Here the picture is at first glance straightforward: the work was published in 1716 as part of Opus 4, and no other trace of it has survived, at least in manuscript. In 1728, the English printer John Walsh republished it in his own pirate edition of ‘La Stravaganza’, as the third work in a set of six. Only five of the six are actually from ‘La Stravaganza’, the last one being RV 291 in F major. The central movement of that work, marked Larghetto, is in fact nearly identical to the well-known Grave of the present concerto, so it was a curious decision to include it (but nothing too surprising from one involved in music-printing at that time). The solo part is slightly less ornamented, and the accompaniment is in undotted quavers. RV 291, also only preserved in print (through Walsh), seems to have been an early work, and it may be that the central movement (in D minor) was reused in RV 357 (in A minor) originally; but one cannot exclude the possibility that Vivaldi might have discarded his original slow movement in favour of this one when he selected RV 357 for publication. Like many of the ‘Stravaganza’ concertos (and quite a few others), RV 357 has the outer movements centred around a basic, short musical cell, as a unifying idea or concept. This may be one reason why it has so few concordances with other works. In the first Allegro, this overriding idea is of course the octave leap (or plunge). It occurs everywhere in all the parts. At 1:18 Vivaldi introduces new material not found in the opening tutti, a striking sequence of pseudo-suspensions. This is actually lifted from the probably earlier trio sonata RV 72 (Opus 5 no. 6), with the addition of, well, octave leaps in the bass. (Incidentally, there is still a very small concertino role for the first and second violins in this concerto, i.e. one or both of them play during some solos.) In the third movement, Vivaldi’s musical ‘idée fixe’ (obsessive idea) is confined to the bass: an upward scale from the dominant to the tonic of the chord, or from tonic to dominant. The movement up one fourth is also used as part of a ‘circle of fifths’ progression, of course. Octaves are still emphasized, but, as is usual for last movements, Vivaldi is here less bound to a formal concept, and the soloist has greater freedom of movement. I have chosen to include the bass part for these reasons, but also because this composition is almost a treatise in Vivaldi’s peculiar treatment of the bass. No doubt other composers used much the same rhetoric, but with Vivaldi the rhythmical-rhetorical function of the bass (with the help of accents and agogics), the sharpness of the lines to build tension and release, seem so much more heightened, in a sense quite modern, even percussive, when the contingent of continuo instruments is large. Something no doubt distasteful to the serious dilettante. In this connection, I always think of Goldoni’s first account of his 1735 encounter with Vivaldi (less well-known than his later romanticized account). It contains a rare bit of contemporary Italian opinion on the composer: ‘This most famous violin player, celebrated for his sonatas (sic), in especial those that are called the Four Seasons, also composed operas; and although real connoisseurs held that he was lacking in counterpoint and did not set the basses properly, he made the parts sing nicely.’ Goldoni, not being himself, obviously, one of the ‘real connoisseurs’, was not one to refrain from a bit of gossip. In his later account, all this is conveniently summarized for literary effect: ‘excellent violin player and mediocre composer’. The interpretation is from 1990, and yes, I know the version with Rachel Podger. It suffers from a disastrous recording venue and might have been sound-engineered by a distant descendant of John Walsh. I plan to use it for a video of Number 2, as a measure of appeasement! Composed: not later than 1716 Source: Estienne Roger No. 399, Amsterdam (1716) I. Allegro (0:00) II. Grave e sempre piano (2:59) III. Allegro (4:59) The English Concert, ‘La stravaganza, Opus 4’ Simon Standage, violino solo Trevor Pinnock, direzione Archiv Produktion 429753-2
I greatly appreciate your comments about this concerto, especially your explanation why you included the bass part. Your explanation appropriately strengthens why Vivaldi's op.4 was not well received by the more 'conservative' and 'traditionalists' of the time such as C. Avison in England, who also placed composers such as Locatelli, Alberti and Tessarini in his lowest category 🤨. La Stravaganza by Vivaldi indeed contained some revolutionary and most 'unnatural modulations' and ideas (as you mentioned). No wonder why Vivaldi's op.4 was actually censured in England and I'm sure Avison was one of the proponents of such movement. The English had been accustomed to the traditional style established by Corelli. Pinnock's version is very good and I'm glad you used it. Although I do like Podger's redition, I agree that the sound engineer must have been distant relative of John Walsh 😆. But I have to admit that I, personally, do enjoy the ending the of the third movement by Podger but the recording quality indeed needs improvement. Hogwood version is ok (with M. Huggett) but I still prefer Pinnock over Hogwood. I would love to hear a version of Vivaldi's op.4 by Accademia Bizantina but as far as I'm concerned it does not exist, yet. Indeed RV357 is an underestimated gem that gets lost in the ocean of other gems.
