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The Goldfinch Concerto
COMPOSER
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
- Born March 4, 1678 in Venice, Italy. Died July 28, 1741 in Vienna, Austria
- Vivaldi is known as a Baroque Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and ordained Catholic priest.
- He suffered from an asthma-like disease as a child.
- He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1703 at the age of 25. He soon became nicknamed “The Red Priest” because of his red hair.
- He was employed at the Ospedale della Pieta, a home for abandoned baby girls, from 1703-1715 and again from 1723-1740
- The home’s orchestra and choir became known as one of the finest in all of Europe.
- While there, he wrote music for the groups and researchers later discovered volumes of his compositions.
- Vivaldi left the della Pieta to devote more time to composing and performing his music.
- Without financial backing, he became very poor. He sold many manuscripts just to have enough to eat.
- Most of his music was lost after his death.
- In 1926, in a monastery in Piedmont, Italy volumes of his works were rediscovered. More and more of his works have been recovered since then.
- The latest rediscovery was in 2006.
- For more interesting facts about Vivaldi, see the biography at the link below.
- Two great children’s books about Vivaldi are:
- “I, Vivaldi” by Janice Shefelman
- “Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra” by Stephen Costanza