Concerto for lute and viola d'amore

Vivaldi composed concertos throughout his career. In the 1730s, while creating two smaller lute trios, he wrote his only Concerto for Lute and Viola d’amore, RV 540. The latter instrument, a member of the larger viol family, usually had six or seven sounding strings in addition to numerous sympathetically vibrating strings placed below. Its structure was unique, giving it a coveted sweet and delicate sound. Vivaldi wrote several concertos for the viola d’amore, as did others of the Baroque era. During the later 18th century and through the 19th, the greater dynamic power of the violin family marginalized the viola d’amore, though modern masters like Hindemith and Respighi have been drawn to its particular tone.
In this concerto Vivaldi’s main theme glides effortlessly between D minor and F major over the opening ritornello. Vivaldi then presents the two soloists in a series of call-and-response phrases with light string accompaniment. Clearly, he was eager to showcase the contrast between the viola d’amore’s robust vocal sound and the crisp, plucked texture of solo lute. The themes themselves are simple; a fair degree of improvised embellishment would certainly have been added during performance. As is fairly common, the central slow movement features the soloists right from the outset. In this case, a tender string melody hovers over an arpeggiated lute accompaniment. Once again, performers will freely depart from Vivaldi’s skeleton structure during the repeats of the A and B sections. Finally, the fast third movement in D minor exemplifies what listeners love about Vivaldi: virtuosic repartee and crystalline harmonic structure. Where Bach would prefer to inject a dose of counterpoint to enliven things, Vivaldi’s preference is for harmonic drive via sequence and contrasting textures. In such passages we tend to know just where Vivaldi is going. Aesthetic pleasure results from surrendering ourselves to the relentless pull of his tonal rhythm.

(c) Jason Stell