Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 Violins in B minor [RV580, Op. 3, No. 10] - 1. Allegro (Synthesized)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ม.ค. 2017
- During the time when Vivaldi was stated at the Ospedale della Pieta (the famous Venetian home for wayward and abandoned young girls), he not only taught violin but also developed an instrumental ensemble that became renowned for its spirited and professional playing. In 1709 he had become “Maestro del Concerti” - the official composer for the Ospedale, with the duty of teaching the girls the art of composing and performing concertos. This position allowed him to engage in a great deal of experimentation in terms of his compositions, since he had an orchestra on hand to tryout new works. And due to these opportunities, he became particularly renowned for his contributions to the development of the concerto form. A concerto is an instrumental composition for solo instrument(s), and is often structured in three movements with the sequence fast-slow-fast and its accompaniment is typically an orchestra. Prior to Vivaldi, many elements of the concerto were not standardized (the more weighty Roman model of Corelli, for example). Vivaldi helped establish the lighter "Venetian" model of the three-movement form, as well as inner features of the movements. In his lifetime, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) wrote an estimated 500 instrumental concertos.
The first published set of these concertos was named "L'estro armonico," roughly, "The Harmonic Inspiration." Vivaldi dedicated it to Ferdinando III de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. (Dedications were often a way to try to gain favour - and financial support of prominent patrons). Although Vivaldi sold much of his music through commissioned manuscripts, he also gained some profit from the printed sales of his compositions. And so this work became the most influential and innovative collection of orchestral music of the first half of the 18th century and had a tremendous impact on composers in Northern Europe. It was published as his "Opus No. 3" around 1710-11 in Amsterdam by Estienne Roger, one of the most esteemed printers of music in all of Europe, and its appearance brought Vivaldi fame all over the continent. It also attracted a number of musicians to come to Venice for the purpose of studying violin technique and performance practice under the Master himself. Others paid him the more subtle compliment of making arrangements of his music (such as J.S. Bach, who arranged five of work's concertos for keyboard).
Composed of twelve concerti for one, two, or four violins and strings, "L'estro armonico" is a brilliant tribute to Vivaldi's unlimited creative talents and his ability to write concertos that are refreshingly diverse; in all twelve compositions the variety and subtlety of the myriad of moods he creates are quite astounding. Each concerto was printed in eight parts: four violins, two violas, cello and continuo (printed as a figured bass for violone and harpsichord). In each consecutive group of three concertos, the 1st is a concerto for four violins, the 2nd for two violins, and the 3rd, a solo violin concerto. Although Vivaldi composed a few concertos specifically for L'estro armonico, others of the set were written at an earlier date. Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot described the set as "perhaps the most influential collection of instrumental music to appear during the whole of the 18th century."
The opening Allegro, like all the other works in the set, alternates between the continuo and the soloists in ritornello form (unfolding as series of alternating orchestral and solo episodes), but both groups share the same propulsive, repeated-note rhythmic theme, driving the movement to its powerful final cadence. This work is also a highly original, even experimental, not least because of its novel instrumentation - four solo violins, solo cello, strings, and continuo. (No. 10 later appeared as Bach’s Concerto in A Minor for Four Harpsichords, BWV 1065).
This is scored using basic timbres with slight variations in the “solo violins” and some heavy phasing of the 4 ensemble violins to differentiate the sound of the instruments. The piece was indeed challenging as it's laden with spatial effects and 11 emphasis tracks (added to the 13 scored tracks) to enhance the stereo interplay and sonority between the ripieno (solo) and concertino (ensemble) violins. There are many other nuances to add variety and interest throughout.
As always, the use of headphones will greatly enhance the listening experience.
For those wanting to follow the music presented with the Music Animation Machine visualization, the instruments are as follows:
Solo Violin I - Light Orange
Solo Violin II - Light Yellow
Solo Violin III - Light Lime Green
Solo Violin IV - Soft Orange
Violin I - Light Green
Violin II - Light Turquoise
Violin III - Light Green
Violin IV - Light Turquoise
Viola I - Coral (opening 4 bars); Soft Blue
Viola II - Mauve
Cello I - Fuchsia
Continuo (Double Bass & Harpsichord) - Pink - เพลง
![Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in A minor [RV522, Op.3, No.8] - 1. Allegro (Synthesized)](/img/n.gif)
Mesmerizing! I have watched/listened to this video so many times. The analytical breakdown of the four violin scores has really helped me appreciate this work more. The structure is magical -- I can see that now. And best of all, my untrained ear can plainly hear the trills in your synthesized version (regrettably not always the case in other youtube videos of Allegro played by real musicians). And you can't beat a Vivaldi trill when you're feeling low. Thanks for sharing your fine work Mr. Meltz! Much appreciated.
