MuseData: Antonio Vivaldi
Contents
L'estro armonico: Twelve Concertos for Violins and String Orchestra, Op. 3
The following parts are in PDF and CFT formats. CFT files may be viewed or printed in Microsoft Windows by downloading the DMuse Viewer. These parts for Antonio Vivaldi's Op.3 concerti accompany the full score available from Dover Publications (conver shown on the left):
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Vivaldi, Antonio. "L'Estro armonico", Op. 3 in Full Score: 12 Concertos
for Violins and String Orchestra. Ed. by Eleanor Selfridge-Field. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications; 1999. ISBN 0-486-40631-8.
Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione: Twelve Concertos for Violin and String Orchestra, 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.
| Opus, Work No. | Ryom No. | Genre / Instrumentation | Key | Nickname; Related works | Score | Parts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Op. 8, No. 1 | RV 269 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | E Major | "La Primavera" ("Spring") | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 2 | RV 315 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | G Minor | "L'Estate" ("Summer") | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 3 | RV 293 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | F Major | "L'Autunno" ("Autumn") | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 4 | RV 297 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | F Minor | "L'Inverno" ("Winter") | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 5 | RV 253 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | in E♭ Major | "La Tempesta di Mare" ("The Storm at Sea") | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 6 | RV 180 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | C Major | "Il Piacere" ("Pleasure") | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 7 | RV 242 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | D Minor | RV 242a | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 8 | RV 332 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | G Minor | score | ||
| Op. 8, No. 9 | RV 236 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | D Minor | RV 454 | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 10 | RV 362 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | B♭ Major | "La Caccia" ("The Hunt") | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 11 | RV 210 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | D Major | RV 210a, B. Marcello Op. 1, No. 8 | score | |
| Op. 8, No. 12 | RV 178 | Concerto / VPr; V1 V2 Va Vc Org | C Major | score |
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 is was essential for the execution of several of his works for it.
Opus 10 appear in 1729, in rough coincidence with Vivaldi's violin concertos Opp. 11 and 12. All three volumes were published in Amsterdam. Although published set was designed for a market oriented towards some kind of standardized, relatively neutral instrumentation, the origins of the individual works were heterogeneous. The indications suggested by the related concertos show on the lower half of the chart below 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. A full account of such details prevents the pairing of any two works from the repertory shown above.
The transverse flute and the recorder were both associated with a certain freedom of timbral composition. 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 a subgenre 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.
| Opus, Work No. | Ryom No. | Genre / Instrumentation | Key | Nickname | Parts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Op. 10, No. 1 | RV 433 | Concerto / Flute; V1 V2 Va Vc BC | F Major | "The Sea Tempest" | parts |
| Op. 10, No. 2 | RV 439 | Concerto / Flute; V1 V2 Va Vc BC | G Minor | "Night" | parts |
| Op. 10, No. 3 | RV 428 | Concerto / Flute; V1 V2 Va Vc BC | D Major | "The Goldfinch" | parts |
| Op. 10, No. 4 | RV 435 | Concerto / Flute; V1 V2 Va Vc BC | G Major | parts | |
| Op. 10, No. 5 | RV 434 | Concerto / Flute; V1 V2 Va Vc BC | F Major | parts | |
| Op. 10, No. 6 | RV 437 | Concerto / Flute; V1 V2 Va Vc BC | G Major | parts | |
| Related concertos | |||||
| Unpublished | RV 444 | Concerto / Sopranino Recorder; V1 V2 Va Vc Bn | C Major | parts | |
| Op. 10, No. 1 (alt.) | RV 570 | Concerto / Flute, Oboe, Bassoon; VPr V1 V2 Va BC | F Major | parts | |
| Op. 10, No. 2 (alt.) | RV 501 | Concerto / Bassoon; V1 V2 Va BC | B♭ Major | parts | |
| Op. 10, No. 3 (alt.) | RV 90 | Concerto / Flute, Oboe, Violin and Bassoon | D Major | parts | |
| Op. 10, No. 5 (alt.) | RV 442 | Concerto / Recorder; V1 V2 Va BC | F Major | parts | |
| Op. 10, No. 6 (alt.) | RV 101 | Concerto / Flute, Oboe, Violin, Bassoon, BC | G Major | parts | |
The first three works are the best known ones of the collection. Their programmatic allusions are largely confirmed in associated manuscripts. Storms at sea and phantoms of the night (the images cultivated by the first two)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, exhibited a fascination with dreams and the supernatural that was probed cautiously on the stage. It suited Sant'Angelo's penchant for grottoes and grotesque scenes.
Vivaldi's depictions of birdcalls (in Op. 10, No. 3 a bullfinch) were prevalent not only in his works but in those of many other composers of the time. In other contexts they often suggested the formals gardens that were so much promoted by the aristocracy, but in Vivaldi's case they are more often a natural depiction of bucolic habitats, more suggestive of the imagery of Arcadian shepherds than of programmed landscapes.
Related Works
Within the large corpus of works that remained unpublished when Vivaldi died, almost every work in Op. 10 found a cousin that differed, usually in small ways, from the published work. Rarely, cousins differed substantially in content. Solo episodes might change from one source to the next. Ritornelli might vary in number and length.
In the "extended family" of Op. 10 there is only one change of key/mode (No. 2/No. 2alt), which also exhibits significant changes of content. This is No. 2, the concerto subtitled "La Notte" ("Night"). The most dramatic differences occur in the second movement.
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.