Vivaldi D Minor

The Oboe Concerto in D minor, S D935, is an early 18th-century concerto for oboe, strings and continuo attributed to the Venetian composer Alessandro Marcello.The earliest extant manuscript containing Johann Sebastian Bach's solo keyboard arrangement of the concerto, BWV 974, dates from around 1715. Works with opus number. The following is a list of compositions by Vivaldi that were published during his lifetime and assigned an opus number.The more comprehensive RV numbering scheme was created in the 1970s.

• Vivaldi D Minor Violin Concerto
• Vivaldi D Minor 541
• Vivaldi D Minor Concerto

The Oboe Concerto in D minor, S D935, is an early 18th-century concerto for oboe, strings and continuo attributed to the Venetian composer Alessandro Marcello. The earliest extant manuscript containing Johann Sebastian Bach's solo keyboard arrangement of the concerto, BWV 974, dates from around 1715. As a concerto for oboe, strings and continuo its oldest extant sources date from 1717: that year it was printed in Amsterdam, and a C minor variant of the concerto, S Z799, was written down.

Bach's keyboard version was published as an arrangement of a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi in the 19th century. In 1923 the C minor version of the oboe concerto was published as a composition by Benedetto Marcello, Alessandro's brother. In the second half of the 20th century several publications indicated Alessandro again as the composer of the piece, as it had been in its early 18th-century print, and the oboe concerto was again published in its D minor version.

In the 20th and 21st centuries the concerto developed into a well-established repertoire piece, as well as an oboe concerto as performed on keyboard.^[1]

History[edit]

The Concerto in D minor, S D935, was published by Jeanne Roger in Amsterdam in 1717, as a Concerto a Cinque (concerto in five parts) for oboe (soloist), strings (two violin and one viola parts) and continuo composed by Alessandro Marcello.^[2][3][4] No publication date appears in the print: although the year of publication is, depending on author, sometimes given as 'ca. 1714-1717'^[5] or 'c.1716'^[6] it can be inferred from the consecutive testaments of the publisher's father (Estienne Roger) and from the sequence of publication numbers.^[7] The publication presents the melody lines unadorned, that is: it is left to the performing musician to embellish melodies with ornaments such as trills, mordents and grace notes.^[8] Alessandro Marcello published most of his works under a pseudonym (Eterio Stinfalico): the oboe concerto publication was an exception in that sense as it used his real name.^[9]

In his Weimar period (1708–17) Johann Sebastian Bach arranged several concertos by Venetian composers, most of them by Antonio Vivaldi, for solo keyboard, known as his Weimar concerto transcriptions. In July 1713 Prince Johann Ernst returned to Weimar from the Netherlands with several compositions by Italian masters. Vivaldi's Op. 3, L'estro Armonico had been published in Amsterdam in 1711, and there is little doubt that the Prince brought this edition, containing twelve concertos, to Weimar in 1713, as Bach apparently used this print for five of his solo keyboard arrangements. The Prince, who also composed Italianate concertos, presumably encouraged Bach to produce solo keyboard arrangements of such works. As the Prince left Weimar in July 1714 it is estimated that most of Bach's solo keyboard arrangements of Italian and Italianate concertos originated in the period from July 1713 to July 1714. That is, at least those arrangements that could be performed on a harpsichord without pedalboard, while the Weimar court organ (which would be needed for arrangements including pedals such as BWV 592–597) would have been unavailable for undergoing repairs in this period.^[2][6]

Bach's manualiter arrangement, BWV 974, of the Marcello concerto was apparently not based on the Amsterdam edition, but must have been based on a (lost) manuscript version of the concerto that circulated before it was printed.^[2] The July 1713 to July 1714 timeframe may fit for the production of the arrangement of this concerto, although an earlier or later date is possible too. Bach's autograph of the solo keyboard arrangement is lost, but the arrangement was copied around 1715 by Bach's second cousin Johann Bernhard, as the third item in a manuscript containing 12 of Johann Sebastian's keyboard transcriptions of Italian and Italianate concertos. In 1739 Johann Bernhard's son Johann Ernst wrote a title page for this collection, suggesting that the collection contained Vivaldi arrangements for organ exclusively. He may have intended this title page for the first concerto in the collection only (which was indeed an arrangement of a Vivaldi concerto), but an unknown hand later added the number 'XII' before the title, thus causing the misunderstanding that all 12 were Vivaldi arrangements.^[10] Another copy of Bach's arrangement indicates 'Marcello' (without first name) as the composer of the original work, and J. S. Bach as the arranger. That copy, specifying harpsichord as the intended instrument for the arrangement, originated after Johann Bernhard's, but may have been copied from an earlier stage of Bach's arrangement.^[11] Another manuscript containing Bach's arrangement of Marcello's oboe concerto indicated 'J. S. B.' as composer on the title page, without mentioning an earlier model, or its composer, for the composition.^[12]