What do you mean, to you the awesome Mr. Carey Meltz DOES NOT QUALIFY as a "real musician"????
The sound combinations here are perfect and add a new dimension to this wonderful work by Vivaldi. Sadly not heard enough in today's concert hall. Fantastic. I loved it.
Thank you so much for your comment; it's appreciated.
A true banger from AV.
Love these reworkings..some more than others but I certainly appreciate the effort thats gone into these
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. A lot of work goes into bringing this music to life… from sequencing the scores to get the notes into my project, to the experiments in programming the timbres and the stereo sound developments and effects, to the editing and mastering - it’s a labour of my creative expression.
Well done, Mr. Meltz! Listening to Vivaldi usually conjures different imagery, but you have managed to make this beautiful piece easy and a pleasure to "read" while listening to your very modern, yet true interpretation.
Thanks so much for your comment. I know many people prefer this visualization (really does help one to follow along without the need to read music - a lot of teachers have messaged me on this fact) but I simply cannot make the videos less jerky when doing the screen captures). I'm glad you were able to enjoy. :)
Loved this
Thanks so much.
This is an absolutely beautiful rendition! This is one of my favorite songs and it makes me so happy to see that people are still passionate about classical music. Thank you very much for this amazing music! :)
WOW! Angelina, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Took a lot longer than I expected because I really wanted to find a way to create a difference between the solo and ensemble "violins." The rest sort of fell into place after I had arranged this for 10 strings, a Mood modular and my digital audio workstation - for a hybrid sound between real and electronic instruments for a live performance project. I took that arrangement and worked it back to full electronic. To bring it more to life I had to shift segments between the 4 solo violins for a better balance. I'm really pleased how it came out compared to my early experiments. Thanks again for your very appreciated comment. :)
I can tell you just WOW :-)
Thanks! :)
GREAT Carey!
I love this version.
Thanks for sharing your work with everyone,
as always Carey, keep the good job!
Thanks so much Rodrigo! Lots of stuff on the go right now... I just keep getting frustrated that things don't sound right and have been jumping back and forth between projects. I find that when I step away for a bit, I can hear just how close I was and what tweak(s) I need to do to finalize things. I'm really hoping to post more in the weeks to come. Again, thanks for following and supporting my efforts. :)
Cheers Carey. There will always be things to improve in order to achieve a perfect arrangement that does not exist. And in the meanwhile the real beauty has chosen to rest on the warm surface of the imperfections.
Nobody can understand the whims of fate.
Hugs brother
Wise words and very true.
Thanks for this and the others with this visualisation - for me the best. They are a joy to watch - a great help in in understanding the structure and harmony.
Indeed Martin. So many people ask me to present my content using this visualization but often I want to do something different - to make the video portion as unique as the audio, or to help tell the story. That's why I'll sometimes release 2 video presentations of the same work.
Carey, as always You do a wonderful interpretation ! Love the timbres, and love Your voluminous notes and thoughtful replies to the comments. You help make the SOB Carlos legacy a beautiful thing on YT. I hope Carlos's current publisher-management Co. relents and allows You to repost Brandenburg #3 even if it's in a slightly different form. Still can't quite comprehend what they consider to be a problem. In this case it's a great boost to the original creativity of Wendy Carlos, in conceiving Switched on Bach, and a loving community that has arisen as a result.
Thanks Geoffrey. I am very pleased with the way this one turned out. I really wanted to differentiate the 4 solo violins from the 4 ensemble ones and I just couldn't get it right. Then I orchestrated the piece for the hybrid electro/acoustic "Baroquetronic" project and I was able to work out suitable timbres for the ensemble backing. I took a bit of an idea from my Rossini tribute to "A Clockwork Orange." Then I just reworked the piece back to full synth and voila. :) Carlos' music team hasn't given me any trouble with anything else and I've been careful with how I word things, etc. It was only that I used an image of the original S-OB album in the opening titles. Didn't dawn on me that it would be a no-no when the image is found all over the internet and on e-Bay listings and those "suspicious" MP3 sites. Apparently they are now going after those e-Bay sellers. I could easily just redo the video but I wanted to finish my updated replacement version (the original was really just an experiment) and post it along with that first (non-copyright infringing) version. I keep getting bored with it as I keep revisiting what to do with it over the months/years... but at least the 2nd movement is done and the 3rd movement is underway. It's that 1st movement that's a pain - the basic sounds are there but it was one of her showcase pieces and she changed up the timbres for most of the instruments throughout the piece. I'm more-or-less giving it newer timbres (have already tweaked hundreds of micro tempo adjustments to give it the right feel) and then layer it with other timbres to build it more interestingly. I've done a lot of experimenting in that regard on the 3rd movement already. Perhaps one day I'll get back to it - you'd be surprised how many messages I get regarding what happened and when I will re-upload.As always, thanks for your interest, support and friendship. :)Carey
great Job
Glad you like this one. It was a bit tricky to get it to work out the way I wanted but I'm pleased with the result.
