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Antonio Vivaldi. What a joy to create!
Sezione 1
Sezione 2
Genius and poverty
VIENNA, Schloss Belvedere. 1741
PLAY ME
I could no longer stay in Venice... I was forced to
travel abroad in search of patrons, and my last journey
would take me to Vienna. Moreover, I had already lost my position at the Ospedale della Pietà. I had to sell my concerts, which until recently had been very expensive. I had to do it at any price!
My old masters at the Pietà bought some of my concertos for a sum somewhat less than their previous value. Like many other composers who came after my death, I was destined to die poor. In the hot summer of 1741, I left for Vienna to sell more of my concertos and make some money. I knocked on the doors of
I represented a crucial stage inmany patrons, such as the Viennese nobles of Schloss Belvedere, but it was all in vain... I would die in Vienna, within a month of my arrival in the city. On the same day, I was buried in a very modest ceremony. And to think that my research into concert style was to influence all forms of 18th-century European composition...
the evolution of the future symphony of the period that would be called 'classical' in the second half of the century. Any man could judge me by my personality alone, considering my activity as a successful entrepreneur... In reality, this would be a very limited and somewhat reductive version. The truth is that I can only be fully understood through my own music!
Sezione 3
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