Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra

December 5, 2011
This semifictional backstory to The Four Seasons draws on Vivaldi’s role as
music master at Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage renowned for its all-girl orchestra (the girls performed concealed by a curtain, hence the title). Costanza (Mozart Finds a Melody) imagines that a young, irrepressible musical copyist, Candida, actually inspired the naming of The Four Seasons (and the unattributed sonnets that accompany the
music) by scribbling seasonally themed verse beside the evocative notes as she made sheet music for each player (“She imagined herself skating on the frozen
canals. ‘My teeth chatter with the frozen cold,’ she said”). It’s a laudable idea to
enrich understanding of a composition so ubiquitous it’s become synonymous with hold music, and Costanza’s velvety pastel pictures, with their doll-like characterizations, dreamy settings, and palette of Venetian blues and greens, lends a fairy tale feel to the story. Though readers will probably want to know more about the girls’ unusual lives than Costanza tells them, he plants the seeds of musical appreciation amid somewhat unfocused storytelling. Ages 6–10. Agent: Painted Words.

December 15, 2011
Girls and women are often the overlooked players in music history. This appealing book highlights a little-known facet of Antonio Vivaldi's composing life. He wrote much of his music for an Invisible Orchestra made up of girls from a Venetian orphanage, who performed behind a curtain. Costanza imagines that one of the young orphans wrote the four sonnets that inspired Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." Candida is Vivaldi's copyist, and she spends her days transcribing parts from his scores onto sheets for the musicians. His music feeds her daydreams, and she unconsciously scribbles poetry in the margins. Bright pastels in jewel tones create a patchwork of colors depicting the musical sources of Candida's inspiration; glittering stars and shimmering light dance across the pages. In contrast, the scores are drawn on a parchmentlike background. The musical notation is accurate and clearly legible, which will satisfy readers who are themselves musicians. Less pleasing is the sporadic use of italics, which has more of the effect of a reading primer than musical ornamentation. Some are effective as emphasis, others less so: "… to great applause… Candida stepped out and took a bow." Fluid pacing of scenes lyrically advances the story, although the characters' outsized heads sometimes threaten to overwhelm the charm of the illustrations. Altogether, a pleasing interpretation of the creative process and the power of art to connect individuals. (author's note) (Picture book. 4­–7)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012

K-Gr 3-Vivaldi's musicians were orphan girls who performed behind the stage. Candida is a member of the Invisible Orchestra, and her job is to copy the composer's notes for each instrument. As she is transcribing La Notte, a concerto about the night, she imagines the violins as "glittering stars ... .The violas are the fireflies; the cellos below them, the crickets." While copying a concerto about winter, she is equally moved by the music and can hear the sound of "frozen raindrops" against the windowpane and feel her "teeth chatter." She writes her poetic imaginings in the margins of L'Inverno, much to the amusement of the musicians. Vivaldi, however, delights in her writing and is inspired to create The Four Seasons. Costanza's pastel illustrations evoke a Venetian setting bathed in a warm glow. There is a lovely melodic quality to the text. An author's note provides factual details about Vivaldi and the orphans at the Ospedale della Pieta and the origins of this story. A good introduction to both music history and creative writing.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2012
Grades 1-3 In eighteenth-century Venice, prolific Antonio Vivaldi's compositions are performed by an all-girl orchestra from the orphanage Ospedale della Pieta. Playing behind a dark curtain, his Invisible Orchestra receives much acclaim, but it is daydreaming Candida who is the unsung hero of this ensemble: the young girl dutifully copies Vivaldi's daily scores for the entire orchestra. When she works on a concerto paying homage to winter, the notes make Candida's imagination take flight, and she pens lines of poetry into the margins of the music, inspiring the composer to create his most famous and innovative work yetThe Four Seasons. Radiant, softly textured illustrations, featuring rich jewel tones, dynamic scenes, and plenty of delightful Venetian flourishes, elevate this look at musical composition from the author-illustrator of Mozart Finds a Melody (2004). A note provides some detail about the remarkable orchestra, though readers may find themselves wanting more about such an intriguing footnote in classical-music history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)