Hi! Nice work! How do you programm this?
The music or the visualization?
Carey R. Meltz
The Synths
That is a good question! LOL Well, first I look at what the "real" score calls for... then I determine how close to the original instruments or not, I want my piece to be. Then I'll select any number of the preset sounds I've created and tweak them to work with each other - depending upon the tempo and colouring I want to use. The piece itself helps determine a number of factors - its it bright, soulful, lively, heavy, full orchestra/ensemble, etc. - that's were I start as a particular preset will work for one type but not for another (for example, the "solo violin" I used for the 1st allegro in Bach's 4th Brandenburg had to be modified so work for the final presto). If I want to create something new, I will start with a preset included in any one of the VST synths I use and alter it to something I like, or I will even create my own from scratch. It's a rather tedious process to describe if you aren't familiar with synthesizers, real or VST and I don't know your level or understanding or experience. Basically, it's a matter of choosing a waveform suitable to the instrument (square wave is good for clarinets while sawtooth is better for strings and brass). Then its a matter of connecting various modules together to lead the wave from its generator through a series of filters which shape the sound and give it its specific characteristics such as modulation (vibrato, for example - and it could include both volume and pitch fluctuations). Then there's the envelope which gives the sound its particular attack or sustain - the qualities that differentiate a plucked, pizzicato string from a bowed sound. I might do a video on sound development (as I will be giving a demonstration at an up-coming recital) to show the process as well as how to choose specific effects to distinguish an instrument (i.e. put a "soloist" more into the forefront) from the other instruments in an ensemble piece. Everything is trial and error as what I might select as my sounds won't necessarily compliment each other. When you get a lot of the same type of waveform being used (like a lot of strings = sawtooth and brass, also sawtooth), there can be too much going on with all the various harmonic qualities and it can "muddy" the clarity. This is something in particular that Wendy Carlos was able to avoid by making her pieces very minimalistic in nature; keeping her ensembles to simple individual instruments rather than building broader sounds. I encounter this and sometimes achieve decent clarity and other times it's not so effective. I could go on but I hope I've brought some useful insight for you in my response. :)
Thank you! Very well explained:). I am into electronic music production (experimental) so i get what youre saying:). Im more interested in youre enviorment(production wise).
Xcuse my english;).
Greetings
Your English is great! I use Mixcraft Pro Studio 7 as my Digital Audio Workstation. It comes with a decent variety of VST plug-in synths but I also use a number of other free ones that I've found on the internet. This is where I import the MIDI that I want to work on (or will record right to it from my keyboard controller). Then I start to work on the sounds I want to use (as already described). Next I will export each instrument's track as a .WAV and do my multi-track mixing using Adobe Audition. I know there are many superior audio programs out there but this is basically "Cool Edit Pro" that I'd used for years. I'm even able to import my VST effects plug-ins from Mixcraft or others that I've collected. The thing I like about it is that I can apply and modify layers of effects to each track and hear the results in real-time. As I go through the process, I might duplicate one track and select any number of parts that I want to use for emphasis (that is, when I'm not creating a specific track of selected highlight notes, etc. from Mixcraft) and I can then layer in blends of effects - panning, in particular). I spatially enhance (widen) or place each instrument into a specific position in the stereo field so that 1st and 2nd Strings can oppose each other, for example, as a way to shape my "soundstage." I'll often mix-down instrument families once I feel they're working - this makes things much easier when I'm doing a large orchestral piece with a few dozen tracks. Once I get these mix-downs done, I'll create a new session and build a new multi-track project with these mixed groups. Here I have an easier time to mix-down 6 tracks plus any additional emphasis and/or other effects. If I feel that something isn't right, I can go back to my original session and rework something, export it as a mix-down, re-insert it to my mastering mix-down session and then create my output. Finally, if I feel there needs to some additional EQ or other mastering, I will finish it up and save the final file.
