Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque

by H.C. Robbins Landon

Vivaldi boasted that he could compose a concerto faster than a scribe could copy one. Despite his prolificacy, The Four Seasons , and the majority of his already published work had fallen into obscurity by the time of his death in poverty in 1741. Most of his music-concertos, sonatas, operas, and sacral music-has been published only recently.

Very little has been written on Vivaldi for the nonspecialist, especially in English. Landon rediscovers the composer in this accessible and musically informed biography while presenting documentation of the musician's life discovered after the Baroque revival in the 1930s. This book includes illustrations of eighteenth-century Venice and several newly translated letters, thoroughly evoking the style of the time and revealing some of the more personal aspects of Vivaldi's life.

"Belongs on the shelf of every serious music student."— Kirkus

"Gives a good feel for Vivaldi's life and times . . . and describes particularly well how Vivaldi has been revived."— Booklist

"Robbins Landon is marvelously entertaining, extravagantly learned."— The Independent

Genres: Music, Biography, History, Italy, Nonfiction, Art

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Howard Chandler Robbins Landon was an American musicologist, journalist, historian and broadcaster, best known for his work in rediscovering the huge body of neglected music by Haydn and in correcting misunderstandings about Mozart.

Reviews

[Nicholas Trandahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite!! An enthralling account of the mysterious life and incomparable music of my favorite composer, the Red Priest of Venice.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Landon's lively biography is by far the most entertaining and readable of the scholarly works on Vivaldi. Filled with colorful anecdotal stories about Vivaldi's fascinating, and in some ways enigmatic life, this book is fun to read as well as informative. There are also excellent translations of many of Vivaldi's letters and an extremely helpful list of appendices, including a schedule of Vivaldi's opera productions.

Perhaps best of all are the many sparkling descriptions of Vivaldi's music. Except for the operas, which are not covered in much depth, Landon brings to life the full spectrum of Vivaldi's brilliant and prolific musical output. Landon's book is a joy to read, rich with absorbing details about Vivaldi's life and music, and should be on the bookshelf of every serious Vivaldi enthusiast.

[Joseph Hageman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and we'll written biography of this gifted composer.

[Andrew Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

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 violin and one oboe) concertos, as Opus 11.
• 1729 – Publishes six (five violin 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.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not even sure what possessed me to even pick up a book on Vivaldi. Yeah, I like his music, but musicology and music theory are not my thing. If you want to really enjoy this book, I suggest having your Spotify at the ready so you can listen to the music as the author writes about it. I will say the coolest thing is reading Vivaldi’s sonnets on the four seasons and then listening to the four seasons. It made me more deeply appreciate this man’s genius. Yes, there are some rather less than interesting parts regarding his operas and who’s getting paid what, but on the whole, I enjoyed it.

[Alex Stephenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book grinds to a hault in the Ferrara chapter, where Landon evidently thought it necessary to reproduce about 10 letters from Vivaldi and other correspondents regarding his operas failing. Info-wise it's appreciated, though, and it puts into context how recent the Vivaldi emergence has been.

[Annm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give fives when a book changes my life. I has to be that good. I am sure that this ook is well-written, and I know it was informative. But this one gets a five, not onky for those reasons, but because I am about to write a historical fiction novel for NaNoWriMo, and it will be of inestimable use. Thank goodness for this book.

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book.