Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto in D minor for cello, string orchestra and basso continuo
Concerto per violoncello, archi e basso continuo RV 407
Concerto in D minor comes from the collection of Count Rudolf von Schönborn, music-lover and cellist. It was he who ordered the purchase of a large selection of scores in Venice in 1708-13; these included eight cello concertos by Vivaldi. This allows one to suppose that this piece was composed in an early period of the composer’s oeuvre.
In agreement with the composer’s model, the concerto consists of three movements in contrastive tempos. The solo instrument is accompanied by strings with a continuo part.
∙ In the fast movements, (Allegro) the concert play consists in a rivalry if the soloist and the orchestra. They begin with a presentation of a ritornello theme by both the soloist and the orchestra, who realises the part of the remaining cellos. The returns of the theme are separated one from another by virtuoso episodes in the cello. The solo instrument is discreetly accompanied by a single cello of the orchestra and the harpsichord. This liberates the contrast in volume between the tutti and solo segments. In the first movement, the musical material of the episodes clashes with the tempestuous ritornello, with a highlighted element of the orchestra’s colour. In the dancing third movement, the episodes of the soloist take over the motives of the tutti theme.
∙ The lyrical and subdued middle movement (Largo e sempre piano) brings the soloist into the foreground. The expressive cantilena-figurative melody of the cello develops against the background of a rhythmically uniform, delicate accompaniment. The constantly repeated chromatic bass figure resembles a chaconne. The doublebasses and the harpsichord are separated from the orchestra’s tone.
Concerto in D minor is an example of a great knowledge and intuition of the solo instrument. Vivaldi exhibits there the properties and the tonal nuances of the cello as well as its virtuoso potential.