SA + continuo (opt. string quartet)
from La Gloria per Imeneo (RV 687) by Antonio Vivaldi
edited by Z. Randall Stroope

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

The Italian Antonio Vivaldi wrote this wonderful French Serenada which was first performed in 1725. It is sometimes listed as "La Gloria [e] Himeneo." The reason for a "French" serenade being written by a composer who lived in Venice, Italy, is that this work was commissioned from Vivaldi by the French ambassador to Venice, Jacques-Vincent Languet, on the occasion of the wedding of Louis XV to the Polish princess Maria Leszczyńska. The wedding took place in the ambassador's garden on the 12th of September 1725. The complete work (from which the present "Allegro" comes) contains a total of 22 movements, including two duets. "Allegro" is the last movement (duet). The story involves two "characters" (each with their own musical line) - Imeneo (a mythological god and offspring of Apollo) and La Gloria (an allegorical character). Each try outsing the other in the celebration of the bridal couple.

This work is available as a free download.