ANTONIO VIVALDI
Ospedali at the Time
Venice at the Time
At the time of Vivaldi Venetian art was at its pinnacle; it was the baroque period and much of the grandeur of the Roman Catholic Church was in resurgence. The surmounting religion of the time, and the splendor of art influenced the future composer, and this context defined him for much of his life.
The Ospedali of Venice were a budding system of concert houses that gained great prevalence at the time. They were a main source of culture, and offered an established system and hierarchy to the Venetian music world. The competitive nature also influenced the music, and led to progressive forms of composition such as Vivaldi's mastery of the relatively new and popular concerto.
Already having made great achievements for his age in the field of music, Vivaldi entered the priesthood, this largely attributed to a desire for prestige. Once he was ordained he gained the nickname "the Red Priest" due to his red hair, which attributed to his growing fame as a musician. After a brief time actually leading mass Vivaldi then entered the field of composition due to several accounts of a 'failure to perform his duties as deacon and priest', during which he was recording his compositional thoughts. He clearly favored music, and thus music defined his middle life.
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born in 1678 in Venice, then the capital of the Republic of Venice. Vivaldi's childhood is vague at best, but we know that his involvement in music was developed at an early age due to his father's fame in the Conservatorio dell'Ospedale Della Pietà as a violinist. Thus, because Vivaldi's musical training began at an early age, it subsequently resulted in an early mastery, and a significant career as a musician relatively early in life. So, Vivaldi was a renowned violinist, and had even acquired some composition training by the time he was 21. However, music was not the only factor involved in Vivaldi’s early life.
Priesthood
Childhood
Antonio Vivaldi's Early Life
was characterized by his Father's involvement in Venetian music. Giovanni Battista Vivaldi was a renowned violinist whose fame and skill translated to Antonio, which led to his early mastery of the violin. He was an accomplished violinist by 15, but at that time he entered the Roman Catholic Clergy largely for prestige. Upon ordination he gained recognition as the Red Priest (for his red hair) and was dually acknowledged as a budding composer. Much of Vivaldi's early life is not known, as he is relatively recently rediscovered, much of it was lost along with his fleeting fame. As a result, most of his life is defined by a vague understanding.
