Vivaldi – Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro RV 169 (Preface, score and parts in PDF)

Vivaldi – Vivaldi – Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro RV 169

This purchase contains:

Preface and notes to the edition (English and Spanish) + Score + Parts (violin I, violin II, viola and basso) + Original manuscript (Although the original manuscript can be found online for free, we include it in the download for the convenience of users).

The autograph is held in the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino (I-Tn, Giordano 34, Bl. 100-102). It is the only known copy of this work. The work was surely composed between 1725 and 1734.[2]  It is copied in full score format.

In the known catalog of Vivaldi’s works we find another piece that shares the same title, it is the Sonata à 4 al Santo Sepolcro (Sonata in E flat major RV 130). Both pieces feature a similar structure: a slow introduction and a fugal movement.

Sepolcri, or oratorios for the sepulchre, were a kind of composition that was performed at the Viennese courts during Holy Week. These were semi-staged oratorios. The examples that survive by Caldara or Fux show how the introductions of these oratorios always had the same scheme: a slow introduction followed by a fugal movement, just like the RV 169 and RV 130.

These compositions are undoubtedly inspired by the Viennese, although it seems unlikely that Vivaldi wrote them as a commissioned work. However, it is possible that they were composed to support his application to the Viennese court.

It is also quite probable that these pieces were intended to accompany some of the liturgical actions that were celebrated between Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, such as the visit to the Sepulchers in Venetian churches.