Editing Antonio Vivaldi (section)

===Ospedale della Pietà===
[[File:(Venice) Vivaldi plaque on Chiesa della Pietà.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Commemorative plaque beside the Ospedale della Pietà]]Although Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well. The German architect Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach referred to Vivaldi as "the famous composer and violinist" and noted in his diary that "Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment excellently, and at the conclusion he added a free fantasy [an improvised cadenza] which absolutely astounded me, for it is hardly possible that anyone has ever played, or ever will play, in such a fashion."{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=49}} <ref>Travelling in Italy, he noted in his diary, on the occasion of an opera performance in the Teatro Sant' Angelo in the spring of 1715:
...&nbsp;''towards the end, Vivaldi played an accompagnement solo,&nbsp;... which quite shocked me,&nbsp;... because his fingers came only within a straw’s breadth of the bridge, so that there was no space for the bow, and this on all 4 strings with fugues and a velocity which is unbelievable, he astonished everyone with it'' – https://wiener-urtext.com/en/antonio-vivaldi.</ref> In September 1703, Vivaldi (24) became {{lang|it|maestro di violino}} (master of violin) at an [[orphanage]] called the Pio [[Ospedale della Pietà]] (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice; although his talents as a violinist probably secured him the job, he soon became a successful teacher of music there.{{sfn|Talbot|Lockey|2020}}

Over the next thirty years he composed most of his major works while working at the Ospedale.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=51}} There were four similar institutions in Venice; their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were abandoned or orphaned, or whose families could not support them. They were financed by funds provided by the Republic.{{sfn|Pincherle|1957|p=18}} The boys learned a trade and had to leave when they reached the age of fifteen. The girls received a musical education, and the most talented among them stayed and became members of the Ospedale's renowned orchestra and choir.

Shortly after Vivaldi's appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad, too. Vivaldi wrote concertos, cantatas and sacred vocal music for them.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=77}} These sacred works, which number over 60, are varied: they included solo motets and large-scale choral works for soloists, double chorus, and orchestra.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=78}} In 1704, the position of teacher of ''[[lyra viol|viola all'inglese]]'' was added to his duties as violin instructor.{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=26}} The position of ''maestro di coro'', which was at one time filled by Vivaldi, required a lot of time and work. He had to compose an oratorio or concerto for every feast and teach the orphans both music theory and how to play certain instruments.{{sfn|Pincherle|1957|p=24}}

His relationship with the board of directors of the Ospedale was often strained. The board had to vote every year on whether to keep a teacher. The vote on Vivaldi was seldom unanimous and went 7 to 6 against him in 1709.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=48}} In 1711, after a year as a freelance musician, he was recalled by the Ospedale with a unanimous vote; clearly during his year's absence the board had realized the importance of his role.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=48}} He became responsible for all of the musical activity of the institution{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=54}} when he was promoted to ''maestro de' concerti'' (music director) in 1716{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=59}}<!-- Was he promoted in 1713 or 1716? Article apparently stated both --> and responsible for composing two new concertos every month.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://sonatica.fm |title = Famous Composers |last = Hughes |first = Gervase |date = 1961 |access-date = 1 July 2023 |quote = "in 1716 maestro de’ concerti with the responsibility of composing two new concertos each month." |archive-url = https://sonatica.fm/blog/item/17-famous-composers-antonio-vivaldi |archive-date = 1 July 2023}}</ref>

In 1705, the first collection of his works was published by Giuseppe Sala.{{sfn|Pincherle|1957|p=38}} His [[Opus number|Opus]] 1 is a collection of 12 [[sonata]]s for two violins and [[Figured bass#Basso continuo|basso continuo]], in a conventional style.{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=26}} In 1709, a second collection of 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo appeared (Opus 2).{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=31}} A real breakthrough as a composer came with his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings, ''[[L'estro Armonico|L'estro armonico]]'' (Opus 3), which was published in [[Amsterdam]] in 1711 by [[Estienne Roger]],{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=42}} and dedicated to [[Ferdinando (III) de' Medici|Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany]]. The prince sponsored many musicians, including [[Alessandro Scarlatti]] and [[George Frideric Handel]]. He was a musician himself, and Vivaldi probably met him in Venice.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=54}} ''L'estro armonico'' was a resounding success all over Europe. It was followed in 1714 by ''[[La stravaganza]]'' (Opus 4), a collection of concerti for solo violin and strings,{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=58}} and dedicated to an old violin student of Vivaldi's, the Venetian noble Vettor Dolfin.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=71}}

In February 1711, Vivaldi and his father traveled to [[Brescia]], where his setting of the [[Stabat Mater]] ([[Stabat Mater (Vivaldi)|RV 621]]) was played as part of a religious festival. The work seems to have been written in haste: the string parts are simple, the music of the first three movements is repeated in the next three, and not all the text is set. Nevertheless, perhaps in part because of the forced essentiality of the music, the work is considered to be one of his early masterpieces.

Despite his frequent travels from 1718, the Ospedale paid him 2 [[sequin (coin)|sequins]] to write two concerti a month for the orchestra and to rehearse with them at least five times when in Venice. The orphanage's records show that he was paid for 140 concerti between 1723 and 1733.