Born Mar. 4, 1678, in Venice; buried July 28, 1741, in Vienna. Italian composer, violinist, and teacher.

Vivaldi studied violin with his father Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and composition with G. Legrenzi. Beginning in 1714 he was the director of the orchestra and choir of the Conservatorio della Pieta in Venice. Vivaldi was the most important representative of 18th-century Italian violin art, establishing the new (dramatized, so-called Lombardy) style of performance. He created the genre of the concerto for solo instruments and was influential in the development of virtuoso violin technique. Vivaldi was a master of the orchestral ensemble concerto—the concerto grosso. He composed operas (about 30), cantatas, symphonies, and more than 460 concertos, including the cycle of four violin concertos entitled “The Four Seasons—” an early example of symphonic program music. Vivaldi also wrote church music and other works.