Everything from start to finish, can take days, weeks or months, depending upon the complexity of the score, what I want to do with it or how much time I can spend with it. Often, when working on a piece, I can get bored or feel that it's just not what I want it to be and so I will leave it for a while. Often, when I re-visit the work, I hear things differently and get new inspiration to complete it. FYI, I'm almost ready to post a newer version of Bach's "Sinfonia to Cantata No. 29. I'd already posted one version a few years ago but I'm using different synths now and have been able to do something very special with this piece. I've never tried to closely duplicate something previously recorded by Wendy Carlos but I've worked this one to the very basics (as my sounds tend to be broader than her early "minimalistic" versions). Of course it could never be exact nor as good as her version but I've gotten pretty close to her sound using VST instruments as opposed to her physical, analogue equipment. I've been trying for weeks now, to come up with the lead synth sound for the score and tonight I finally got it. I'm hoping to mix it all down in the next week or so but I'm really pleased with the timbres. As mentioned, I've kept it very simple but have put my own sensibilities into the piece in the way that I've positioned the instruments (the 3 trumpets, in particular) to bring more balance to it. I'm hoping it will draw interest to my channel the way my 3rd Brandenburg did before Carlos' music publishers had it taken down.
Thanks again for your interest and I hope you are able to understand all of this (in English). I would be interested in hearing your experimental work if possible - perhaps through DropBox or Google Drive, etc. you could upload and send me a message with the link to sample what you share.
Cheers from Canada,
Carey
Boys say Vivaldi
Men say Baby Newton Triangle
Triangles are here.
Yeah.
I see what you did there.
@@nickpancost6858 What is it?
@@needleboy17 He said "Triangles are here." As in the Triangle segment from Baby Newton
mixcraft 8 is out now.
WOW Just checked it out but I'm really comfortable and happy with v7. I don't think, for my purposes anyway, that it's necessary to upgrade. LOL from what I checked out, I'm lost before even starting. ^_^ What do you think?
I am lost too. Just want to keep up though. Love your work.
Triangle song
E bate (I'm sure on Jordanian).
Baby Newton
Mebshe kadeva Learning Land 2 / Мече кадева Страна знаний 2 День рождения Бори, кильве вардеш хе чейбинас согга.
Why did you use these midi sounds? why not some more realistic string midis or a recording
My idea behind the piece was intended not to sound realistic. Please check out other selections and you'll start to understand what my channel is all about. My work is intended to have a throwback sound back to the 70s with the "Switched-On" sounds of Wendy Carlos or the dreamy, ethereal qualities of Isao Tomita's work.
Carey R. Meltz I see, but do you do original works too? I mostly see midi version of existing works on you channel
@@fugueguy1929 I don't do my own compositions (yet) but I do participate in collaborations where I will arrange/orchestrate/synthesize the work of others. While they start off as midis, there's a lot of work involved in bringing a piece to life... often there may only be 9 instruments in a score but by the time I've added layering and alternate voicing for passages/selections, a simple ensemble piece could end up as 19 tracks that all have to be edited and nuanced to blend well together. People tend to think my work just happens with the push of a button but that is far from the process. It can take weeks to sequence a midi either by OCR (for music) scanning or by entering the notes one-by-one into my notation program. Then comes the sound experimentation - Composers wrote for specific instruments, knowing how everything would sound appropriate together. With the synthesizers I use, there are countless possibilities of voicing I can create but I have to make ones that work together with complimentary waveform generation, etc. Again, the sounds don't just happen either - there's a lot of work and fine-tuning to develop presets. Then comes the mixing and mastering. This is why I can produce only so much music; not everything lends itself to my technique either. It's all very labour-intensive but also a labour of love. I do some pieces as natural sounding as possible and other that are completely electronic sounding. I hope that answers your question.
Carey R. Meltz thanks for answering my question! Good to know that you put lots of effort into making these videos. My initian thought was that this was like you said «just a push on a bottom», but now I see its more to it than just like that. Have a nice day
@@fugueguy1929 Sadly, some people don't respect my work because I don't record it playing live midi. They don't understand the amount of work involved. True, it's digital and therefore easier to manage compared to the old-school techniques but I even modify my scores with hundreds of micro tempo adjustments to give a more natural sense of performance. There's so many nuances and subtleties that people don't even notice. It can become disheartening when people leave cruel comments and thumbs downs because they don't understand or appreciate the work that goes into bringing such a piece of music to life. I don't expect everyone to enjoy my work and know that my early projects aren't all gems, but at least be respectful regardless. Thank you for your interest and for contributing to the conversation.