Composition Analysis of “Violin Concerto in G, Op. 4, No. 12, I and II” by A. Vivaldi

By: Melissa Reed

Antonio Vivaldi proved to change the face of music with his ground breaking works featuring violin solos in many of the concertos he composed during the Baroque period. Antonio Vivaldi was more than just an internationally renowned musical composer; he was a priest, a teacher and a mentor.  Antonio Vivaldi’s work “Violin Concerto in G, Op. 4, No. 12, I and II” proved to be some of the most important works of the baroque period.

Antonio L. Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678 in Venice. He entered the Priesthood at an early age because this was the only way for his family to get him any type of formal education.  Antonio Vivaldi had bright red hair and was given the nickname il Prete Rosso, “The Red Priest”, because of his red hair (Kerman & Tomlinson, p.124).  In 1703 he became a music teacher at the Seminario Musicale dell’Ospedale della Pieta, a Venetian orphanage for girls (Kerman & Tomlinson, p.124).  Over his lifetime he wrote hundreds of musical pieces, most of them featuring solos for the Violin. His musical teachings to the girls at the orphanage helped many of the girls with no family go on to become famous singers and musicians of the time.  Many of his works were written specifically for some of the orphan girls that he taught at the orphanage in Venice. Antonio Vivaldi taught many girls to play his music as well as toured as a musical composer until he died at the age of 63 in 1741.

Antonio Vivaldi wrote hundreds of concertos including “Violin Concerto in G, Op. 4, No. 12, I and II” where the Violin was given many solo parts in the songs.  Many other instruments were also used in his compositions including the Archlute.  The Concerto in G features a small orchestra of stringed instruments that sounded of the basic baroque continuo.  The Concerto in G begins and ends with the movements in ritornello form (Kerman & Tomlinson, p.122). Antonio Vivaldi’s Concertos often started with a loud complex sound that was followed by a violin solo.  Most of his music in the Ritornello form would feature a Ritornello then a solo then a second Ritornello section all heard in the same tonic key usually until the third solo where the music

would change and then would return to the original tonic key to bring it all together for the audience.  This Ritornello form of music that alternates between the sound of an orchestra and a solo is a classic example of what kind of Concertos Antonio Vivaldi was famous for.

Antonio Vivaldi’s use of the variation form really tied his music together as to not lose the listener after the solo parts in a song.  His use of the Baroque variation form was often heard in the pieces “Violin Concerto in G, Op. 4, No. 12, I and II”.  His music often had very contrasting movements that were alternated by violin solos.  The texture is rhythmic but not melodic in nature.  The Violin solos are very beautiful. When some of this music was preformed the Violinist would improvise there solos at times which is fascinating.  All of his music was written to glorify the sound of the violin and the violin was probably the instrument in which he wrote the music around as to feature its sound in the most beautiful way.  In the song Concerto in G, the sound of the instruments imitating each other in harmony gives the song a flowing sound.  The timbre of the music changes with the tempo and makes the music build to a solo which gives the music more emotional impact.  The only melody recognizable is the basso ostinato.  The ground bass is the only part of the music that is repeated to give the songs tonality a sense of familiar texture to the listener.

There are many differences between the first, second and third movements in Antonio Vivaldi’s concerto in G. The first movement starts in triple-meter in which the first and second violin is echoed by the orchestra (Kerman & Tomlinson, p.122).  The second movement is an expression of fast and slow.  The alternating tempos are emphasized by the loud and soft sounds as they are accompanied by the violin solo pieces.  The violin solos are very deep in emotional impact a give the overall sound of the music a deep texture.  The third movement starts with a long violin solo.  It is not until the third movement that the song subjects the listener to any real surprise of what is to come next in the song.  In the third movement, the places where the listener would expect the orchestra to come in is fooled by Vivaldi and instead the solo is lengthened and then surprises the audience with the interruption of the orchestras sound adding back in to give the piece a sense of completion before the finish.  These qualities are some of what made Antonio Vivaldi one of the greatest musical composers of the Baroque period in musical history.

Of all the musical composers of the baroque era, Antonio Vivaldi gave the fluttering sound of the Violin its fame. It is quite apparent by the sound and composition of Antonio Vivaldi’s work in “Violin Concerto in G, Op. 4, No. 12, I and II” that his favorite instrument was the Violin.  He was the only musical composer of his time to feature the violin in so many solos in musical compositions in the baroque period.  The texture of his music gives the listener a feeling of beauty and harmony without being overly dramatic.   Antonio Vivaldi’s musical work innovated the sound and the structure of the music of the baroque era.  His musical influence carries on even through to today and influenced many other great musical composers like Johann Sebastian Bach.  Listening to Antonio’s musical works is relaxing and rewarding. After learning of his work with the orphan girls of the Pieta in Venice, the music evolves into a story with deeper meaning.  This gives his music not only a rich sense of texture but a rich and intriguing history as well.  These examples are just a few reasons why Antonio Vivaldi was one of the greatest and most influential musical composers of all time.

References

Kerman, J. & Tomlinson, G. (2000)  Listen (Seventh Edition). Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martins.