Members RockViolin Posted October 5, 2019 Members Share Posted October 5, 2019 I was driving in the mountains of West Virginia 33 years ago when I caught the last minute or so of a piece that I found very captivating on the radio. The announcer came on afterwards, "We've just heard music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Tomasso Albinoni, and".....static. I didn't exactly engage in a search, but over the years I've kept watch I suppose, I never forgot anyway. Occasional encounters with works by Albinoni were always listened to with a hopeful ear. Nope. And I sorta ruled Bach out. Anyway, I was kicked back on the couch with the bad neck watching a John Wayne movie, The Cowboys, on Grit... and there it was. A bit of follow up informed me it was Vivaldi. Vivaldi!! I've played my share of Vivaldi violin concerti, and heard a fair bit more. It's all good, and churns along in Vivaldi-esque fashion, if you know what I mean. I was blown away to find that he had composed this. I think he out did himself...wonderfully! I guess sometimes as a composer the butterfly lands in your open, outstretched hand. I can't help wondering if he knew...and if this piece didn't one day practically write itself. His mastery has never shown itself to me more. It's perfect. All it needs to be and nothing more. I've played and heard a lot of beautiful music. This about takes the cake. He's gone from top 20 to top 5, with me. Bach is still the champ, but Antonio shall not hang his head around Johann in my presence. 😊 I post 3 versions. I like each for different reasons, but generally prefer the straight ahead approach without a lot of ornamentation. The nuanced guitar with color changes in the first, the full bodied sound of the lute and reasonable amount of ornamentation in the 2nd, (some interpretations overdo it IMO...I don't know what gets into some people) and the motion in continuo as the guitar rests in the 3rd is well done I think. I like it the most. I recently used the 3rd version for a DVD I made of footage of my son's childhood for his 13th birthday. Though I was motivated to write something for it myself, after hearing this there was only one choice. I guess I just wanted to share. 33+ years. Bravo Vivaldi!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted October 5, 2019 CMS Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 Vivaldi rocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockViolin Posted October 6, 2019 Author Members Share Posted October 6, 2019 He does indeed. Apparently this Largo has had quite a bit of play. Not as much as The Four Seasons, but I've read that it has been used in several movies, Sesame Street, Good Morning America and... a Simpsons episode. That's quite a bit more than the other 99% of his music. Fortunately I was busy practicing during all that, the only association I have to steer around is negligible and 33 years seems like a fair trade. Nothing I've encountered by him moves me like the above though. Having found one of the above sections, my heart was in my throat 20 seconds in...when the violins move. It has a strange effect on me like few other pieces do. Everything is suspended, I am transfigured, and it sets the mood for days...long after I've heard it last. And I'm not sure that 5 guesses would have been enough if I hadn't seen the movie credits. Change the instrumentation to something more modern and I might not even pin it down as Baroque. Maybe it's because I'm really only familiar with his violin works, and when he was at the guitar he wrote differently, as I do when I'm at the keyboard, I dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted October 8, 2019 Members Share Posted October 8, 2019 not Vivaldi, but I have had resolve from not knowing and then knowing 50 plus years wtf what is what per particular composers, even modern. keeps me going and thinking tunes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Your persistence paid off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockViolin Posted October 9, 2019 Author Members Share Posted October 9, 2019 Better late than never...I reckon. A gnarly whiplash injury precipitated a long hiatus in my case. But even so, I was in here talking about the stuff. Music, that is. It has kept me going and pulled me through some rough patches...even if I was only just talking about it. In a parallel universe somewhere the same circumstances led me to sell everything remotely related to music and take up calligraphy, and I considered variants of that in this one. I still have all my gear though, and the better part of *the goods*. And hey, this turmeric stuff combined with other natural products works pretty good. Eighteen years on hope springs eternal...or maybe some things are just hard to kill. Well, I'll turn it loose, I guess. Post your long lost, mystery music loves here. Even if it doesn't follow Vivaldi particularly well. Even if it's "Fool For The City". I've done worse. 😉 (I used to make mix tapes where I'd follow a Mahler Adagietto with The Power Station's version of "Get It On (Bang A Gong)" or similar. I guess it highlighted my quandary at the time. Split right down the middle.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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