Vivaldi and Handel

I don't know why but I’ve always had the soft spot with Vivaldi’s string minor chords. But now I know that he composed more than these minor chords and “Four Seasons”. I didn’t even know Vivaldi or Handel wrote operas (with amazingly massive quantity amount of them, compare to the later composers) until a couple months ago. The bellows are just my initial impressions of these two biggest Baroque composers.

Vivaldi’s music is fun and exciting. Vivaldi wrote rhythmical opera tunes with very catchy melodies. There is unconditional, pure musical joy and feel-good athleticism in his music like the similar ones in Mozart’s. But listen to Vivaldi is much more like physical experience. His music strikes human senses directly. Even mellow arias like “Sol da te” or “Sent in seno” have such sensual beauty which would appeal to heart by seeping through skin.

Handel is very different from Vivaldi. If Vivaldi was Rolling Stones, Handel is the Beatles. His music has amazing emotional depth and magnificent musical beauty. In fact, the thing what I was most surprised while digging through all the Baroque music field (for treasure hunting) was the discovering of how deep Handel’s music is.

Vivaldi’s music is enjoyable even without knowing lyrics. But Handel’s music is strongly tied with the meaning of text to truly understand its emotional realism, deep intimacy and its exquisite beauty.

The man with a big wig and stately demeanor from 300 years ago in the portrait on the wall in the junior high school’s music room is not a stranger to me any more. Now I feel so close to him. I have profound admiration for him. I became forever fan of him. And I’ve scooped only the surface of his music. I really love to explore deeper.