Vivaldi - L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3, Concerto No. 8 in A minor, RV 522

L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3, Concerto No. 8 in A minor for two violins and strings, RV 522 are laid out in the following movements: Allegro Larghetto e spiritoso Allegro L'Estro Armonico (Harmonic Inspiration), Op. 3, is a collection of twelve concertos for one, two and four violins written by Antonio Vivaldi in 1711. It augmented the reputation of Vivaldi as Il Prete Rosso (The Red Priest). Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot described the set as "perhaps the most influential collection of instrumental music to appear during the whole of the eighteenth century". The collection was mostly put together in chronological order. These concerti are often called concerti grossi due to their use of a concertino-style ensemble (solo cello is often used). Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 -- 28 July 1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. Born in Venice, he was recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He is known mainly for composing many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and over forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi (who had been ordained as a Catholic priest) was employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died less than a year later in poverty. After his death, Vivaldi's music slid into obscurity until a vigorous revival in the 20th century. Today, he ranks among the most popular and widely recorded of Baroque composers, second perhaps only to Johann Sebastian Bach,[1] who himself was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's work. ------------------------------------------------- The text above is offered by courtesy of Wikipedia, under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Monica Huggett, John Holloway - violins. The Academy of Ancient Music, conductor Christopher Hogwood. Label: Decca. Rec. 1980, London. Free video background: http://www.free-video-footage.com Creative Commons license: Public Domain.