CONCERTO in A minor FVIII/7 PV72 RV497 Op.45 No.6

Antonio Vivaldi is widely hailed as an outstanding composer of the Baroque, but it is less well known that he was very probably the first to lift the bassoon from its low profile in the orchestra, or as a continuo instrument, to take the solo part in a concerto, or that he was the most prolific composer of bassoon concertos to date. Of the 350 concertos for solo instrument, strings and continuo attributed to Vivaldi, 230 are for his own instrument, the violin. About 38 of the remainder (this figure varies slightly between sources) are for bassoon, strings and cembalo; the manuscripts of which - apparently unpublished during the composer's lifetime - are held in the Turin Library. It is thought that they were written between 1704 and 1740 for the girls at the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice which was an orphanage, convent and music school with an outstanding orchestra where Vivaldi was employed for most of that time, latterly as 'Maestro de' Concerti' or Music Director.

Contrary to the light-hearted quip that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto 'x' number of times, each of his bassoon concertos has been described as "... novel, individual and most imaginative, and … , conceived as instrumental tone poems." The first movement of this one is built around wide interval leaps interspersed with scales and the second is a more lyrical andante. The concerto ends in a cheerful third movement which is strongly arpeggiated. In the words of the accomplished bassoonist and teacher Sol Schoenbach (1915-1999) (the first movement) ".... bounces along sadly, relies heavily on contrapuntal imitation for a superb Andante and ends like so many concerti in a joyful, healthy expression."

• Andante molto
• Allegro

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