Except for an interim appointment (ca. 1719- 1723) as Maestro di cappella to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, then resident in Mantua, Vivaldi was employed throughout his career as a musician at the Seminario musicale dell' Ospedale della pietà in Venice (1703-1740). Vivaldi composed more that 40 operas, 3 oratorios, numerous secular cantatas, Vespers, hundreds of concerti grossi and solo concerti and chamber music. Vivaldi's tendency to confuse novelty of technique with musical content was more than offset by his masterful incorporation of formal elements into the evolving concerto form. While in Weimar, Bach's instrumental works came under the influence of Vivaldi's Italian concerto. Later, through the work of Pisendel (student of Vivaldi 1716-1717) and the Vivaldi cult in Dresden, Bach's work acquired an even more Italian flair. Johann Sebastian arranged Vivaldi concerti for the organ, several for the clavier, and one for four clavier and string quartet. It is likely that Antonio Vivaldi exercised more of an influence over Bach's instrumental style than any other composer.
