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| Antonio Vivaldi |
I had listened to what I considered “classical music” all my life. My grandparents played it often and it was usually going on the radio whenever we’d drive to the store. I enjoyed the instruments and the occasional opera singer. Unfortunately, I was slightly embarrassed to learn in my class that it is not correct to label all old music as being “classical.”
Antonio Vivaldi
One composer that I loved turned out to be one of those “non-classical” composers. He was actually part of the Baroque era of music, one era before “classical.” Upon researching him, I learned that most of his music is actually just exercises he had written for his students to practice. He worked at what was considered an orphanage, and the girls there were known for their musical abilities. Vivaldi’s exercises helped them to learn to read music quickly, play precisely, and increase their finger strength and speed. The frequent 'plunkiness' of Baroque music gives it it's own distinction from the other eras.
Reflection
Vivaldi was one of the greatest composers of his era, and yet most of his compositions are exercises. It seems natural to conclude that all of us would benefit from paying more attention to the “exercises” in our life— the seemingly mundane things that, with practice, can be turned into something beautiful.
Antonio Vivaldi
One composer that I loved turned out to be one of those “non-classical” composers. He was actually part of the Baroque era of music, one era before “classical.” Upon researching him, I learned that most of his music is actually just exercises he had written for his students to practice. He worked at what was considered an orphanage, and the girls there were known for their musical abilities. Vivaldi’s exercises helped them to learn to read music quickly, play precisely, and increase their finger strength and speed. The frequent 'plunkiness' of Baroque music gives it it's own distinction from the other eras.
Reflection
Vivaldi was one of the greatest composers of his era, and yet most of his compositions are exercises. It seems natural to conclude that all of us would benefit from paying more attention to the “exercises” in our life— the seemingly mundane things that, with practice, can be turned into something beautiful.
Image Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi
That's really interesting! I wonder how he would feel about them knowing that they were considered influential music.
ReplyDeleteIt's this sense of classical elitism, and I'm totally guilty of it. Old things are better, and if we could only get back to that level of quality, we could make some progress again. But in the end, things have meaning when we assign meaning to it personally. Old things just have more time to gather, like dust, the meaning that society collectively puts on it. For instance, I wonder how much Shakespeare actually meant in his plays, and how much we added layers of puns upon puns upon puns by thinking about it too much.
ReplyDeleteI really like this post, and your personal experience you shared, because I think I would fall into the same category. I had no idea about any other music besides classical. It's amazing to see what we can come to appreciate with time.
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