Concerto in G major "Alla Rustica", RV 151

For Antonio Vivaldi, the creation of string concertos had a commercial side, not unimportant to him. It is no coincidence that Igor Stravinsky, from his position of unique self-expression in the twentieth century, uttered his landmar remark that Vivaldi was a bore capable of writing the same concerto 600 times in a row. Vivaldi’s concertos were primarily intended for his pupils at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. The structure of all of them was a standard three-movement one (Allegro - Adagio - Allegro), borrowed from the Italian-style overtures of Giuseppe
Torelli. Its fast movements are virtuosic, thanks to the better technical characteristics of the string instruments. Its slow movements are beautiful, poetic and reminiscent of operatic arioses. The Concerto for Strings in G Major, RV 151, Concerto alla rustica (“rustic concerto”) was written in this style. It was composed between 1720 and 1730 and was clearly influenced by the violin technique of Georg Philipp Telemann. Vivaldi’s concerto has not only
been among the most performed, but has also become particularly “fashionable” in the film industry since the 1970s.