The ornamentation as indicated in Bach's keyboard version of the concerto works well on harpsichord, but is less suitable for performance on an early 18th-century oboe. Nonetheless Bach's ornamentation has been used for 20th-century publications of the oboe concerto – the ornamentation causes fewer problems when performed on a modern oboe. Editions of the D minor version of the oboe concerto with an ornamentation which is better in line with the possibilities of a baroque oboe have been proposed since the late 20th century.^[8][13][14]

Another transcription of the concerto, as concerto a 5 for oboe, strings and continuo in C minor, is found in a 1717 manuscript. The type of errors in this manuscript seems to suggest that the transposition from D minor to C minor may have been produced by its scribes while copying. This manuscript writes the composer's name as 'Marcello' without specifying a first name: as Alessandro's brother Benedetto was far better known as a composer by the name Marcello, later generations would interpret the title of the manuscript as referring to the better known of the 'Marcello' composers.^[6][15]

Movements[edit]

The piece has three movements:

1. Andante spiccato
2. Adagio
3. Presto

The concerto survives in different printed and manuscript versions, one of these in C minor.^[6]

Other versions[edit]

The concerto has also been recorded played on a piccolo trumpet - a notoriously challenging transcription due to the breath control and tight embouchure required for its sustained passages in the higher register.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

1. ^Alessandro Marcello: Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra and Concerto in D minor after Alessandro Marcello, BWV 974 at ArkivMusic website. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
2. ^ ^abcJones 2006, pp. 143–144
3. ^Rasch 2005, p. 72
4. ^(score publication) Amsterdam [1717]
5. ^Scarnati 1996
6. ^ ^abcdSchulenberg 2013, p. 130 and endnotes p. 462
7. ^Rasch 2005
8. ^ ^abScarnati 1996, pp. 12–13
9. ^Scarnati 1996, pp. 16–17
10. ^(manuscript) D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 280 (3)
11. ^(manuscript) D-DS Mus. ms. 66
12. ^(manuscript) D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 804, Fascicle 4
13. ^Scarnati 1996, pp. 99–111
14. ^(score publication) Voxman 1977
15. ^(manuscript) SW Mus. Ms. 3530

Sources[edit]

Manuscripts

• D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 280 (3) at Berlin State Library: 'Concerto III ex D-♭', pp. 12–16, c.1715, in XII. CONCERTO | di | VIVALDI. | elabor: | di | J. S. Bach. ('Concerto in d (BWV 974)' in Bach Digital Source 00001222; RISM No. 467300720)
• SW Mus. Ms. 3530 at Landesbibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Günther Uecker [de], Musikaliensammlung (D-SWl): Concerto a 5: | Hautbois | Violino: Primo | Violino: Secundo | Viola: | et | Basso Continuo | dÿ | Marcello:, 1717 (S Z799; RISM No. 240003100)
• D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 804, Fascicle 4 at Berlin State Library, after 1727 ('Concerto in D♭. di J. S. B.', BWV 974, copied by Johann Peter Kellner and others; Bach Digital Source 00001801)
• D-DS Mus. ms. 66 at Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt [de], c.1720–39 (BWV 974; Source 00002746 and first page at Bach Digital website)

