You may well recall back in October, Vivaldi made headlines around the world following the discovery of a long-lost manuscript of a flute concerto written by the Italian composer.
Unearthed in the National Archives of Scotland by musicologist Andrew Woolley, the score of Il Gran Mogol, belonged to a group of four lost concertos last recorded in the Netherlands 250 years ago.
There were three other pieces of music included in the quartet called England, France and Spain which remain lost.
Having been discovered among the Marquess of Lothian’s family papers at the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, Il Gran Mogol received its modern-day concert premiere in January, in a performance by British group, La Serenissima.
Conductor Adrian Chandler says it has been worth the long wait.
The man in charge of La Serenissima, which recorded the piece, spoke to Classic FM about discovering a lost classic.
“It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s rare that one comes across a Vivaldi concerto that isn’t worth performing,” he explained to the news provider. “Of course, he wrote so many there are bound to be some that are better than others.
“But Il Gran Mogol is a really, really fantastic piece of music. Brilliant flute writing, quite virtuosic and each of the three movements are very well contrasted. The first part is very well constructed followed by an incredibly beautiful slow moment and then a really fiery finale.”
The work lasts approximately ten minutes and is believed to have been composed in the late 1720s or early 1730s.
Over the course of his career, Vivaldi, who would have celebrated his 333rd birthday on March 4th 2011, is believed to have penned around 46 operas, more than 500 concertos and around 90 sonatas.
Unearthed in the National Archives of Scotland by musicologist Andrew Woolley, the score of Il Gran Mogol, belonged to a group of four lost concertos last recorded in the Netherlands 250 years ago.
There were three other pieces of music included in the quartet called England, France and Spain which remain lost.
Having been discovered among the Marquess of Lothian’s family papers at the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, Il Gran Mogol received its modern-day concert premiere in January, in a performance by British group, La Serenissima.Conductor Adrian Chandler says it has been worth the long wait.
The man in charge of La Serenissima, which recorded the piece, spoke to Classic FM about discovering a lost classic.
“It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s rare that one comes across a Vivaldi concerto that isn’t worth performing,” he explained to the news provider. “Of course, he wrote so many there are bound to be some that are better than others.
“But Il Gran Mogol is a really, really fantastic piece of music. Brilliant flute writing, quite virtuosic and each of the three movements are very well contrasted. The first part is very well constructed followed by an incredibly beautiful slow moment and then a really fiery finale.”
The work lasts approximately ten minutes and is believed to have been composed in the late 1720s or early 1730s.
Over the course of his career, Vivaldi, who would have celebrated his 333rd birthday on March 4th 2011, is believed to have penned around 46 operas, more than 500 concertos and around 90 sonatas.