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Master of violin

That’s true. Vivaldi was ordained as a priest at 25, and soon nicknamed “The Red Priest”, possibly because of his red hair. He became master of violin at an orphanage called the Devout Hospital of Mercy in Venice. There were only four such institutions in Venice. Their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were abandoned, orphaned, or whose families could not support them. They were financed by the Republic of Venice. The boys learned a trade and had to leave the orphanage at age 15. The girls received musical education and the most talented stayed and became members of the orphanage’s renowned orchestra and choir. For those kids, Vivaldi wrote most of his concertos, cantatas, and sacred music.

His creation of “The Four Seasons” became a revolution in musical conception. Through music Vivaldi showed us flowing creeks, singing birds, barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, silent nights, hunting parties, frozen landscapes, children ice-skating, and burning fires. Each concerto was associated with a Vivaldi’s sonnet, describing the scenes depicted in the music.

Like many other composers of the time, his life ended in financial difficulties. His compositions no longer held the high esteem they once did in Venice. He went “out of fashion”. Changing musical tastes quickly made his creations outmoded. Trying to make his ends meet Vivaldi had to sell off a lot of his manuscripts, practically for pennies. Then he had to sell off more manuscripts to pay for his move to Vienna. But it did not really work out for him there too. Poor and abandoned, the old composer died. He was buried in a simple grave in Vienna, forgotten for many hundred of years, till they re-discovered him in twentieth century.