Score publications

• 'Concerto II: del Sig. Alexandro Marcello' in Concerti a Cinque: Con Violini, Oboè, Violetta, Violoncello e Basso Continuo, Del Signori G. Valentini, A. Vivaldi, T. Albinoni, F. M. Veracini, G. St. Martin, A. Marcello, G. Rampin, A. Predieri. – Volume I. Amsterdam: Jeanne Roger (Catalogue No. 432), [1717] (S D935)
• Ernst Naumann (editor). Concerto III (pp. 73–79) of 'VIII: XVI Concerte nach A. Vivaldi' in Volume 42: Clavierwerke, Band 5 of the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1894. Plate B.W. XLII.
• Richard Lauschmann (editor). Benedetto Marcello: Concerto für Oboe in c-Moll mit Begleitung von zwei Violinen, Viola, Basso und Cembalo (oder Pianoforte). Leipzig: Forberg, 1923
• Hugo Ruf (editor). Konzert d-moll für Oboe (Violine), Streicher und Basso continuo: Cembalo (Orgel), Violoncello (Viola da gamba) ad lib. Schott, 1963.
• Bernard Howard Gilmore (editor). Alessandro Marcello's Concerto in D minor, for oboe, strings, and continuo: A practical edition and discussion, No. 1 Department of Music, 1965.
• Himie Voxman (editor); Richard Hervig (continuo realization / piano reduction). Alessandro Marcello: Concerto in D minor (C minor) for Oboe & Strings (with Bach's Ornaments). London: Musica Rara, 1977
• Manfred Fechner (editor). Alessandro Marcello: Konzert d-Moll für Oboe, Streicher und Basso continuo. Leipzig: Peters, 1977.
• Karl Heller (editor). 'Concerto d-moll BWV 974 nach dem Oboenkonzert von Marcello' in Johann Sebastian Bach: Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke, Series V: Keyboard and Lute Works, Volume 11: Arrangements of Works from other Composers. Bärenreiter, 1997.

Writings

• Richard D. P. Jones. 'Concerto Transcriptions' pp. 142–153 in The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Volume I: 1695–1717 – Music to Delight the Spirit.Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN9780191513244
• Rudolf Rasch. 'De dochters van Estienne Roger', pp. 65–78 in Jaarboek voor Nederlandse boekgeschiedenis, Vol. 12. Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2005.
• David Schulenberg. '8: The Concerto Transcriptions', pp. 117–139 in The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach.Routledge, ²2013. ISBN9781136091469
• Eleanor Selfridge-Field. The Music of Benedetto and Alessandro Marcello: A Thematic Catalogue with Commentary on the Composers, Repertory, and Sources. Oxford University Press/Clarendon Press, 1990.ISBN9780193161269
• Rebecca Kemper Scarnati. The Ornamentation of Four Early Eighteenth-century Italian Oboe Concerti Found in 'Concerti a Cinque... Libro primo' of Jeanne Roger (Amsterdam, ca. 1714-1717).University of Arizona, 1996 (Ph.D. thesis).

External links[edit]

• Oboe Concerto in D minor, S.Z799 (Marcello, Alessandro), Concerti a Cinque: Con Violini, Oboè, Violetta, Violoncello e Basso Continuo, 16 Konzerte nach verschiedenen Meistern, BWV 972–987 (Bach, Johann Sebastian): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

• 1Published Sonatas and Concertos
  • 1.3Op. 3: L'estro armonico: Concerti
  • 1.8Op. 8: Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione: Concerti a quattro e cinque
• 3Oratorios

Published Sonatas and Concertos

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) is best known to modern audiences for his instrumental music. Like most composers of his time, Vivaldi composed in the formal medium of the sonata in his earliest publications (from 1703). His reputation was propelled by his concertos, the earliest of which appeared in 1711. This is still the genre with which he is most widely associated.

Op. 1: Suonate da camera a trè, due violini e violone o cembalo

Vivaldi's twelve sonatas Op. 1 are presumed to have been published prior to his appointment as maestro di violino at the Ospedale della Pietà, Venice, because he is described without reference to the institution as 'musico di violino, professore veneto' (a violinist and teacher in the Veneto). The works were dedicated to the count Annibale Gambara, one of five sons in a big family of noblemen from Brescia (the city in which Vivaldi's father was born), a provincial capital in the western Veneto. The Gambara also had a modest palace on the Grand Canal in the Venetian parish of San Barnabà.

