Vivaldi

Vivaldi and the Pietà

One of the famous tourist attractions in 18th century Venice was the Pietà, an orphanage for girls. The more talented orphans received a musical education, and public performances by the young ladies attracted large crowds. Travelers reported that the orphanage orchestra had developed into one of the best in Europe.

The Pietà orchestra was a source of much local pride, and so it's hardly surprising that on today's date in 1723, that institution's directors passed a motion to hire one of the most famous Italian composers of the day, Antonio Vivaldi, to write new works for their orchestra.

Actually, they were RE-hiring Vivaldi. Twenty years earlier, in 1703, the Pietà had given Vivaldi his first important musical post when they hired him as a young violin teacher. But a lot had happened since then. As his fame grew, Vivaldi spent less and less time in Venice. Vivaldi's new contract called for him to write two concertos a month for the Pietà orchestra, and rehearse each concerto in person if he happened to be in Venice -- which was not often the case.

In fact, the frugal directors of the Pietà were careful to stipulate they wouldn't be charged extra for postage if Vivaldi had to mail them their concertos each month from Dresden, Vienna, Prague, or Amsterdam!

It's a pity Vivaldi didn't live to see the era of overnight deliveries via FedEx or UPS, we suspect he would have given them a lot of business!