Virtuosity
Two and a half centuries, ago, a stringed-instrument, called the violin, was brought into an incredibly creative culture of musical expression in Europe. In Cremona Italy, an instrument-maker in Cremona, Italy, crafted a violin that represented — and actuated — perfection. The Stradivarius violin enabled highly-skilled instruments to perform incredible feats of musical virutosity. Virtuosity means: great technical ability in a fine art, especially in the performance on a musical instrument.
Venice, Italy was, at that time, a hotbed of musical expression that blossomed into a manifestation of musical excellence. In Antonio Vivaldi’s creation and performance of his stringed orchestral composition, Four Seasons, orchestral performance reached a point of perfection that can be called, to use an Italian musical term, Virtuoso.
Performed by an Italian orchestra in 1775, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, four concertos for violin and strings, violin virtuosity was perfectly manifested in musical performance, most especially in , in my opinion, in the Summer movement, which is to say, the section of that musical opus in which Vivaldi’s incredibly passionate music represented, and skillfully evoked, the fury of a summer rainstorm, in magnificent musical perfection.
To comprehend, or experience, the musical passion that I refer to here, listen to the recording: In the 18th century, the crafting perfection of Italian instrument-makers and Itlalian musicians collaborated to produce an orchestral work of virtuosity.
The violin — an instrument carved in wood, and strung with animal-gut strings — was brought into handcrafted perfection by both the craftsmen and the musicians.
Italian instrument-maker Antonius Stradivarius had rendered perfect musical potential into his violins, which was then placed into the hands of master musicians such as Antonio Vivaldi and his orchestral performers. The outcome was musical virtuosity, which can be experienced in a performance of any of the four sections, or, movements of the Four Seasons concerto, but especially the Summer movement, which expresses, in musical metaphor, the approach of a summer rainstorm.
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g65oWFMSoK0
Two centuries later, in a brave new world of 20th-century rock music, a new type of musical virtuosity was enabled and actuated through the performance of electric guitars.
Guitar Virtuosity is demonstrated by the Eagles in their performance of Hotel California. Listen: (especially within the Eagles’ dual guitar solo at the end of this vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09839DpTct
I thought you might like to hear of couple of virtuoso musical performances. I hope you agree, Vivaldi, his orchestra, and the Eagles were, and are, amazing musicians who fully actuate the meaning of the word: virtuoso.
I hope you enjoyed hearing their virtuosity. Here’s my contribution to to the meaning of that word.
