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]
Vivaldi's violin concerto in D major, RV 208, survives in three manuscripts: [6] [7]
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]
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]
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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]
The second movement, in B Minor is for the solo violin and basso continuo. There are strange rhythms, like improvisation.
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The third movement, in D Major, is in Ritornello form, and is the most virtuosic of the 3 movements.
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