"He was famous and feted during his lifetime, and his music was performed and plagiarized throughout Europe. But soon after his death, or even a little before, he passed into a state of neglect that seemed final. His works disappeared from concert program, and even in his own country his name was omitted from the gazettes, histories, and biographical dictionaries. A century elapsed. Then in Germany came the rediscovery of Johann Sebastian Bach, who had been the victim of a similar fate, except that he had known neither so resounding a success nor so complete repudiation. A small group of the faithful had kept the flame going until the memorable year 1829. In that year Mendelssohn presented Bach to a wider public by conducting the Passion according to St. Matthew. That performance marks the beginning of the movement that has resulted in the present worship of Bach" (Hatch, 13).
Antonio Vivaldi by François Morellon la Cave; 172...
Antonio Vivaldi
Caricature of Antonio Vivaldi by Pier Leone Ghezzi...Who was this man that J. S. Bach honored?
Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4th, 1678. He started to learn how to play violin at an early age being taught by his father. Immediately he showed great promise, and later become one of the most celebrated violinist/composer ever to have lived. At the age of fifteen, he started his training for the priesthood, which took almost ten years to complete, and when finally he had become a full fledged priest, in 1703, he promptly decided to give up saying mass, on the rather spurious grounds of ill health. Apparently it was not uncommon for him to leave a service in mid-celebration, complaining of chest pains, only to rush out and scribble down a new tune for a concerto. Although Vivaldi's main priorities were writing and performing music, he retained an almost life-long association with one of the...