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Antonio ViraldiniItalian composer
Date of Birth: 04.11.1705
Country:  Italy |
Content:
Biography of Antonio Vivaldini
Antonio Domenico Vivaldini was an Italian composer, musician, and pedagogue born on November 4, 1705 in Venice, Italy. He came from a family of violinists, with his father, Maurizio Vivaldini, being a renowned violinist. Vivaldini received his musical education under the guidance of composer and conductor Carlo Tortora, studying composition, conducting, violin, organ, and harpsichord.
From a young age, Vivaldini gained recognition as a virtuoso violinist, harpsichordist, and organist, as well as a brilliant composer. His first publications date back to 1714, including his famous chromatic fugue for harpsichord/organ. At the age of 10, he made his conducting debut at the Basilica of St. Mark, conducting Carlo Tortora's C minor mass (op.46).
For several years until 1736, Vivaldini was closely involved in Italy's music scene, performing as a musician, teaching violin, and conducting choirs and orchestras. He composed a variety of instrumental works, operas, cantatas, and oratorios. With a keen sense of sound color, Vivaldini freely utilized various instruments, choirs, and orchestras, creating compositions for different ensembles. Despite being a brilliant performer, he never sought self-indulgent virtuosity in his compositions, as his virtuosic style enhanced the overall impact of the musical ideas.
Work in Milan and Sacred Compositions
From 1725 to 1735, Vivaldini worked at the ducal court in Milan. In 1725, he took the position of minorite abbot and created several sacred and sacred-secular compositions, including commissioned works. Among them was the monumental opera-oratorio "Exulting Ruth" for two choirs, two orchestras, organ, harpsichord, and four soloists (the full score has not survived, only descriptions and a few scattered fragments, including the famous Ruth's aria with choir). He also composed the cantata "Four Epochs" in complete and instrumental versions, as well as many other works. Parallel to this, Vivaldini wrote operas for local theaters, including "Danae," "Perseus and Andromeda" (in some versions known as "The Fall of the Gorgon"), as well as "The Fall of Babylon" and "Temptation of Assur" based on traditional biblical themes.
In 1725, Vivaldini became the director of the musical shelter for boys called "Il Conservatorio Ospedale del Pace" in Milan (similar to the girls' shelter "Il Conservatorio Ospedale della Pieta" led by A. Vivaldi in Venice), where he introduced the choir as the foundation of musical education for the first time in the history of music pedagogy. Professional instrumental specializations were introduced in the shelter, which became a creative laboratory for the composer, alongside intensive choir rehearsals. The students of the shelter graduated as accomplished musicians and were in demand throughout Italy. For several years, Vivaldini performed concerts in various cities in Italy, as well as in Paris, Prague, and other European centers, collaborating with soprano Anna Girone, considered the best interpreter of his soprano parts.
Later Years and Legacy
Later, Vivaldini returned to Venice, where he faced intrigues from the Catholic clergy and some musicians. After a while, he was forced to leave again, this time to Vienna. Vivaldini passed away on November 28, 1741 in Vienna from an unknown illness (some sources mention a heart attack, according to A. Orlov-Sokolsky's book "Antonio Domenico Vivaldini. Life and Works," K. "Muzichna Ukraina," 1982), ending his life in poverty. He was buried in a cemetery for the poor, which no longer exists today.
In modern times, Vivaldini's vocal-instrumental music holds the greatest interest among his vast body of work. Unlike his antagonist V. Barchello, who focused primarily on instrumental genres, Antonio Vivaldini, in addition to 114 cantatas for various ensembles and 19 concertos for different instruments, composed 8 operas, 2 oratorios, several serenades, and around ten sacred works dominated by choirs.
