As part of Baroque Spring, a month long season of Baroque music and culture, Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Vivaldi, beginning with the relationship between composer and his home town of Venice.

As Friedrich Nietzsche put it, "When I search for a word to replace that of Music, I can think only of Venice." Vivaldi lived in Venice almost his entire life and had fingers in many Venetian pies: he played the violin at St Mark's, wrote sacred music for services and festivals at some of the hundreds of churches, convents and oratories in the city, provided operas for the famous Carnival and taught at the Pieta. This week - the story of the perfect storm: one of the most prolific composers the world has ever known, born (during an earthquake) into the most musical city in Europe. Show less