Vivaldi

[Teresa]

I know there has been some debate on two of the major composers from the baroque period, Bach and Handel, but I'm curious as to what some of you think of the other major composer of that era, Vivaldi. I've not seen him mentioned here and was just wondering how highly he's esteemed. I personally have not heard enough of his works to be a qualified judge of his music, I've heard mainly the Four Seasons, but maybe someone can give me an idea of what I could pursue next.

Regards,
Teresa

[HaydnFan]

I think Vivaldi is considered a fairly competent composer but the problem is that much of his music sounds the same because he continually uses the same techniques (he is not very veratile). Also, I think (and music experts may comment on this) that his music is fairly simple, even though it sounds sometimes quite complex and difficult.

Is it not true that much of his music has been lost?

[Brithooven]

Generally speaking, the baroque had different composers as major ones depending upon the period. The early baroque (generally considered 1600-1650) is sometimes considered as the (Claudio)Monteverdi period, after the father of opera - he was the first great opera composer (the first overall is considered Jacopo Peri) and 9 years after the first ever, Monteverdi produced an acknowledged masterpiece - Orfeo - in 1607. His brilliance ignited this lasting genre. The middle baroque (1650-1700) was dominated by the English composer Henry Purcell, as well as a deposed Italian who became court composer to French King Louise XIV, Jean-Baptiste Lully (orig. Lulli).He died of complications (gangrene) after accidently hitting his foot with a staff he used the keep time of the music of the orchestra - certainly one of the strangest deaths of any composer. The late baroque is dominated by not just Bach and Handel, but another German named Georg Philip Telemann and, yes, also Vivaldi. Telemann at the time was most likely considered the greatest of the four (even beating out J.S.Bach for cantor of Leipzig only to turn it down). This is certainly a very rich period of music, with much great music composed by others besides those mentioned.

[Teresa]

Originally posted by Brithooven:
Generally speaking, the baroque had different composers as major ones depending upon the period. The early baroque (generally considered 1600-1650) is sometimes considered as the (Claudio)Monteverdi period, after the father of opera - he was the first great opera composer (the first overall is considered Jacopo Peri) and 9 years after the first ever, Monteverdi produced an acknowledged masterpiece - Orfeo - in 1607. His brilliance ignited this lasting genre. The middle baroque (1650-1700) was dominated by the English composer Henry Purcell, as well as a deposed Italian who became court composer to French King Louise XIV, Jean-Baptiste Lully (orig. Lulli).He died of complications (gangrene) after accidently hitting his foot with a staff he used the keep time of the music of the orchestra - certainly one of the strangest deaths of any composer. The late baroque is dominated by not just Bach and Handel, but another German named Georg Philip Telemann and, yes, also Vivaldi. Telemann at the time was most likely considered the greatest of the four (even beating out J.S.Bach for cantor of Leipzig only to turn it down). This is certainly a very rich period of music, with much great music composed by others besides those mentioned.

Hello -

I do have a CD of Telemann, and my Bach and Handel collections are steadily growing. However, one composer from the Baroque I've recently discovered is Couperin. While searching on Amazon one day I ran across an out-of-print CD by Richard Strauss called The Unknown Strauss, Vol. 6: Ballet Suites after Francois Couperin. It is absolutely delightful and has been a nice change of pace. I had to preorder it until someone had a copy to sell, but if you have a chance to locate a copy, I think it's well worth it if you like the Baroque period.

Regards,
Teresa

[Droell]

Originally posted by Teresa:
Hello -

I do have a CD of Telemann, and my Bach and Handel collections are steadily growing. However, one composer from the Baroque I've recently discovered is Couperin. While searching on Amazon one day I ran across an out-of-print CD by Richard Strauss called The Unknown Strauss, Vol. 6: Ballet Suites after Francois Couperin. It is absolutely delightful and has been a nice change of pace. I had to preorder it until someone had a copy to sell, but if you have a chance to locate a copy, I think it's well worth it if you like the Baroque period.

