Born in Venice in 1678, the son of a professional violinist in the orchestra of the prestigious Basilica di San Marco, Antonio Vivaldi was a gifted violinist himself, and in 1703 was appointed maestro di violino at the Ospedale della Pieta, an orphanage for women with a formidable reputation for the quality of its music instruction. Coincidentally, it was in this same year that he also completed his training for holy orders and was ordained a priest, but within a short time of his ordination ill health purportedly prevented him from ever again celebrating mass. In any case, the "Red Priest" (as he became known because of the colour of his hair) was probably better suited to his life as a freelance musician and impresario, even though the demands for his services were considerable and necessitated travelling widely.

Throughout much of his life he enjoyed a fruitful musical association with the Ospedale in a variety of capacities, at different times as violin teacher, musical director, and external supplier of compositions. It is almost certain that it was in one or more of these capacities that he wrote the now famous Gloria.

Though Vivaldi is only widely known today for a handful of works, he was a prolific and hugely influential composer. The cycle of violin concerti (Opus 8, nos. 1-4) better known as the Four Seasons is but one example from a catalogue of over 500 instrumental concerti which he wrote. His influence is readily discernable in the forms of later Baroque music, notably in original compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and also in Bach's many transcriptions of Vivaldi's concerti.

Nor is Gloria Vivaldi's only contribution to vocal music. More than 50 sacred vocal compositions and at least 40 cantatas are known and many of them exhibit the same depth and mastery as the Gloria itself. Vivaldi was also active in the field of opera, as both composer and impresario, having around 50 operas to his credit, at least 16 of which are extant and complete.

Vivaldi died whilst visiting Vienna in 1741.

Gloria in D, RV 589 Antonio Vivaldi

The Gloria, a joyful hymn of praise and supplication, is a regular feature of the Roman Catholic mass, and its opening phrases have their origins in the song of the angels found in the New Testament account of Christ's Nativity. Vivaldi's setting is for four part chorus and orchestra with three soloists, two soprano and one alto, though it is customarily performed to great effect with only two soloists. It is divided into twelve contrasted movements, each characterised by its own mood and musical texture, yet still managing to preserve a sense of formal coherence.

Choir
Gloria in excelsis Deo

From the outset, Vivaldi grabs the attention of the listener with an introduction featuring the simplest of devices: octave leaps, and sequential repetition. He establishes a mood of regal grandeur and eager anticipation with the addition of the trumpet and oboe to the orchestral strings, and maintains its momentum throughout the movement with the voices entering in declamatory style before exploring the musical material sequentially.

Choir
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis

This exuberant duet beautifully reflects the joy of the words, with its recurring ritornello and the interplay of its vocal parts. In turn the voices imitate each other and then join almost playfully to sing in thirds together, the extensive use of sequences lending an air of delightful inevitability.

Propter magnam gloriam tuam

Clearly perceiving the dramatic potential of the words, Vivaldi sets a solemn choral declamation in E minor (4), reestablishing a mood of due deference befitting the words and forming a masterly link with the fugal chorus (5) which follows.

Vivaldi portrays a comforting pastoral view of God the Father, as this long siciliano-like melody in C major unfolds alongside an equally beautiful instrumental obbligato (usually played on the oboe, but optionally a violin).

As if to emphasise his humanity, Vivaldi gives Jesus Christ, Son of God far less deferential treatment and the relentless dotted rhythms of this chorus (in F major) would not be out of place in a French baroque opera. Vivaldi achieves textural variety by contrasting pairs of voices with four part vocal harmony.

Alto & Choir
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei,Filius Patris, Qui tollis peccata mundi, Miserere nobis Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Domine Fili unigenite, Miserere nobis

Domine Deus, Agnus Dei uses contrasting forces, the alto soloist, accompanied by continuo, has descending scalic lines which are punctuated by chordal interjections from the choir and orchestra.

In two sections, this chorus begins gravely and is characterized by an audacious modulation. The second part, still grave, employs shorter phrases to add rhythmic intensity and adds to the sense of urgency with the use of chromaticism.

Scored for strings and continuo, this movement maintains the same serious tenor as the previous two penitential sections. Despite its 3/8 pulse and rhythmic vitality it is the minor tonality (B minor) which has the greater effect on its ambience.

A truncated form of the opening Gloria is the thematic material for this section which makes musical good sense, despite a less than glove-like fit of words to music. Perhaps this was Vivaldi's nod in the direction of formal cohesion!

This fine chorus is a fitting end to a splendid work, but readers may be surprised to find that Vivaldi, in the manner of so many of his contemporaries, "borrowed" the music for this final chorus from a fugue in a Gloria by Giovanni Maria Ruggieri, a Veronese composer. Without the delightfully appropriate context of Vivaldi's Gloria it is most unlikely that we would ever have heard it otherwise!