These trio sonatas contained various numbers of movements (3 to 6), most in binary form. The four outer works (Nos. 1, 2, 11, and 12) were in minor keys, the others in major ones. The best known work is Op. 1, No. 12, which features an ambitious folìa movement at its conclusion. The earliest surviving print of Op. 1 was published in Venice (G. Sala) in 1705. The collection was reprinted in Amsterdam in 1723 (E. Roger, as print No. 363), in Paris in 1759 (Le Clerc), and in Austria in 1759. Many movements are brief and musically simple, so much so that were one to judge from this opus alone, one would not have anticipated the kind of success that Vivaldi later found.

Op. 2: Sonate a violino e basso per il cembalo

The trio sonata, over which Vivaldi had exhibited his command in Op. 1, had been the most prevalent instrumental genre of the 1690s, but in the first decade of the eighteenth century interest began to gravitate towards the 'solo' sonata--a work in several movements for one ensemble instrument and a basso continuo. In this 1709 collection by the Venetian publisher Antonio Bortoli, Vivaldi pursued a more expressive vein of musical enticement. The opus was dedicated to the visiting young monarch Frederick IV of Denmark. As prince of Schleswig-Holstein, his extended stay drew much artistic attention. No fewer than three operas were dedicated to him.

Seven of these sonatas were cast in minor keys. The movement structure remained variable. Vivaldi was moving in the direction of fewer movements but with greater musical elaboration within each movement. He was still described as musico di violino but also as maestro dei concerti (concertmaster) of the Ospedale della Pietà.

Like Op. 1, Op. 2 had a long afterlife in both reprints and manuscript copies, mainly abroad. These included the publications of E. Roger (Amsterdam, 1712) and several editions (1721-1730) by I. Walsh J. Young (London).

Op. 3: L'estro armonico: Concerti

The first concertos by Vivaldi to reach print were those of Opus 3 (Amsterdam, 1711). With them Vivaldi suddenly became a celebrity, for although he was well known as a virtuoso, his previously published works had found a relatively modest reception. Vivaldi's titles remained as they were in Op. 2. Most composers described the contents of a publication in sufficient detail to indicate instrumentation, but Vivaldi settled for the word 'Concerti' in order to allow space for the titles of his patron, the Grand Prince of Tuscany, Ferdinando III (1663-1713). The Grand Prince, who led a flamboyant life, enjoyed his visits to Venice, where however he contracted syphilis in 1696. This led to his premature death and changed the course of Tuscan (and imperial) history. Meanwhile, however, his patronage of music benefited many composers of the time including Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751), George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), and Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725). His Bavarian wife, Violante Beatrice (1673-1731), was in many ways a still more significant supporter of individual singers and instrumentalists.

Having now completed eight years of teaching at the Ospedale of the Pietà in Venice, Vivaldi shows himself to have experimented with a variety of approaches to textures and groupings of instruments. These twelve works are arranged cyclically, such that Nos. 1, 4, 7, and 10 are scored for four violins and string orchestra; Nos. 2, 5, 8, and 11 for two violins, violoncello, and string orchestra; and Nos. 3, 6, 9, and 12 for solo violin (Violino Principale) and string orchestra. Within the concertino groups (four violins or, alternatively, two violins and violoncello), there is further separation. The 'four violins' model often involves the pairing of the instruments such that one duo imitates another. This kind of experimentation is suggested by the word estro, which refers to gestational properties whereby one musical passage generates the need for the next. In musical terms, the sophistication of the idea represented an enormous step forward for Vivaldi, whose first sonatas were primitive and somewhat generic by comparison.

Additionally, the music was more cogent than before, the organization manifestly rational. The imaginative scoring, careful markup, and newly pungent musical effects were novelties not found in Opp. 1 or 2. If he had leaned on the familiar models of Arcangelo Corelli (1753-1713) before, Vivaldi was now producing music that was novel, ambitious, and aesthetically pleasing. Largely in coincidence with this publication, Vivaldi's concerts at the Pietà began to win plaudits from a succession of visiting dignitaries from abroad.

Within the context of the early concerto, Op. 3 was equally noteworthy. The now elderly Corelli had perfected the concerto grosso [his Op. 6 would be published only posthumously in 1714]. Vivaldi's concertos for two and four violins had some debts to these works, but his concertos for solo violin and orchestra did not have Corellian models to follow. The trumpet concertos by Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709) are an oft mentioned alternative model, but Vivaldi's skills at articulation and exhibitionism were unrivaled. The violin was capable of much greater subtlety than the trumpet.

