Vivaldi

“ Foremost among these, as Odo now learned, were many of his own countrymen. In his talks with Vivaldi he first explored the course of Italian thought and heard the names of the great jurists, Vico and Gravina, and of his own contemporaries, Filangieri, Verri and Beccaria. Vivaldi lent him Beccaria's famous volume and several numbers of the "Caffe," the brilliant gazette which Verri and his associates were then publishing in Milan, and in which all the questions of the day, theological, economic and literary, were discussed with a freedom possible only under the lenient Austrian rule. ”

“ Vivaldi, under the benign influence of good living, has grown comparatively fat, and converses lovingly with his Bertha. But the Bandit chief is not done with yet, and he waits in ambush with his retainers, variously armed, to attack the marriage train, which is seen approaching in the distance, bishops, dancers, and all complete. Next we see the fatal effect of the Bandit's attack. Bridesmaids, croziers, and ecclesiastical functionaries lie in a heap on the ground, but Vivaldi stands unharmed and defies his foes, while Bertha swoons comfortably against his back. ”

“ Vivaldi and his Concertos were the first from whom he sought counsel. From them he turned to the principal Organ and Clavier composers of the period. Nothing is more intellectually stimulating than counterpoint, and the composers Bach studied were distinguished by their mastery of it, as their fugal writing attests. Hence Bach's diligent study and imitation of them pointed his taste and imagination to perceive wherein himself was lacking and what steps were needed to take him farther in his art.
A second rock upon which genius often comes to grief is the public's undiscriminating applause. ”

“ At this time, possibly largely as a matter of study and exercise, he transcribed concertos [Pg 472] of Vivaldi for harpsichord, mastering thus the form, practically invented by the Italian, which he later used so brilliantly in the Italian Concerto for clavicembalo. ”

“ After an intermission, which she spent simply sitting quietly, pondering the exquisite delicacies of Liszt's piano writing, the second part of the concert opened with Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", performed by an intimate ensemble rather than with the full complement of strings. The performers were students, to be sure, but she found it delightful nonetheless. When the "Autumn" season opened, she even felt a sudden chill in the air—the performance was so wonderfully effective—and she pulled her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. ”

“ To Pugnani more than to any other master of the violin appears to be due the preservation of the pure grand style of Corelli, Tartini and Vivaldi, and its transmission to the next generation of violinists. ”

“ When only nine years of age he performed in London in public a concerto of Vivaldi, and afterwards gained an eminent position in the musical profession, surpassing, according to contemporary writers, every other player in England in tone and execution. ”

“ What Frescobaldi was in the first half of the seventeenth century, that was Pasquini in the second half. In Italy, Austria, and France he was treated like a prince; and his tombstone bears the proud inscription, “Organist of the Senate and People of Rome.” With Scarlatti the art of clavier-playing reaches its height, and begins to decline. It is not clavierists but violinists, the wordless rivals of the singers, who have carried the type of Italian virtuosity into our own times—Corelli, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini, Paganini. ”

“ Further originality was displayed in the chamber music of Steffani and Clari, in the concerto grosso of Torelli, in the combined harmonic and rhythmic effects of Vivaldi.
In direct lineage from Monteverde, Scarlatti stands as the second great orchestral innovator. His three principal achievements were:— (1) Balance of tone in the strings by the judicious distribution of the four notes of a chord; (2) numerical suppression of overpowering wind-instruments, and a logical usage of the same in pairs ”

“ He called his compositions, Concerti da Camera and Concerti Grossi, which names and form were used by Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel and Bach. This Concerto Grosso was a sonata da chiesa accompanied not by a single instrument as was the habit with the sonata da chiesa and the sonata da camera, but by a group of bowed instruments to which a lute, organ and, later, a harpsichord were added.
At this time, all musicians were, as a matter of course, violinists, just as today all great composers can play the piano. ”

