Of his operas a handful have been revived in modern times, and his buoyant setting of the Gloria, RV 589 (1708), is still immensely popular. He turned out solo sonatas and trio sonatas by the bushel and, most important, composed more than 500 concertos for solo and multiple instruments in all kinds of configurations. Vivaldi composed voluminously in many genres: He wrote more than 50 operas, several dozen sacred works, four oratorios (of which the best known is Juditha triumphans, written for the girls of the Pieta in 1716), and more than 40 secular cantatas. The Venetian public began to lose interest in him by the late 1730s, and in 1740 he set off for Vienna once again, where he died in straitened circumstances.

By the end of the decade he was again on the road he appears to have taken leave of Venice for lengthy stays in Vienna and Prague in the early 1730s, again related mainly to the production of newly written operas.

He gave instruction on violin as well as on the viola all'inglese, an instrument related to the viola d'amore in 1716 he was named maestro dei concerti, but soon after that he gave up regular teaching in order to spend more time abroad, though he continued to supply the Pieta with concertos on a regular basis until 1729.ĭuring the early 1720s, he spent substantial amounts of time in Mantua and Rome, overseeing performances of operas he had written. Also in 1703 he got his first full-time job as a musician, as maestro di violino at the Pio Ospedale della Pieta, one of four church-sponsored orphanages in Venice specializing in the musical training of girls. Antonio, the eldest of nine children, learned music from his father and trained for the priesthood he was ordained in 1703, but ceased performing pastoral duties late in 1706. His father, a professional violinist, joined the musical staff at the basilica of San Marco in Venice in 1685, remaining there for nearly 50 years. His best-known work, four concertos for violin and strings known collectively as The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagione), is among the earliest pieces of program music to have held on to a place in the repertoire.īoth of Vivaldi's grandfathers were tailors. He traveled widely, was eminently successful at getting his works published, and produced new offerings with astonishing fecundity as a result, his music became known and emulated throughout Europe. Italian composer, the most original and A influential of his generation.

Vivaldi works