Avison was a Scarlatti fanboy, so I'm not sure why these Extravaganzas should have ruffled his feathers... But if I remember correctly was Hawkins who named them specifically and their "unnatural modulations".
I really don't get what is "disastrous" in the sound engineering of Podger's recording. Probably matter of taste but all voices are very clear and the sound is almost possible to grip, with a prominent continuo that gives all the flavour of this amazing music.. Listen to Biondi's recordings when he was on Virgin Classics,THAT is a shameful engineering.
Goldoni was an ingrate. After initial skepticism, Vivaldi praised him as a librettist. They collaborated at least twice. Goldoni's accounts of meeting and working with Vivaldi surely contain exaggeration and poetic license.
@@DelVivaldi Me too actually... even when I upload a lot, all my videos are done in advance, I merely need to set them as public -- I could release Zelenka's entire recorded opus right now, but where is the fun in that.
All composers have their greatest hits and most people never hear the rest, so this is normal. It is not as pleasant-sounding as the pretty Lute Concerto. I think this work is highly rated, if you like that sort of thing. In reviews it is always mentioned as a standout. But it is true that Vivaldi's reputation has suffered from excessive commercialization.
Here the picture is at first glance straightforward: the work was published in 1716 as part of Opus 4, and no other trace of it has survived, at least in manuscript.
In 1728, the English printer John Walsh republished it in his own pirate edition of ‘La Stravaganza’, as the third work in a set of six. Only five of the six are actually from ‘La Stravaganza’, the last one being RV 291 in F major. The central movement of that work, marked Larghetto, is in fact nearly identical to the well-known Grave of the present concerto, so it was a curious decision to include it (but nothing too surprising from one involved in music-printing at that time). The solo part is slightly less ornamented, and the accompaniment is in undotted quavers.
RV 291, also only preserved in print (through Walsh), seems to have been an early work, and it may be that the central movement (in D minor) was reused in RV 357 (in A minor) originally; but one cannot exclude the possibility that Vivaldi might have discarded his original slow movement in favour of this one when he selected RV 357 for publication.
Like many of the ‘Stravaganza’ concertos (and quite a few others), RV 357 has the outer movements centred around a basic, short musical cell, as a unifying idea or concept. This may be one reason why it has so few concordances with other works.
In the first Allegro, this overriding idea is of course the octave leap (or plunge). It occurs everywhere in all the parts. At 1:18 Vivaldi introduces new material not found in the opening tutti, a striking sequence of pseudo-suspensions. This is actually lifted from the probably earlier trio sonata RV 72 (Opus 5 no. 6), with the addition of, well, octave leaps in the bass. (Incidentally, there is still a very small concertino role for the first and second violins in this concerto, i.e. one or both of them play during some solos.)
In the third movement, Vivaldi’s musical ‘idée fixe’ (obsessive idea) is confined to the bass: an upward scale from the dominant to the tonic of the chord, or from tonic to dominant. The movement up one fourth is also used as part of a ‘circle of fifths’ progression, of course. Octaves are still emphasized, but, as is usual for last movements, Vivaldi is here less bound to a formal concept, and the soloist has greater freedom of movement.
I have chosen to include the bass part for these reasons, but also because this composition is almost a treatise in Vivaldi’s peculiar treatment of the bass. No doubt other composers used much the same rhetoric, but with Vivaldi the rhythmical-rhetorical function of the bass (with the help of accents and agogics), the sharpness of the lines to build tension and release, seem so much more heightened, in a sense quite modern, even percussive, when the contingent of continuo instruments is large. Something no doubt distasteful to the serious dilettante.
