Vivaldi: Concerto in D Major, two mandolins and mandocello

[Martin Jonas]

This is the middle section of one of Vivaldi's concertos, but I have not been able to identify which one -- indeed, it may well be from a trio sonata rather than a concerto. My recording is based on a partially corrupted Musescore file which I found online, headed: "A. Vivaldi: Concerto in Re Maggiore Per Flauto, Violino e Violoncello". I cannot see this piece in Vivaldi's flute concertos, so I suspect this is not the original instrumentation. There were also no tempo markings int he score, and I do not know what tempo Vivaldi specified for this movement: I have marked it "andante", but it may have been larghetto or even largo. If you recognise the piece, let me know and I will add the correct RV number.

I attach the score, extracted from the Musescore file I found, in two versions: with the cello part in bass clef and in octave treble clef if you want to play in on guitar or OM (a few low notes need to be transposed to make it playable on those instruments).

Notwithstanding the dubious provenance, this is a very nice movement which transfers well to my configuration of two mandolins and mandocello.

1890s Umberto Ceccherini mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello



Martin

[Rewjeo]

RV 92. If you check the IMSLP page, you can find a few versions. Your version has a typo in that first measure - the melody should be DAB, not DAD. I'll also link to some professional recordings up on Youtube at the bottom.

The rhythm in the bass line is kind of interesting to me - I'm not a Vivaldi scholar, but I would assume that the rhythm from the first measure should be used throughout, rather than switching to straight sixteenths. IMSLP actually has what I assume is a scan of the original score in Vivaldi's hand, and he writes them as straight sixteenths. I would assume this is because handwriting that many lines would be more work (and ink!) than was necessary, and he and his players would know what he intended. Professional recordings seem to agree with me. Similarly, it was also often the case that rhythms like that would played double-dotted - meaning that you would play a double-dotted sixteenth note followed by a 64th note. Again, this was probably to save ink. The recordings are not consistent as to whether or not they do this, so you can choose what you'd like. Also note that if you want to do the double-dotting, then it would also apply to the melody lines.

There's also seems to be no agreement on the tempo - Vivaldi himself didn't put one as far as I can tell. I've seen it labeled at least Andante, Adagio, and Aria, and probably a couple other things in the last few minutes. Composers in the Baroque were a lot less specific in their notation than later composers, so there's always a lot of room for interpretation.

https://youtu.be/wD_vLRkybWU?t=206
https://youtu.be/fDOKmV07bIc?t=246
https://youtu.be/4NsU2bkWxF8?t=225
https://youtu.be/ofFqQgHzSug?t=176

[Martin Jonas]

RV 92. If you check the IMSLP page, you can find a few versions. Your version has a typo in that first measure - the melody should be DAB, not DAD. I'll also link to some professional recordings up on Youtube at the bottom.

The rhythm in the bass line is kind of interesting to me - I'm not a Vivaldi scholar, but I would assume that the rhythm from the first measure should be used throughout, rather than switching to straight sixteenths. IMSLP actually has what I assume is a scan of the original score in Vivaldi's hand, and he writes them as straight sixteenths.

Many thanks and good spot! I've updated the Youtube description accordingly.

You may well be right on the bass rhythm. I did think it was strange that there is one bar written with syncopation and then straight semiquavers for the rest of the piece. However, all of the IMSLP editions have it that way as well.

Martin