“ The same feature shows itself right up to the time of his apprenticeship at Hamburg: in any case he might have already known the Corellian style, thanks to the propaganda of George Moffat, who spread this style very early in Germany. [30] After Corelli, Locatelli, [31] and especially Vivaldi, [32] have singularly transformed the Concerto Grosso by giving it the free character of programme music [33] and by turning it resolutely towards the form of the Sonata in three parts. ”

“ Here he studied Vivaldi's violin-concertos, and made the acquaintance of Heine, a musician in Dresden, with whom he went to live in March 1716. He now had opportunities of hearing great artists, such as Pisendel, Veracini, Sylvius Weiss, Richter and Buffardin, the flute-player. In 1717 he went, during his three months' leave, to Vienna, and studied counterpoint in the octave with Zerlenka, a pupil of Fux. In 1718 he entered the chapel of the King of Poland, which consisted of 12 players, and was stationed alternately in Warsaw and Dresden. ”

“ Such people are merely Finger Composers—in his riper years Bach used to call them Harpsichord Knights—that is to say, their fingers tell them what to write instead of being instructed by the brain what to play.137 Bach abandoned that method of composition when he observed that [pg 71] brilliant flourishes lead nowhere. He realised that musical ideas need to be subordinated to a plan and that the young composer's first need is a model to instruct his efforts. Opportunely Vivaldi's Concertos for the Violin,138 then recently published, gave him the guidance he needed. ”

“ The practice of playing music between the acts is of long standing, the frequent inappropriateness of these interludes having been repeatedly commented on, however. A writer in the last century expressly complains that at the end of every act, the audience, "carried away by a jig of Vivaldi's, or a concerto of Giardini's, lose every warm impression relative to the piece, and begin again cool and unconcerned as at the commencement of the representation." ”

“ Bach and Walther had plenty of encouragement in this kind of music, since the Duke’s nephew Joh. Ernst (who unfortunately died young) had considerable skill on the violin, and also was a fair composer. They vied with one another in arranging Italian concertos for the harpsichord and organ. Sixteen of Vivaldi’s violin concertos were arranged by Bach for the harpsichord (Peters, 217) and three for the organ (Peters, 247) . [28] Walther arranged thirteen for organ from the works of Torelli, Taglietti, Albinoni, etc., and they are preserved in MS. in the Royal Library at Berlin. ”

“ One of the greatest of these composer-violinists was Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) , whose works are often played by violinists of our own time, and have served as models for composers. He was one of the first to try to write music that should show off the beauty and possibilities of the violin.
The “Golden Age” of the Italian violin composers dated from 1720 to 1750, and was the time of Locatelli, Pugnani, Nardini, Veracini, Tartini and Vivaldi who added oboes and horns to the orchestral accompaniment of the Concerti Grossi. ”

“ In France, Italy, and Germany the small forms were destined to remain the most popular in harpsichord music; and the sonatas and concertos of Bach are immediately influenced by study of the Italian masters, Corelli and Vivaldi.
In Italy, the birthplace of organ music and so of a part of harpsichord music, interest in keyboard music of any kind declined after the death of Frescobaldi in 1644, and was replaced by interest in opera and in music for the violin. Only one name stands out in the second half of the century, Bernardo Pasquini, of whose work, unhappily, little remains. ”

“ At the time when his attention was first strongly attracted to Italian instrumental music by the principles of form which their composers had originated, and worked with great skill, he arranged sixteen violin concertos of Vivaldi's for the clavier solo, and three of the same and a first movement for the organ. Of the originals of these it appears from Spitta [1] that there is only one [App. p.523 "there are six"] to be found for comparison; but, as Spitta observes, from the freedom with which Bach treated his original in this instance it is legitimate to infer his treatment of the others. ”

“ It describes in quaint music the entrance of Corelli into the company of Lully in the Elysian Fields. Couperin held that the combination of what was best in Italian music with what was best in French would produce an ideal music; and obviously he prized Corelli as representative of the best that there was in Italy.
Early Masters of the Violin. Top: Archangelo Corelli.
Bottom: Antonio Vivaldi. Giuseppe Tartini.
It would be hard today to point to the music of any [Pg 399] other Italian master which has endured through radical changes of style and taste and has lost nothing ”

