AHRC Fellowship: 2005/6-2008/9

The Development of the Violin Concerto in Northern Italy 1690-1740

Director of La Serenissima, Adrian Chandler has recently been awarded a three-year fellowship at Southampton University by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). As the title suggests, Adrian will spend the next three years studying the development of the violin concerto in Northern Italy with the fruits of his labours feeding new and exciting programmes for La Serenissima, which will all be recorded for AVIE records. In total, there will be three programmes (one for each year of the fellowship) which will roughly correspond to the following:

Year 1 : Music for the violin family gains popularity in its own right; the influence of vocal style on instrumental style; the emergence of the 1st violin as Maestro

Music for 2 violins, 2 violas & continuo by Legrenzi (1690), Navarra (1697), Albinoni (1700)
Sacred vocal work by Composer X (c1694) from MS in the hand of Vivaldi
Concerti by Torelli and Vivaldi (from L'Estro Armonico, 1711)

Year 2 : Vivaldi's contribution to the violin concerto; concerti for violin, the violin paired with other instruments; technical advances; the cadenza, influence of the concerto on his operas, influence of his operas on the concerto.

Concerti for violin
Concerti for violin & TBC
Arias from Ottone in villa

Year 3 : The legacy of Antonio Vivaldi: influence on Valentini, Locatelli, Tartini; the development of the classical orchestra.

Concerti (Vivaldi) for violin, 2 oboes, 2 horns, bassoon, strings & continuo
Concerti by Locatelli, Valentini, Tartini


Details of concerts and record releases to appear on this website.

La Serenissima Patrons: Dr Neil Mackie CBE CStJ FRSAMD, Catherine Mackintosh FRCM, The Viscount Norwich, Philip J Pickett FGSM, Professor Reinhard Strohm FBA, Cavaliere Professor Michael Talbot