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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Composer of the Week: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Episode 1: The Pieta

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Episode 1

Episode 1: The Pieta

The Pieta

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), The Pieta

Music Vivaldi wrote specially to display the talents of the girls of the Pieta.

Donald Macleod presents a selection of music Vivaldi wrote specially to display the dazzling array of talents offered by the girls of the Pieta, where he taught.

Donald Macleod introduces the life and music of the Venetian priest, feted in his lifetime as both composer and violinist, yet destined to die in obscurity in faraway Vienna.

Antonio Vivaldi's name is now inextricably linked with Venice's charitable institution the Ospedale della Pietà, where the female residents benefitted from his skills as composer, violinist, teacher and impresario. As a boy, Vivaldi was taught by his father, inheriting both his red hair and his skill as a violinist. Young Antonio was soon to be seen deputising for his father in the orchestra of the Basilica of St. Mark's. As the eldest son in a poor family, Vivaldi was destined for the priesthood, and he was ordained in 1703. Combining the careers of musician and priest wasn't unusual at the time, and that same year Vivaldi was appointed violin teacher at the Pietà. Donald Macleod presents a selection of music Vivaldi wrote specially tailored to display the dazzling array of talents offered by the girls of the Pietà including an ensemble concerto for two recorders, two oboes, bassoon and two violins. He also introduces a concerto from Vivaldi's op.3 - the first collection to make his name outside Italy and regarded as the most influential music publication of the first half of the eighteenth century.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Antonio Vivaldi

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Antonio Vivaldi, a Venetian priest, feted in his lifetime as both composer and violinist, yet destined to die in obscurity in faraway Vienna

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Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Episode 1: The Pieta

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