Christmas 2018, my last recital of the year. I was highly privileged (and appreciated) to play in an ensemble for the first time in my life, and hopefully not the last time. We only rehearsed a few times (less than 20 as far as I remember) in a span of 2 weeks, since the concert agenda was approved a bit later than expected. It was quite fun, and somewhat intimidating rehearsing when I didn't have time, nor do I have photographic memory to remember the music. I shall give many thanks to Khang Nguyễn for transcribing all parts for the two violins, viola and cello.
The piece is propably one of the most known and played lute/guitar work by Vivaldi. Even with the most generic searchs, such as "Vivaldi lute" or "Vivaldi guitar", would all lead to this particular piece.
All movements of the piece follow a binary form (A-A-B-B, while whether to repeat is up to the musicians' preferences). Starting boldly with a fast Allegro pace, the piece can captivate the audience into a very Vivaldi vibe: jumpy, happy, joyful, exciting. A slow Largo movement set the piece in a moody air, comptemplating and melancholic. The piece conclude with a fun Allegro, with repeating triplets patterns. This is a quite concise and succint piece by Vivaldi, but also maintains several technical challenges and high musical values.
I am now working on another concerto by Vivaldi, however, some may consider using the transcription by Bach due to it's extensive use of polyphony, which leads to a more satisfying results (and of course more technically demanding). Particularly, it's the concerto Op. 3 No. 9 (Vivaldi) or BWV 972 by Bach.