“ It was a soft, regular sound, like the ticking of a clock, like the beating of a heart—it was the rocking of a cradle.
Anne-Marie smiled to herself, and her soul sank into peacefulness. The gentle clicking sound lulled her near to sleep again. She was utterly at peace—utterly happy. Life opened wider portals over wider shining lands.
Then, with the awakening of memory, came the thought of her violin. With a soft tremor of joy, she realized that the brief silence of the past year was over. Music would stream again from her hands over the world.
Her violin! ”

“ At this critical moment, Wido went to Master Wilibald, and said to him, “Now, my old friend, is the time when you may help me with your art, as you frequently have offered to do. If your music be really so powerful as you say it is, go then and deliver the Mayor, by softening the enraged mob. As a reward he certainly will grant you any thing you may request. Speak then a word for me and my love, and demand my beloved Emma as the price of your assistance. The bag-piper laughed at this speech, and replied, “we must satisfy the follies of children, in order to prevent them crying.” ”

“ How was his violin to speak in a voice that was true and pure and full, and tell of the beautiful world, as his father had said that it must do? David quite cried aloud at the thought. Then he thought of something else that his father had said: "Remember this, my boy,—in your violin lie all the things you long for. You have only to play, and the broad skies of your mountain home will be over you, and the dear friends and comrades of your mountain forests will be all about you." With a quick cry David raised his violin and drew the bow across the strings. ”

“ We must make music together for mamma sometimes. My own piano has not come yet, but there is the dearest old funny thing here which belonged to the Misses Aytoun."
"Uncle Tom has no piano," said Jack, "but I have my violin, so I don't mind."
"Oh, a violin!" said Hildegarde, opening her eyes wide. "Have you been studying it long?"
"Ever since I was six years old," was the reply. "My mother would not let me begin earlier, though my father said that as soon as I could hold a knife and fork I could hold a bow. He's a little cracked about [127] violins, my father. He makes them, you know." ”

“ Much stupid things are said about music."
"It is so," said the gentleman severely. "You cannot possibly understand Bach."
Anne-Marie suddenly grasped him by the sleeve.
"What do you understand in Bach? I want to know. You must tell me what you understand. Exactly what it is that you understand and I don't. Bemolle!" she cried, still holding the visitor's sleeve. "Give me the violin!"
Bemolle jumped up and obeyed with beaming face.
"Anne-Marie, darling!" expostulated Nancy.
But Anne-Marie had the violin in her hand and wildness in her eye. ”

“ He is often late, so I just took out some music and began to play over the things I had studied. There was a sonata of Rubinstein's, very splendid, that has quite possessed me lately. I played that, and I suppose I forgot where I was and all about it, for I went on and on, never hearing a sound except just the music. You must hear it when I come back, Hilda. It begins in the minor, and then there is the most superb sweep up into the major; your heart seems to sweep up with it, and you find yourself in another world, where everything is divine harmony. ”

“ There was much friendly laughter among the strings and wind, the brass and reeds, when the small child entered through the huge glass doors of the Rudolfinum, followed by Bemolle carrying the violin, Nancy carrying the music, Fräulein carrying the dog, and the Professor in the rear, with his [Pg 277] hat pulled down deeply over his head, and a large unlit cigar twisting in his fingers. Anne-Marie was introduced to the Bohemian chef d'orchestre, and was hoisted up to the platform by Fräulein and the Professor. Violins and violas tapped applause on their instruments. ”

“ He promised the youth to assist him in his love-suit, and he kept his word, although after his own jesting fashion.
Wido remained all his life-time a favourite with the Spirit of the Mountains. He grew rich, and became celebrated. His dear Emma brought him every year a handsome child, his pictures were sought after even in Italy and England; and the Dance of the Dead, of which Basil, Antwerp, Dresden, Lubeck, and many other places boast, are only copies or imitations of Wido’s original painting, which he had executed in memory of the real Dance of the Dead at Neisse! ”