Antonio Vivaldi, brief biography;
Antonio Vivaldi was born March 4th 1678 in the town of Venice, Italy. Vivaldi started training to become a priest soon after his fifteenth birthday as in the baroque era this was one of the only way families of lower class and wealth could supply their child with an education. So by the age of twenty-five Vivaldi was (unwillingly) consecrated as a professional priest by the state. Soon after he claimed he could no longer attend mass due to ‘chest pains’ although the more common belief is that Vivaldi would dart out of church to write down his consistently fleeting melodic ideas.
Later on he was hired by a girl’s orphanage as a result of his gifted violin abilities and it was there that he became referred to as the ‘red priest’ due to his ginger hair. The orphanage was a good place for Vivaldi as he was able to hone his own skills while composing short exercises to help teach the girls, as well as being able to pass on his own knowledge. Eventually however, he grew restless and wanted to pursue a more professional career in music. Vivaldi then travelled around Europe composing and producing a mix of solo concerto, concerto grosso and even a few operas. This was the point at which the scandalous rumor developed that he was sleeping around with some of the orphans from the Pieta. Anna Giraund was said to have mediocre musical talent however Vivaldi starred her in operas in order to travel with her and later on got her and her sister to move in to his house as ‘nurses’.
Later on he was hired by a girl’s orphanage as a result of his gifted violin abilities and it was there that he became referred to as the ‘red priest’ due to his ginger hair. The orphanage was a good place for Vivaldi as he was able to hone his own skills while composing short exercises to help teach the girls, as well as being able to pass on his own knowledge. Eventually however, he grew restless and wanted to pursue a more professional career in music. Vivaldi then travelled around Europe composing and producing a mix of solo concerto, concerto grosso and even a few operas. This was the point at which the scandalous rumor developed that he was sleeping around with some of the orphans from the Pieta. Anna Giraund was said to have mediocre musical talent however Vivaldi starred her in operas in order to travel with her and later on got her and her sister to move in to his house as ‘nurses’.