Regards,
Teresa

Couperin's Te Deum is delightful music. The first & only decent performace I ever heard of it was in commemoration of the 700th anniversary of the completion of the nave of Strasbourg Cathedral, in 1975. There is a delightlful lilt to the opening motif, completely absent in all the recordings I have since heard.

[Teresa]

Originally posted by Droell:
Couperin's Te Deum is delightful music. The first & only decent performace I ever heard of it was in commemoration of the 700th anniversary of the completion of the nave of Strasbourg Cathedral, in 1975. There is a delightlful lilt to the opening motif, completely absent in all the recordings I have since heard.

Thanks - another piece to look into!

[Kalimac]

Leaving aside Bach and Handel, who are beyond compare, the Baroque composers I'd most recommend to a Beethoven fan are Telemann and Lully.

[Brithooven]

Hello -

I do have a CD of Telemann, and my Bach and Handel collections are steadily growing. However, one composer from the Baroque I've recently discovered is Couperin. While searching on Amazon one day I ran across an out-of-print CD by Richard Strauss called The Unknown Strauss, Vol. 6: Ballet Suites after Francois Couperin. It is absolutely delightful and has been a nice change of pace. I had to preorder it until someone had a copy to sell, but if you have a chance to locate a copy, I think it's well worth it if you like the Baroque period.

Regards,
Teresa [/QUOTE]

Thanks, I'll check it out!

[HaydnFan]

I would very much recommend Telemann as well, I think he is very underrated.

[Droell]

Originally posted by Droell:
Couperin's Te Deum is delightful music. The first & only decent performace I ever heard of it was in commemoration of the 700th anniversary of the completion of the nave of Strasbourg Cathedral, in 1975. There is a delightful lilt to the opening motif, completely absent in all the recordings I have since heard.

Apologies to all, especially Teresa. I was thinking of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum, not that of Couperin. Confess I'm not familiar with either composer, and am embarrassed to learn that Couperin did not compose much in the way of church music.

[jfienen25]

Vivaldi gloria's is one of my favorite pieces to sing. I have sung both parts the bass and tenor. I think that he has some very cool music and some that are not. Did Vivaldi write any organ music. My dad does not think so but I do.

[Brithooven]

Originally posted by HaydnFan:
I would very much recommend Telemann as well, I think he is very underrated.

I totally agree Haydnfan. Teresa, two masterpieces of his that I've had for years are the recorder suite in a minor (aprox. 30 mins.) and the the concerto in f major for recorder, bassoon and strings (aprox. 20 mins.). I have found that his music with recorder, as well as solo recorder is the best of any of the classical containing it that I've heard - he composes for recorder very well. He has many short concertos that are also very nice, and his complete tafelmusik is very enjoyable. The 'Paris Quartets' are also very beautiful. If you're interested, look into some of these, I hope you like them.

[Teresa]

Originally posted by Brithooven:
I totally agree Haydnfan. Teresa, two masterpieces of his that I've had for years are the recorder suite in a minor (aprox. 30 mins.) and the the concerto in f major for recorder, bassoon and strings (aprox. 20 mins.). I have found that his music with recorder, as well as solo recorder is the best of any of the classical containing it that I've heard - he composes for recorder very well. He has many short concertos that are also very nice, and his complete tafelmusik is very enjoyable. The 'Paris Quartets' are also very beautiful. If you're interested, look into some of these, I hope you like them.

Hello -

Thanks so much for the info. I will look these up on Amazon and try them.

Regards,
Teresa

[Rod]

Originally posted by Brithooven:
I totally agree Haydnfan. Teresa, two masterpieces of his that I've had for years are the recorder suite in a minor (aprox. 30 mins.) and the the concerto in f major for recorder, bassoon and strings (aprox. 20 mins.). I have found that his music with recorder, as well as solo recorder is the best of any of the classical containing it that I've heard - he composes for recorder very well. He has many short concertos that are also very nice, and his complete tafelmusik is very enjoyable. The 'Paris Quartets' are also very beautiful. If you're interested, look into some of these, I hope you like them.

Have you heard Handel's recorder sonatas?

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Teresa]

Originally posted by Rod:
Have you heard Handel's recorder sonatas?

I have not...more music to look into!