# A Vivaldi Partimento



## Leslie Sanford (Dec 29, 2017)

I've had a fascination with Baroque form "Concerti a Quattro." Vivaldi wrote a lot of these (RV 109-169 or so). To me they're more fun than a soloist concerto where a virtuosi section alternates with a ritornello section.

I've also had a fascination with partimenti. So I thought I'd try to combine the two interests by taking a bass from Vivaldi and treating it like a partimento.​
I took the bass part from the first movement of Vivaldi's string concerto RV 113. I then wrote the violas, second violins and first violins parts to go with it.

Realized with Session Strings Pro.​


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## Sears Poncho (Dec 29, 2017)

Sounds terrific, great job.


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## Rob (Dec 29, 2017)

Lovely music, Leslie, thanks for sharing...


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## YaniDee (Dec 29, 2017)

Anotnio would be very pleased! It was common in the Baroque period (and the Renaissance) to "re purpose" existing parts from various sources.
The sound of Session Strings Pro really suits this..which patches did you use?
Oops I meant Antonio!


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## TGV (Dec 30, 2017)

Great piece. Very adequate sound, too. If I had to change something, perhaps a tad more ensemble dynamics (overall (de)crescendos).


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## Leslie Sanford (Dec 30, 2017)

YaniDee said:


> Anotnio would be very pleased! It was common in the Baroque period (and the Renaissance) to "re purpose" existing parts from various sources.
> The sound of Session Strings Pro really suits this..which patches did you use?



Hi YaniDee, thank you for your reply. I used the spiccato, staccato, and fortepiano articulations.

In my opinion, the spiccato and staccato articulations are mislabeled; they should be reversed. Also, the spiccato's release samples have too much of an after ring for fast passages, so I usually turn that off and set the release time to something like 110ms.


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## Gerald (Dec 30, 2017)

Great work! Congrats!


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## storyteller (Dec 30, 2017)

Really wonderful realization of this piece!  I do agree with TGV that if you were to add a tad more ensemble dynamics would create a bit more realism. I really like the sample choice here too. This is the first time I've heard Session Strings Pro in this context and I *_really*_ like its tone in this context. Great work!


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## Leslie Sanford (Dec 30, 2017)

Thanks to everyone for listening! And thank you for your comments. I'll give more attention to the dynamics in the future. That's an area where I still struggle.


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## FriFlo (Dec 30, 2017)

Nice work, Leslie!


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## bbunker (Dec 30, 2017)

Just wondering: have you gotten into Partimenti through Sanguinetti or Gjerdingen, or a book I haven't seen? I've checked them out a little bit, but I know a couple guys who are into Gjerdingen like it was a cult. I'm kind of intrigued but haven't really drunk the Kool-Aid yet.....


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## Leslie Sanford (Dec 30, 2017)

bbunker said:


> Just wondering: have you gotten into Partimenti through Sanguinetti or Gjerdingen, or a book I haven't seen? I've checked them out a little bit, but I know a couple guys who are into Gjerdingen like it was a cult. I'm kind of intrigued but haven't really drunk the Kool-Aid yet.....



Hi bbunker, yeah, I have both Gjerdingen's Galant book as well as Sanguinetti's Partimenti book. I've spent some time over at Gjerdingen's Monuments to Partimenti site which has a lot of partimenti examples.

I've attempted to realize a few of them with mixed results. Here's a Fenaroli partimento I realized using VSL's Chamber Strings. 



I love the partimenti approach, but I struggle with the some of the literature because the bases don't easily inspire melodies for me. But I think this may be a failure of my imagination. At any rate, my struggle is one of the reasons I used a bass directly from Vivaldi. I found it to provide a better scaffolding for a complete piece.


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## synergy543 (Dec 30, 2017)

Leslie Sanford said:


> I struggle with the some of the literature because the bases don't easily inspire melodies for me.


If you were a little orphan boy in Naples in the 15th century waking up at 4:30 in the morning to practice, you'd be "very inspired" if it was your ticket to a hearty breakfast! (see video @11m25s)

Gjerdingen's lecture is fascinating.


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## tokatila (Jan 1, 2020)

Wonderful. Vivaldi's style is my kind of pop music.


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