| Today in Music History A Daily Look at Music History For Violin Students A Look at What Happened on Today's Date Long, Long Ago . . . Or Maybe Just Last Year |
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| TODAY IS December 14 |
| Did You Guess? Donald Duck found out he was glad to be an American citizen in Disney's Der Fuerher's Face. Did You See the Color Clues? |
| Can You Guess? Walt Disney contributed to the war effort in 1942 by releasing an animated feature during which a Spike Jones song makes fun of Adolph Hitler. Can You Guess what Disney character starred in this cartoon? Look at the Bottom of the Page for the Answer. |
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| Antonio Vivaldi 1678-1741 |
| December 14, 1725 Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons concertos, Op. 8, were published as part of 12 Concerti as The Contest between Harmony and Invention.
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on March 4th, 1678. His father, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi, was a barber who played violin. Giovanni was Antonio's first violin teacher. They performed together many times in public and were very popular. |
| 1788 - Death of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, in Hamburg at age 74. Third son of J.S. Bach.
1828 - Premiere of Franz Schubert's Symphony in C-Major ("The Great") in Vienna. Forgotten until discovered by Schumann. 1911 - Spike Jones, US composer, arranger and outragious classical exhibitionist, was born. 1916 - Premiere of final version of Sibelius' Fifth Symphony, in Helsingfors. 1925 - Premiere of Alban Berg's Wozzeck with Eric Kleiber conducting, in Berlin. After 137 rehearsals. 1936 - Premiere of Samuel Barber's String Quartet, Op. 11. Pro Arte Quartet in Rome. 1969 - Premiere of Gyorgy Ligeti's String Quartet No. 2. The LaSalle Quartet in Baden-Baden. 1997 - Premiere of Joan Tower's Rain Waves, by the Verdehr Trio 2001 - Opening of the new home of The Philadelphia Orchestra at Verizon Hall at Kimmel Center for Performing Arts. |
| What Else Happened Today? |
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| Antonio learned well and became a master violinist, always amazing listeners with his wild bowing. Vivaldi was ordained a priest in 1703. Within a year of his ordination he said he no longer wished to celebrate mass because of physical complaints ("tightness of the chest"). Vivaldi, while remaining a priest, was employed for most of his working life by the Ospedale della Pieta. Often called an "orphanage", was well endowed by the "anonymous" fathers. The young ladies were well cared for, and its musical standards among the highest in Venice. Vivaldi joined the school in 1703 as violin teacher, and was reappointed every year until 1709. He rejoined the school in 1711. During the 1709-1711 period Vivaldi continued to compose. In 1711 twelve concertos he had written were published in Amsterdam by the music publisher Estienne Roger under the title l'Estro armonico (Harmonic Inspiration). In 1713, Vivaldi was given a month's leave from the school to stage his first opera, Ottone in villa, in Vicenza. He was attached to the Teatro Sant' Angelo during 1713-14. In November, 1716, Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans devicta Holofernis barbaric was produced at the Ospedale della Pieta. In 1717 Vivaldi moved to Mantua for two years act as Chamber Capellmeister in the court of Landgrave Philips van Hessen-Darmstadt. There he was tasked with writing operas and cantatas. In 1719 Vivaldi's operas Teuzzone and Tito Manlio were produced there. There is a note on the score of Tito Manlio that the music was written by Vivaldi in just 5 days. In Rome Vivaldi found a patron in Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a great music lover, who had once been the patron of Arcangelo Corelli. According to Vivaldi, the Pope even asked him to come and play the violin for him at a private audience. Other composers such as Geminiani and Handel worked in Rome for periods of time. Like them, Vivaldi profited from the favorable cultural climate in the city. Despite his stay in Rome and other cities, Vivaldi remained in the service of the Ospedale della Pieta, which named him "Maestro di concerti." He was required to send two concertos per month to Venice. His presence was never required. He also remained director of the Teatro Sant' Angelo. During these years Vivaldi was also extremely active writing concertos. In 1725 Il Cimento dell' Armenia e dell'invenzione (The trial of harmony and invention), opus 8 was published in Amsterdam. This consisted of twelve concertos, seven of which were descriptive: The Four Seasons, Storm at Sea, Pleasure and The Hunt. These concertos were enormously successful, particularly in France. The Four Seasons is still probably Vivaldi's best known work. Antonio Vivaldi died on July 28th 1741 "of internal fire" (probably the asthmatic bronchitis from which he suffered all his life) and, like Mozart fifty years later, received a modest burial. |
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| A Great DVD by a Wonderful Young Violinist. Julia Fischer. See Excerpts on her website. www.juliafischer.com Go to Video on the Pull Down Menu |
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| If you do nothing else, listen to the excerpt of Spike Jones's William Tell Overture at Amazon.com and try to sing The Man on the Flying Trapeze with them. |
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| Violin T-Shirt with Yehudi Menuhin Quote "The violinist is that peculiarly human phenomenon distilled to a rare potency ---half tiger, half poet." |
| Anne-Sophie Mutter plays Vivaldi |
| Vivaldi's Gloria |
| Christmas is Almost Here! Pressed For Time? Don't Know What to Buy? Gift Certificates are a GREAT Way to Let Your Violinist Pick Exactly What They Want And They Can Be Delivered Electronically! |
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| Amazon.com -- Everything from Books to CD's to DVD's to Instruments and Accessories! A Wonderful Choice because of Selection Alone! Sheet Music Plus -- One of the Best Sheet Music Sites on the Internet! Vast Selection. Good Prices. Popular Music, Classical, Bluegrass . . . They've Got It All! Virtual Sheet Music -- With This Your Violinist Can Download Sheet Music Right to His Computer! Fast and Convenient! |