Dissemination of Individual Works from Op. 3

The Concerti Op. 3 were so popular that the entire opus was reprinted in Amsterdam within a year. Other reprints followed in both London and Paris through 1751. Because of the cyclical rotation of different combinations of instruments from work to work, individual pieces in Op. 3 led themselves to diverse uses. The basic organization is shown in the table. Parsed one way, it is a four-fold cycle of three works. The textures vary with the instrumentation.

Several works from Opus 3 took on lives of their own. Six works (indicated by an asterisk*) were transcribed by J. S. Bach, and there are faint clues that Bach may have transcribed them all. Bach was highly sensitive to the cyclical instrumentation of Vivaldi's collection: Nos 1, 4, 7, and 10 were set for two pairs of solo violins; Nos. 2, 5, 8, and 11 for a trio of soloists (two violins and violoncello); Nos. 3, 6, 9, and 12 for principal violin, in all cases with string orchestra. As the table below shows, Bach chose the second type for an organ adaptation and the third type for concertos for harpsichord and strings, while the first type served as a model for his lone concerto for four harpsichords and strings. The trio sonata, which was at its peak in the years 1700-1710, was a popular reservoir for organ transcriptions in Germany, but the other adaptations had no such currency. Concertos for four harpsichords were unknown.

Wide circulation of Vivaldi's concertos was further stimulated by John Walsh's edition of Op. 3 in c. 1715. In this print, the order of Nos. 6-9 was altered so that these concertos became Nos. 8, 9, 6, and 7. The clavichord transcriptions of Anne Dawson include many works in Vivaldi's Opp. 3 and 4 and show a further dimension of the music's adaptation. Numerous transcriptions and copies survive in Europe and North America.

CCARH Scores and Parts for Opus 3

CCARH cooperated with Dover Publications Inc. in producing the scores that appear in L'estro armonico: Twelve Concertos for Violins and String Orchestra, Op. 3. The cover is shown below. The collection entitled L'estro armonico was the first title under Vivaldi's name to draw widespread attention. It is likely that some of the works had already been performed in selected gatherings. They were profusely copied, arranged, and reprinted (with numerous variants) over the next few decades.

For bound paper copies, see Vivaldi, Antonio. 'L'Estro armonico', Op. 3 in Full Score: 12 Concertos for Violins and String Orchestra, ed. Eleanor Selfridge-Field (Mineola, New York: Dover Publications; 1999). Available from Amazon ISBN 0-486-40631-8 and Dover ISBN 0-486-40631-8.

Vivaldi D Minor Violin Concerto

The transcriptions as a group are available here.

Op. 4: La Stravaganza: Concerti in six parts

Vivaldi's violin concertos Op. 4 (announced in London on January 1, 1715) achieved a much broader penetration of the European market than any previous publication of his music. The collection, published in Amsterdam as Estienne Roger's prints Nos. 399 and 400, bore the title La Stravaganza (The Extravaganza), a designation popular at the time. In musical contexts it usually referred to chromatic harmonies, but in Vivaldi's case it forewarned prospective players of the challenges posed, epsecially for the principal violinist. (Up to this time, Roger had principally offered trio sonatas and concerti grossi, which were less demanding.)

Op. 4 was a compendium of virtuoso techniques that were popularized by Vivaldi, who, as a performer, was known far and wide for his daring. His near-peers in this regard were violinist-composers such as Tomaso Albinoni and Lodovico Madonis, but their most demanding works appeared some years later and were less widely distributed. Op. 4 was dedicated to a Venetian nobleman, Vettor Delfin, whose family were largely engaged in military affairs. With only one exception (Op. 4, No. 7), the concertos were written in three movements.

At the time Op. 4 appeared, Vivaldi had been filling holes left by the departure of Francesco Gasparini (1661-1727) at the Pietà. He was now turning his attention to motets and oratorios per force to bridge the gap left by Gasparini. It is therefore likely that most of these pieces were composed before the elder maestro's departure. Reprints of Op. 4 appeared in 1723, 1728, and 1730, but selected individual works enjoyed independent circulation. Vivaldi had now reached the point where demand for his instrumental music exceeded the amount of time he could afford to devote to it. It may be for this reason that echoes of Op. 4 appear in a few later works by Vivaldi. Op. 7, No. 1, for example, was a first cousin of Op. 4, No. 9; myriad other variants of this set were quoted in later works. The cumulative effect was a splintering of work-identities that still confuse musicians today. Vivaldi himself adapted many of his works to suit new purposes as appropriate occasions arose.

