“Vivaldi – Voice of the Baroque” by H.C. Robbins Landon

Completed on: 14th of November 2017; marked with three stars.

Review: 

Considering a fairly small pool of books covering Vivaldi’s life and music, this is one of the better ones, but perhaps not the best. Considering Vivaldi’s huge output, I still wish to learn more about his life and music. In my opinion, this is perhaps because a great deal of Vivaldi’s music has been covered only superficially, especially his operas and sonatas.

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Timeline:

· Born 4 March 1678 in Venice
· 1703 – Becomes master of violin at an orphanage Ospedale della Pieta in Venice.
· 1705 - Publishes 12 sonatas for two violins and basso continuo, Opus 1.
· 1709 – Publishes 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo, Opus 2.
· 1711 – Publishes 12 concertos L'estro Armonico (Harmonic Inspiration), Opus 3.
· 1713 – His first opera is premiered in May (Ottone in villa)
· 1714 – Publishes 12 violin concertos, La stravaganza (The Extravagance), Opus 4.
· 1715 – Releases two operas.
· 1716 - Releases two operas.
· 1716 – Publishes four sonatas for violin and two sonatas for two violins and basso continuo, Opus 5.
· 1716 – 1721 – Publishes six Violin concertos, Opus 6.
· 1716-1717 – Publishes 12 concertos, Opus 7.
· 1717 – Moves to Mantua as Maestro di Capella of the court of prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt.
· 1717 – Releases 3 operas.
· 1718 – Releases 4 operas.
· 1719 – Releases one opera.
· 1720 – Releases 4 operas.
· 1720 – Returns to Venice.
· 1721 – Moves to Milan
· 1721 – Releases 1 opera.
· 1722 – Moves to Rome, where he is invited to play for the pope Benedict XIII.
· 1723 – Publishes Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest between Harmony and Invention), 12 violin concertos, which include the first four concertos known as Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), as Opus 8.
· 1723 – Releases 1 opera.
· 1724 – Releases two operas.
· 1725 – Returns to Venice.
· 1725 – Releases one opera.
· 1726 – Releases 4 operas.
· 1727 – Publishes 12 violin concertos “La cetra” (The Lyre), Opus 9
· 1727 – Releases 4 operas.
· 1728 – Publishes six flute concertos, Opus 10.
· 1728 – Releases two operas.
· 1729 – Publishes six (five violins and one oboe) concertos, as Opus 11.
· 1729 – Publishes six (five violins and one without solo) concertos, as Opus 12.
· 1730 – Releases one opera.
· 1730 - Travels to Vienna and Prague
· 1731 – Releases two operas.
· 1732 - Releases two operas.
· 1733 – Releases one opera.
· 1734 – Releases one opera.
· 1735 – Releases 4 operas.
· 1736 – Releases one opera.
· 1737 – Releases two operas.
· 1738 – Releases one opera.
· 1739 – Releases one last opera. He reckoned that he had written 94 of them.
· 1740 – Moves to Vienna.
· 1741 - Dies on 28 July 1741 in Vienna and is buried in unmarked grave.