L'Estro Armonico
L'Estro Armonico ("The Harmonic Inspiration") is the title of a cycle of twelve concertos for violins and string orchestra, which Antonio Vivaldi published in 1711 as his Opus 3 with Estienne Roger's publishing house in Amsterdam, after only sonatas were in print were available. The work was reprinted after a short time in London (by John Walsh ) and Paris (Le Clerc Cadet).
The score is notated in eight parts throughout, for four violins, two violas, violoncello and continuo. According to a strict scheme, the first concert uses all four violins as soloists, the second two, the third only the first violin - this sequence is then repeated in the subsequent concerts. In addition, a solo cello appears in some concerts (sometimes only in single movements). The keys of the concertos alternate between major and minor, but by being swapped in the last two concerts the cycle ends in major.
Nevertheless, the cycle does not seem entirely uniform; It evidently also contains some older works in which Vivaldi had not yet standardized his sequence of movements, the structure of alternating ritornello and modulating solo passage, and his instrumental treatment. The compositions appear unusually varied and in many places have the freshness of the “first time”.
In terms of composition, the compositions are largely based on a purely three-part obbligato movement; It is typical that even in the concerts for four violins, the solo parts only ever use two violins and the bass at the same time.
influence
Vivaldi, and especially this cycle of concerts, has had an enormous influence on European composers, which is sometimes referred to as Vivaldi fever . This influence set in before the print edition was available, as copies of the concerts were also handed down. The theoretical writings of Quantz and Mattheson also evidently draw their advice on the layout of a concert from the example of Estro Armonico .
The influence of Vivaldi and Estro Armonico is also unmistakable in Johann Sebastian Bach's early organ and harpsichord concerts. In doing so, he made a piano reduction, so to speak, adding middle voices and livening up the bass lines as well as inserting imitating voices. Vivaldi's influence is also evident in the Brandenburg Concerts ; Decades later he published his Italian Concerto in Leipzig .
Bach's arrangements are evidently all based on copies, not on the printed edition; he could have come into contact with Vivaldi's music around 1713 through his Dresden friend Johann Georg Pisendel .
Overview of the concerts
Concerto 1 in D major
RV 549
- Allegro
- Largo e spiccato
- Allegro
Solo: 4 violins; violoncello
The violoncello only has a real solo in the first movement, where this takes on the function of the ritornello theme. The work is likely to be one of the oldest in the cycle.
Concerto 2 in G minor
RV 578
- Adagio e Spiccato
- Allegro
- Larghetto
- Allegro
Solo: 2 violins, cello
Concerto 3 G major
RV 310
- Allegro
- largo
- Allegro
Solo: violin
Bach arranged this concerto in F major for solo harpsichord ( BWV 978).
Concerto 4 in E minor
RV 550
- Andante
- Allegro assai
- adagio
- Allegro
Solo: 4 violins
Concerto 5 in A major
RV 519
- Allegro
- largo
- Allegro
Solo: 2 violins
Concerto 6 in A minor
RV 356
- Allegro
- largo
- Presto
Solo: violin
Concerto 7 in F major
RV 567
- Andante
- adagio
- Allegro - Adagio
- Allegro
Solo: 4 violins, cello
The concerto seems to have been conceived for two violins at the beginning. Bach arranged this concerto for solo harpsichord (BWV 972) and transposed it to D major.
Concerto 8 in A minor
RV 522
- Allegro
- Larghetto e spirituoso
- Allegro
Solo: 2 violins
Bach arranged this concerto for organ solo (BWV 593).
Concerto 9 in D major
RV 230
- Allegro
- Larghetto
- Allegro
Solo: violin
Concert 10 B minor
RV 580
- Allegro
- Largo e spiccato
- Allegro
Solo: 4 violins
A noticeable feature is the slow movement in which the four violins use four different types of arpeggio at the same time, giving the chord study a peculiarly dazzling sound.
Bach reworked this concerto into a concerto for four harpsichords and orchestra in A minor.
Concerto 11 in D minor
RV 565
- Allegro - Adagio e Spiccato - Allegro
- Largo e Spiccato
- Allegro
Solo: 2 violins, violoncello.
This concert is certainly the most famous of the cycle. The first movement begins with the two solo violins accompanying each other with the open D string; this is followed by a virtuoso cello solo, which is answered by the whole orchestra with powerful chords ( Adagio e Spiccato ); then follows a four-part fugue with extended solo parts. The second movement, a Siciliano , is an accompanied solo by the first violin; the concertante final movement then sets in the complete trio again in the solo passages.
Bach was certainly very impressed by the work - he arranged it into an organ solo piece (BWV 596), which his son Wilhelm Friedemann later gave as his own composition. The use of singing voices in Cantata 21 I had a lot of distress , which takes up the ritornello theme of the last movement, could represent a first reflex .
Alfred Cortot (1877–1962) later arranged Bach's organ version for solo piano.
Concerto 12 in E major
RV 265
- Allegro
- Largo e Spiccato
- Allegro
Solo: violin
Bach arranged this concerto in C major for solo harpsichord (BWV 976).
Web links
- L'Estro Armonico : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Concerts 1–12. Individual parts (no score) as CFT files - Concerto 1 also in PDF format.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Grüß: About connecting lines that can be drawn between Bach's Weimar concertos and a number of his own compositions . In: Martin Geck (Ed.): Bach's orchestral works . Witten 1997
- ↑ Peter Ansehl: On the problem of ritornello structures in the Brandenburg concerts by Johann Sebastian Bach . In: Köthener Bach Hefte , No. 4, 1986
- ↑ Christopher Hogwood in: Vivaldi: L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3 . hoasm.org
- ^ Alfred Dürr: Studies on the early cantatas of JS Bach . 1951