In this connection, I always think of Goldoni’s first account of his 1735 encounter with Vivaldi (less well-known than his later romanticized account). It contains a rare bit of contemporary Italian opinion on the composer: ‘This most famous violin player, celebrated for his sonatas (sic), in especial those that are called the Four Seasons, also composed operas; and although real connoisseurs held that he was lacking in counterpoint and did not set the basses properly, he made the parts sing nicely.’ Goldoni, not being himself, obviously, one of the ‘real connoisseurs’, was not one to refrain from a bit of gossip. In his later account, all this is conveniently summarized for literary effect: ‘excellent violin player and mediocre composer’.
The interpretation is from 1990, and yes, I know the version with Rachel Podger. It suffers from a disastrous recording venue and might have been sound-engineered by a distant descendant of John Walsh. I plan to use it for a video of Number 2, as a measure of appeasement!
Composed: not later than 1716
Source: Estienne Roger No. 399, Amsterdam (1716)
I. Allegro (0:00)
II. Grave e sempre piano (2:59)
III. Allegro (4:59)
The English Concert, ‘La stravaganza, Opus 4’
Simon Standage, violino solo
Trevor Pinnock, direzione
Archiv Produktion 429753-2
I greatly appreciate your comments about this concerto, especially your explanation why you included the bass part. Your explanation appropriately strengthens why Vivaldi's op.4 was not well received by the more 'conservative' and 'traditionalists' of the time such as C. Avison in England, who also placed composers such as Locatelli, Alberti and Tessarini in his lowest category 🤨.
La Stravaganza by Vivaldi indeed contained some revolutionary and most 'unnatural modulations' and ideas (as you mentioned). No wonder why Vivaldi's op.4 was actually censured in England and I'm sure Avison was one of the proponents of such movement. The English had been accustomed to the traditional style established by Corelli.
Pinnock's version is very good and I'm glad you used it. Although I do like Podger's redition, I agree that the sound engineer must have been distant relative of John Walsh 😆. But I have to admit that I, personally, do enjoy the ending the of the third movement by Podger but the recording quality indeed needs improvement. Hogwood version is ok (with M. Huggett) but I still prefer Pinnock over Hogwood. I would love to hear a version of Vivaldi's op.4 by Accademia Bizantina but as far as I'm concerned it does not exist, yet.
Indeed RV357 is an underestimated gem that gets lost in the ocean of other gems.
Avison was a Scarlatti fanboy, so I'm not sure why these Extravaganzas should have ruffled his feathers... But if I remember correctly was Hawkins who named them specifically and their "unnatural modulations".
@@DelVivaldiThat's what I thought too. Maybe he's just a hardcore harpsichord fan.
I really don't get what is "disastrous" in the sound engineering of Podger's recording. Probably matter of taste but all voices are very clear and the sound is almost possible to grip, with a prominent continuo that gives all the flavour of this amazing music.. Listen to Biondi's recordings when he was on Virgin Classics,THAT is a shameful engineering.
Goldoni was an ingrate. After initial skepticism, Vivaldi praised him as a librettist. They collaborated at least twice. Goldoni's accounts of meeting and working with Vivaldi surely contain exaggeration and poetic license.
Amazing perfomance, thank you❤
Wonderful and magic, thank you.
Vivaldi adorado !! ❤
2 uploads in the past 3 days - don't overwork yourself
I am actually resting.
@@DelVivaldi Me too actually... even when I upload a lot, all my videos are done in advance, I merely need to set them as public -- I could release Zelenka's entire recorded opus right now, but where is the fun in that.
@@TheOneAndOnlyZelenkaGuru I wish that were true. I am actually working on editing the videos, but this work is rest from my other work!
This is one of my favorites, but there aren't many performances on TH-cam.
I only knew Rachel Podger.
There's a great version on "I love Venice" channel, seemingly a bit modified after 1716
This piece set the mood for the rainy afternoon on here instantly, beautiful work!
This concerto gets lost in the shadows of the Four Seasons and RV 93 and 121, which is a pity because it's underrated!
All composers have their greatest hits and most people never hear the rest, so this is normal. It is not as pleasant-sounding as the pretty Lute Concerto. I think this work is highly rated, if you like that sort of thing. In reviews it is always mentioned as a standout. But it is true that Vivaldi's reputation has suffered from excessive commercialization.
Wonderful! Some of the Op4 are my favourites Vivaldi concerti. Can you, please, consider op4 n12? The central movement is one of the finnest.
One of my favorite parts is the chromatic bass at 2:09.