Vivaldi composed the Concerto for Two Trumpets in C major possibly in the 1720s in Venice. It was published by Ricordi in 1950 after its manuscript was found in a Turin library. The most impressive movement – and the most faithful to the original – is the second, which is full of broken chords that gain incredible power and richness when transposed from violin to harpsichord.Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Trumpets in C major, RV 537, is a concerto for two trumpets, string orchestra and basso continuo in three movements, believed to have been composed in the 1720s. This is very clear in the closing phase of the first movement, as repeated chords explode in Bach’s hands in a crisscross of melodic motifs. Bach’s extra notes often supplement those of Vivaldi, but where the accompaniment permits, he likes to use them in dialogue. It was most probably an exciting challenge to expand four single solo lines into four complete keyboard parts for two hands from four strings to dozens of them. And with no fewer than five harpsichords at home, it could also have been a family affair, with father Bach sharing the stage with three of his children. If it was ‘born’ around 1730, Bach could have arranged the concerto for (or improvised it in) the Zimmermannsches Kaffeehaus, where he led the Leipziger Collegium Musicum. Unfortunately, we do not know how the Concert for four harpsichords in A minor originated, although we can hazard a guess. But of course he gave it an exciting twist, as in Bach’s version the soloists play harpsichords and B minor changed to A minor. He used one of them – the Concerto in B minor from L’estro armonico (opus 3) for four violins and orchestra – more or less in its entirety. Johann Sebastian Bach arranged various Vivaldi concertos (sometimes thoroughly) from opus 3, 4 and 7, for organ and harpsichord. His music travelled throughout Europe and all the way to Bach’s home. Even more importantly, Vivaldi was the composer par excellence of the solo concerto. Whereas Bach excelled on the keyboard, Vivaldi ruled on the violin.
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