Concerto in F Major (P. 323/RV 99) for Woodwind Quartet

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678–1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso (“The Red Priest“) because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, Catholic priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over forty operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Vivaldi wrote such a large number of concerti (more than 500 survive, even though most were never published during the composer’s lifetime) that certain “normative“ formulas inevitably emerge: the clear solo/tutti differentiations and alternations within the ritornello-form first movement, the binary or variation form of the slow second movement, and the fast, virtuosic finale. The expectations established by these norms, however, set off all the more distin