Op. 5: VI Sonate/quatro à violino solo e basso e due a due violini e basso continuo

Four of the six sonatas of Op. 5, published in Amsterdam (1716) as Estienne Roger's print No. 418, may have been remainders of Vivaldi's Op. 2, an opus consisting of a dozen solo violin sonatas. In Op. 5 we find four solo sonatas and two trio sonatas. During the visit of the young Danish king Frederick Christian IV to Venice in the winter of 1709, a great many banquets and balls were planned. Easily half of them were canceled either by hosts or guests because many people (including the doge and one of the Republic's official hosts) died. No autograph material for this opus survives. Op. 2 had been dedicated to Frederick Christian, but Op. 5 was an orphan of sorts. It contained a mixed repertory, lacked a dedicatee, and found insufficient popularity to prompt reprints. Few works were copied in manuscript. An exception was the first movement of Op. 5, No. 6, which was included in J. B. Cartier's L'Art du Violon (Paris, 1798).

Op. 6: VI Concerti à cinque strumenti: 3 violini, alto viola, e basso continuo

The six concertos for violin and strings of Op. 6, published in Amsterdam in 1716-1717 by Jeanne Roger (as her firm's print No. 452) represent both a continuation and a departure. The instrumental requirements are identical to those of Op. 4: they require a principal violin and a small string orchestra. This short collection could have served as a supplement to Op. 4, given the pattern set by Opp. 2 and 5 (another short set). The absence of a dedicatee and sundry details of the music suggest that Vivaldi did not actively seek this publication and that the print was therefore unauthorized. Mme. Roger heralded Vivaldi's titles as maestro di violino and maestro di concerti at the Pietà.

Musically, five of the six works are in minor keys. Again forming a parallel with Op. 5, it was not followed by myriad other editions, although Le Cène brought out one (undated) reprint.

Op. 7: Concerti a 5 strumenti: Tre violini, alto viola e basso continuo

Vivsaldi's 12 concertos a 5 (meaning three violins, viola, and basso continuo) were, like the works of Op. 6, planned with a violino principale for the solo episodes of the outer movements and the middle movement of three-movement works. These two opuses (6 and 7) were the first ones in which all the works contained three movements. One can see that Vivaldi's idea of concerto had evolved considerably over a decade. The oboe arrangements of Nos. 1 and No. 7, as well as No. 9 (reset for oboe in a later opus) are now considered spurious.

Vivaldi D Minor 541

As scores passed through more hands and as Vivaldi himself branched out into new modes of musical expression, his concertos began to take on a life of their own. No. 1 was revised by Johann Pisendel (cf. RV 370), who played a significant role in performing and preserving Vivaldi's music in the Dresden Hofkapelle. No. 9 found a new life in a version for oboe and strings (RV 460), published as Op. 11, No. 6. No. 10 was nicknamed 'Il Ritiro.' No. 11 ('Il Grosso Mogul') was published with a different middle movement (RV 208a) in Walsh & Hare's anthology Select Harmony (1730). Many of the works may have been composed considerably earlier than their print dates suggest, and in the case of this pair RV 208 is conjecturally from before 1710, its alternative arrangement from not later than 1720. One manuscript copy of the earlier work incudes a written cadenza. It was also transcribed by J. S. Bach for organ as BWV 594. Parts and/or scores for five of the works are preserved in early copies in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Dresden, while other early versions are found in manuscripts in Manchester (UK) and Trondheim (Norway), among other locations.

Op. 8: Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione: Concerti a quattro e cinque

Vivaldi's most famous opus was published in Amsterdam by Michel Charles Le Cène in 1725. It is clear, though, that various portions of sundry works had been written earlier. What was perhaps new was the formalization of the scheme, complete with the texts of the sonnets with which they were coordinated, of the first four concertos--The Four Seasons. These works, and their cyclical organization, captured the imagination of many and led to a 'Four Seasons' industry of arrangements and performances that extends to the current day.

