Grosso mogul

Not to be confused with the Il gran mogol flute concerto.

Grosso mogul, also Il grosso mogul, or capitalised [Il] Grosso Mogul ([The] Great Moghul), RV 208, is a violin concerto in D major by Antonio Vivaldi.^[1][2][3] The concerto, in three movements, is an early work by the Venetian composer.^[4] Around the mid-1710s Johann Sebastian Bach transcribed the concerto for organ, BWV 594, in C major.^[5] A simplified version of the violin concerto, RV 208a, without the elaborated cadenzas that appear in manuscript versions of RV 208, and with a different middle movement, was published around 1720 in Amsterdam as concerto #11 of Vivaldi's Op. 7.^[4]

18th-century portrait of a Venetian violinist, presumably Antonio Vivaldi

History

Vivaldi's violin concerto in D major, RV 208, survives in three manuscripts:^[6][7]

• Vivaldi's autograph score, conserved in Turin.
• A copy of the parts, conserved in the Landesbibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Günther Uecker in Schwerin.^[3][4]
• Another copy of the parts conserved in Cividale del Friuli.^[4]

The Grosso Mogul title appears on the Schwerin manuscript, which was written before 1717.^[3][4][7][8] According to Michael Talbot, the name of the concerto can possibly be linked to Domenico Lalli's Il gran Mogol opera libretto, a setting of which had been presented in Naples in 1713.^[4][9][10] Later settings of this libretto include Giovanni Porta's, staged in Venice in 1717, and Vivaldi's RV 697 (1730).^{[11][12][13][14]}

The Schwerin and Cividale del Friuli copies of the concerto contain two variants of extended cadenzas for unaccompanied violin, in the first and last movements of the concerto.^[4][5][8] The autograph version indicates where such cadenzas can be inserted in these movements, but does not contain the cadenzas.^[8] A manuscript with the written-out cadenzas must have been circulating before c. 1713–1714 when Bach transcribed such versions for solo organ (BWV 594).^[5][7][8]

An earlier version of the concerto, RV 208a, was probably composed by c. 1712–1713.^[7] This version has a different middle movement than the RV 208 version.^[7][8] Vivaldi seems to have had no supervision over the Op. 7 collection, published around 1720 in Amsterdam by the Roger firm, in which the older RV 208a version of the concerto was retained.^[7] This version of the concerto does not contain the extended cadenzas, nor an indication where such cadenzas could be inserted.^[15]

Movements

The concerto has been transmitted in a version for violin soloist, strings (two violin parts and one viola part), and basso continuo.^[3] It has three movements:^[3]

1. Allegro, , D major
2. Recitative: Grave, , B minor – this movement is performed by the violin soloist exclusively accompanied by the thoroughbass.
3. Allegro, ³
   ₄, D major

First movement

The first movement, in D Major is in Ritornello form. The first solo episode consists of sixteenth notes, with double stops on every beat. ^{[citation needed]}

Second movement

The second movement, in B Minor is for the solo violin and basso continuo. There are strange rhythms, like improvisation.

Third movement

The third movement, in D Major, is in Ritornello form, and is the most virtuosic of the 3 movements.

Reception