Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) was an Italian composer and music teacher. His best-known composition is Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), a set of four violin concerti depicting the four seasons of the year. He was known as "il prete rosso" (the red priest) due to his bright ginger hair.

He was born, and spent most of his life, in Venice. His father, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi, was a violinist in St Mark's Cathedral there. He taught Antonio to play the violin when Antonio was a young child. However, a musical career seemed unlikely when, aged 15, he was sent to join the priesthood. He took Holy Orders in 1703.

In that year, he became maestro di violino at the Pio Ospedale della Pieta, a local orphanage for girls. He held that post until his retirement in 1740, though he took some long 'leaves of absence'. He wrote most of his roughly 500 violin concerti to be performed by these orphans.

From 1718 to 1720 he was in Mantua and then spent most of the next ten years in Rome and Venice. Throughout the 1730s he travelled widely in Europe. He was particularly successful in Vienna. Poor health meant that he needed to take carers with him. Among them were the opera singer Anna Giro and her sister Paolina. In 1740, dying and very poor, he returned to Vienna hoping for another triumph. He died there in 1741; his grave has disappeared.

Vivaldi was neglected for many years after his death, but during the early 20th century he began to be recognised as one of the greatest composers of his day.