Unlike other opuses that postdated Vivaldi's move to Mantua, this one resumed the practice of dedicating the collection to a nobleman, in this case Venceslas, count of Morzin (also Morcin, spelled Marzin in the print itself). Two concertos known only in manuscript, RV 449 and 496, were also dedicated to the count. He was Bohemian with townhouses in Prague and Vienna. He was an occasional patron of Venetian opera. Prague, the capital of Bohemia, was a thriving city with rapidly developing enterprises focused on opera and on the development of string music. One can see how poetic justice prevailed in this dedication: Bohemians not only loved music but were happy to master its component parts.

This opus was more popular in France than anywhere else. Parisian reprints issued from the presses of Madame Boivin (c. 1739, 1743, 1748). Manuscripts were widely circulated. Rearrangements of portions of the opus were also proliferated. In Dresden, the orchestration of some works was enriched by Johann Pisendel, who also elaborated some of the articulation.

In the works as a set, major keys predominate. Nos. 7, 9, and 11 are known in alternative versions. The final of movement of Op. 8, No. 11 presents a particularly complex web of revisions to the alternation of tutti and solo.

CCARH Parts for Op. 8

The following parts for Antonio Vivaldi's Op.8 concerti accompany the full score available from Dover Publications:

• Vivaldi, Antonio. 'The Four Seasons' and Other Violin Concertos in Full Score; Opus 8, Complete. Ed. by Eleanor Selfridge-Field. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications; 1995. ISBN 0-486-28638-X.

Op. 9: La cetra. Concerti

Vivaldi's Concertos Op. 9, published in Amsterdam by Michel Charles Le Cène in Vols. 533 and 534 (datable from 1727), have the distinction of having been dedicated to the emperor Charles VI. The two met two years later in Trieste, where the emperor was more enraptured by Vivaldi's music and the intelligence with which he discussed it than with the diplomatic matters at hand. Op. 9 is easily confused with a contemporary set of twelve unpublished concertos for violin also called 'La Cetra,' that Vivaldi presented to the Emperor during his 1729 visit, as part of a diplomatic delegation, to Trieste.

The works of Op. 9 were not so widely circulated as those of other recent volumes of Vivaldi's music, and a few were not new. (Three of the works were known in alternative versions.) The popularity of the 'Four Seasons' concertos (Op. 8, Nos. 1-4) blinded the public to Vivaldi's future prints, while Vivaldi's own interest in publishing instrumental music was also in decline after the appearance of this collection.

The part for Violino Principale is lost, although a manuscript part-book for it survives for a few works.

Op. 10: VI Concerti a flauto traverso

Six Concertos for Flute and String Orchestra, Op. 10; Related Variants

As published, Vivaldi's Opus 10 is a straightforward collection of concertos for flute and string orchestra. Most works which originally called for obbligato flutes seem to have originated during the early 1720s, perhaps reflecting opportunities that Vivaldi encountered in Rome, where he stayed intermittently between c. 1719 and 1724. Although the transverse flute was then little known in Italy, the availability of an excellent player was essential for the execution of several of his works for it.

Opus 10 appeared in 1729, in rough coincidence with Vivaldi's violin concertos Opp. 11 and 12, but most of the works are likely to have been composed years earlier. All three volumes were published in Amsterdam. Although each published set was designed for a market oriented towards a standardized, relatively neutral instrumentation, the origins of the individual works were heterogeneous. The indications suggested by the related concertos listed on the lower half of the chart do not include subtle differences of instrumental alternatives and/or pairings--for example, an independent oboe part vs. an oboe part duplicating a second violin, a separate cello part vs. an unspecified Basso, and so forth. These are among the kinds of details that have necessitated separate listings for works that are musically similar. One manuscript source for No. 3 is scored for recorder rather than violin.

The transverse flute and the recorder were both associated with a certain freedom of timbral choice. The so-called chamber concertos (RV 570, 90, and 101) for flute (or recorder), oboe, bassoon, violin, and bass can be understood to signify this sense of free play, rather than to represent a sub-genre cast in concrete. Although Vivaldi's chamber concertos had few analogues during Vivaldi's lifetime, they paved the way to a rich chamber repertory in the later eighteenth century.

