the authors that brought Baroque music to evolve into an impressionist style.
The Four Seasons composed by Vivaldi was one of the earliest examples of program music and was also the most famous of all his concertos. Vivaldi wanted to depict the various seasons in the four concerti in Italian. When you listen to the Four Season, you feel as though he has created a whole another atmosphere with its own feelings. He seems to have used only the four major instruments that are usually present in an orchestra, which are the violin, viola, cello and bass, to depict this atmosphere effortlessly.
The Crucible is one of the most bizarre accounts of a historical event to date. The naïveté of the townspeople leads them down a road of madness and confusion, led by a shameless Puritan girl. Abigail Williams was a ruthless girl who showed no mercy upon accusing her victims of witchcraft. Knowing the entire town of Salem would believe her and the other girls, she would not hesitate at charging anyone she wished with the crime of the Devil’s work. However, a challenge arose to Abigail when she decided to accuse Elizabeth Proctor, and eventually her husband John, of witchcraft. The Proctor marriage was not just any simple marriage; it had its times of cold shoulders, heartfelt truth, and undying love.
Elizabeth Proctor has many moments which show how she is changing throughout the play. When she is trying to persuade Proctor to tell the court that Abigail said the girls were not practicing witchcraft, Elizabeth blurts out, "John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not." Elizabeth is confessing that she believes Proctor had an affair with Abigail. She is giving him no mercy by showing that she will never forget what happened. When Elizabeth is being accused of stabbing Abigail, she instructs Proctor to go to court, and tells him "Oh, John, bring me soon!" Elizabeth is gaining trust in John. She is forgetting his act of adultery and now has faith that he will defend her. At the end of the play, when Proctor is sentenced to death, Elizabeth says that "he [has] his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" Elizabeth is admitting that John was righteous to confess his sin of lechery, and she should have pardoned him. She considers herself impure for not showing mercy, and does not want to take away from his glory. Elizabeth has transformed from an ignorant victim of adultery, to a forgiving, loving wife.
Lastly is the Organ Fugue which is basically described as two or more voices that build upon a theme introduced in the beginning of the composition. Handel’s piece, “Water Music”, comprises of many orchestral musical forms that was made for small or large orchestras. It also involves many suites including those of dance. The basso continuo is a form of music that goes along with others. It the bottom line of what the original producer meant and is told through numerals and symbols which indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones. The Four Seasons First Movement: “Spring” by Vivaldi consists of four concerti grossi that was made for string orchestra and a solo
Antonio Stradivari was born in Bergamo Italy 1644. In his youth he lived in Cremona Italy, where he became the apprentice of Nicolo Amati. He had married twice, once in 1667 with a woman named Francesca, whom he had six children with. His first son only lived for six days. The rest later became priests, and apprentices of their father. Francesca then died in 1698. Soon after Stradivari remarried in 1699 to a woman named Antonia. Antonia and Stradivari had four children. Two of which had died. Stradivari bought a home in Piazza Roma; this is where Stradivari carried out his work as a luthier, with his sons at his side as apprentices. In 1737 Stradivari had died and was buried in the church of San Domenico in Cremona where his family had originated.
This means that the people of Sparta believed in not one, but multiple gods. During this time in Greek the primary god was Zeus. Zeus was the god of the sky as well as the ruler of Olympian Gods. The Spartans participated in religious holidays including Carneia, Enyalia, Gymnopaedia and Hyacinths. During the Carneia believed to happen in the month of August, Spartans were not allowed to declare war during this time. Carneia was celebrated in honor of Apollo Carneios. Spartans would chase a designated man and if caught, it meant good luck for the coming harvest. The Enyalia was an annual festival in which its main objective was a spring purification march of the army between the two halves of a scarified dog. Gymnopaedia involved the youth of Sparta, in which they would display their athletic and strong bodies, as well as dance. This was done to highlight and appreciate the beauty of Sparta. Hyacinths was a holiday of celebration and honor. On the first day the people of Sparta would celebrate the death of a hero and the second for the rebirth of a
Antonio Vivaldi born on March 4th 1678, which was the Baroque music style. In 1678 not only was it the baroque period it was also the years just after the Renaissance. 1670s was part of the Age of Abolitionism. The Age of Absolutism was the age when European monarchs struggled to centralize their power. And in Britain the English Civil war and the glorious revolution happened a few years prior to Vivaldi's life. In Russia, Peter the Great and Catherine the great were reforming Europe and trying to improve it. Antonio lived until July 28th 1741, in his life the enlightenment happened, it was the age of reason, philosophy, and age of new music. Great music and composers came out of this era, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Bach, Frederic Chopin, George Handel, Wolfgang Mozart and many more composers. Also under this time ballets and operas became popular to the public. This was the time of the application of the Renaissance. Antonio Vivaldi had an interesting life during this time period, his childhood, his outstanding music and unique style, and influence were special for this time.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in the town of Bonn, Germany on December 16 of 1770. Bonn is located in western Germany on the Rhine River. Beethoven showed an affinity for music at an early age. His father, Johann, taught Ludwig to play the piano as well as the violin. Johann did this in hopes that his son would become a prodigy, and then reach fame like Wolfgang A. Mozart. Unfortunately though Beethoven mother died when he was seventeen. In addition to his mother’s death Beethoven’s father developed an alcohol problem. To escape these problems Beethoven found a job tutoring the two children of the von Breuning family. This relationship proved to be beneficial to Beethoven. The matriarch of the family happened to be well liked in the town of Bonn, so she introduced Beethoven to a few important people.