The first three works are the best known ones of the collection, but their nicknames accrued over time. Their programmatic allusions are largely confirmed in associated manuscripts. Storms at sea and phantoms of the night (the images cultivated by the first two pieces) were staples of opera staging at Venice's Teatro Sant'Angelo, the Venetian theater with which Vivaldi and his father were most consistently associated. Both played a prominent role in Venetian scene paintings contemporary with Vivaldi.

The representation of sleep in the fourth movement of Op 10, No. 2, is illustrative of a fascination with dreams and the supernatural that was probed cautiously on the stage because of the pervasive scrutiny of religious censors. However, the dramatization of darkness fed Sant'Angelo's penchant for grottoes and grotesque scenes. It is darkness that the bassoon invokes in the manuscript RV 501 (the loose analogue of No. 2), where the key is Bb Major rather than G Minor.

Vivaldi's depictions of bird-calls (in Op. 10, No. 3 a bullfinch) were prevalent not only in his concertos but also in his operas, and in dozens of works by other composers of the time. Though elsewhere they often suggested the formal gardens that were so much promoted by the aristocracy, in Vivaldi's case they are more often a natural depiction of bucolic habitats consistent with the imagery of Arcadian shepherds than of programmed landscapes abroad.

The sopranino recorder concerto RV 444 is a unique work among Vivaldi's oeuvre, although it could easily have been adapted to a different soloist. It would have suited a virtuoso of considerable renown.

The parts provided here correspond to the Dover Publication entitled Six Concertos for Flute and String Orchestra, Op. 10, and Related Variants.

Op. 11: Sei concerti

In Opp. 11 and 12 Vivaldi returned to the practice of publishing six works at a time. His earlier 12-work prints are usually presented as two books of six, but there were practical benefits to grouping the works into two sets. Opp. 11 and 12 appear to be cut from the same cloth and may have been intended as a single publication. They appeared with consecutive print numbers (Nos. 545, 546) from presses of Michel Charles Le Cène in 1729. In comparison to all of Vivaldi's music printed since 1711 they were poorly circulated.

Op. 12: Sei concerti

Vivaldi's six concertos Op. 12 (1729) represent the final printed publication of his music.

Unpublished instrumental works

The number of Vivaldi's unpublished instrumental pieces greatly exceeds those that were printed in the composer's lifetime. They generally follow the same lines and populate the same genres of sonata and concerto. The two most conspicuous differences between the published and unpublished works are that dates of composition are more difficult to pin down for the manuscript works and nearly all of the works with obbligato wind parts were never published.

Why were works with obbligato winds not published in Vivaldi's time? The demand for works with wind parts was much lower, while learning to play the violin was a popular activity among noblemen. Numerous accounts of special occasions note the addition of local amateur players to orchestras for serenatas and sinfonias. Learning to play a bowed instrument conferred a certain prestige on the fledgling performer.

In Italy wind instruments, which were not readily available, were required in music for particular kinds of ceremonies or scenes in operas. Nasal reeds, such as the oboe, were used in funeral music or to signify impending doom. Recorders and cross-flutes were associated with peasants and with dancing. Bassoons could signify the underworld. Among brasses, trumpets had been used discreetly to represent military advances and triumphs since before Vivaldi was born, but their appearances were few.

Vivaldi D Minor Concerto

Vivaldi's interactions with musicians from north of the Alps provided him with incentives to score parts for oboes, bassoons, recorders, cross-flutes, and other novel instruments. He also adapted some of his concertos with a wind instrument instead of a principal violin. Op. 10 is the only print that shows off his wind interests here, but the menu of works related to that set of six (grouped here with Op. 10) shows the latitude (or lack thereof) in adaptations.

Yet in Italy the idea of using these different timbres together with strings was one that remained somewhat foreign at the end of Vivaldi's life. In his operas, winds were usually deployed in pairs. Quite often their use was limited to opening performances, when entrance fees were higher. Because their players were paid one night at a time, the wind parts did not always survive. Modern editions represent optimal versions of the work at hand, but the fact that many wind parts have only one or two solo episodes in an entire work and otherwise double string parts allows for some latitude in interpretation and some accommodation of strained circumstances.

Juditha triumphans

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