appreciation. Because of these composers and musicians, music was enjoyed by the public and revered by the church. Because of their creativity and their willingness to take musical risks, these composers were the fathers of the Renaissance, the rebirth, the life of the vigorous and intellectual activity, the beginning of music.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as he is generally known, was baptized in a Salzburg Cathedral on the day after his birth as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus. The first and last given names come from his godfather Joannes Theophilus Pergmayr, although Mozart preferred the Latin form of this last name, Amadeus, more often Amadé, or the Italiano Amadeo, and occasionally the Deutsch Gottlieb. Whatever the case may be, he rarely - if ever - used Theophilus in his signature. The name Chrysostomus originates from St. John Chrysostom, whose feast falls on the 27th of January. The name Wolfgang was given to him in honor of his maternal grandfather, Wolfgang Nikolaus Pertl.
Vivaldi wanted to go into priesthood, but due to illness he was unable to continue this pursuit. (Kamien, 2015, p. 126). He spent the rest of his life involved in many aspects of music: teaching, composing, and conducting. It is important to reflect on the composer’s history to gain insight into their perspective. Kamien (2015) describes Vivaldi as a virtuoso violinist which is why he mainly featured violins in his works (p.127).
Though he wrote many fine and memorable concertos, such as the Four Seasons and the Opus 3 for example, he also wrote many works which sound like five-finger exercises for students. And this is precisely what they were. Vivaldi was employed for most of his working life by the Ospedale della Pietà. Often termed an "orphanage", this Ospedale was in fact a home for the female offspring of noblemen and their numerous dalliances with their mistresses. The Ospedale was thus well endowed by the "anonymous" fathers; its furnishings bordered on the opulent, the young ladies were well looked-after, and the musical standards among the highest in Venice. Many of Vivaldi's concerti were indeed exercises which he would play with his many talented pupils.
Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice, Italy, in a time period called the Baroque era, which is between Renaissance and Classical eras. You can imagine Baroque as a memorable era, where people embraced their romance of music and arts. If you had visited Venice at Baroque time, you would have found yourself surrounded with thriving music. Musical institutions, orchestras, and concerti flourished everywhere. Music pieces from Baroque are not as “religious” as those of Renaissance, but are not as hued as those of Classical. You probably would recognize Vivaldi’s most famous concerto – “Four Seasons”. This piece is usually played in documentaries, movies, or in an authentic café. “Four Seasons” consists of four parts, which are “Spring,” “Summer,” “Autumn,” and “Winter.” Each part pairs with a sonnet (poem), which reflects different stories. The best way to listen to these concerti, if you are not able to attend a live concert, is to use your headphone, which enables you to concentrate and read what Vivaldi was trying to tell.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a statement to the 17th century witchcraft. The Crucible renders John Proctor as a puritan, a husband, and a highly respected man. His name is his prime possession. John Proctor is a farmer and a villager who is faced with intense dilemma. He also commits adultery, which becomes his tragic flaw. Therefore he is to make a decision to tell the truth and ruin his name or lie and save his most prized possession. By this John Proctor is portrayed as an honest, tenacious, and faithful man.
Antonio Vivaldi is a famous Italian baroque composer, known by most Suzuki violin students who study his concertos or by audiences everywhere who have heard and love his composition of the Four Seasons. Having grown up as students of the Suzuki Violin Method, we recognize this composer and have experience performing his pieces. In addition to his many concertos written for solo violin, Vivaldi composed many concertos intended to be performed by two solo violins, accompanied by a small orchestra. Because we are both violinists, we chose to analyze the second movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor, RV 522, included in his L’Estro Armonico works.