Western classical composers have often featured South Asia in their operas and concertos, but one of the earliest was probably Antonio Vivaldi, the early-18th century Italian composer best known for The Four Seasons.
In the 1720s, Vivaldi wrote an energetic violin concerto called Il Grosso Mogul (The Great Mogul), an allusion to the Mughal emperor Akbar who ruled Indian lands in the 16th century. The lively opening and closing movements sandwich a more supposedly oriental second movement that Vivaldi has infused with a mysterious air.
In this video, Switzerland’s Basel Chamber Orchestra performs the concerto with violinist Giuliano Carmignola as the soloist.
Il Grosso Mogul, however, is not to be confused with Il Gran Mogol, another of Vivaldi’s compositions from the same period that also means, confusingly, "great" or "grand" Mughal.
Il Gran Mogol, a flute concerto, is arguably the more interesting of the two because it was discovered nearly 300 years after Vivaldi wrote it. In 2010, British musicologist Andrew Woolley came across the lost composition among the family papers of the Marquess of Lothian, a Scottish noble family of the 17th century.
The rediscovered flute concerto is obviously inspired by India and the Mughal empire, but is also considered to be a part of a quartet of "country" concertos Vivaldi wrote. The other three – inspired by Spain, France and England, are still lost, although references to them have been found in other documents over the years.
Among the first to record Il Gran Mogul after it was rediscovered was British music ensemble La Serenissima in 2010.
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In the 1720s, Vivaldi wrote an energetic violin concerto called Il Grosso Mogul (The Great Mogul), an allusion to the Mughal emperor Akbar who ruled Indian lands in the 16th century. The lively opening and closing movements sandwich a more supposedly oriental second movement that Vivaldi has infused with a mysterious air.
In this video, Switzerland’s Basel Chamber Orchestra performs the concerto with violinist Giuliano Carmignola as the soloist.
Il Grosso Mogul, however, is not to be confused with Il Gran Mogol, another of Vivaldi’s compositions from the same period that also means, confusingly, "great" or "grand" Mughal.
Il Gran Mogol, a flute concerto, is arguably the more interesting of the two because it was discovered nearly 300 years after Vivaldi wrote it. In 2010, British musicologist Andrew Woolley came across the lost composition among the family papers of the Marquess of Lothian, a Scottish noble family of the 17th century.
The rediscovered flute concerto is obviously inspired by India and the Mughal empire, but is also considered to be a part of a quartet of "country" concertos Vivaldi wrote. The other three – inspired by Spain, France and England, are still lost, although references to them have been found in other documents over the years.
Among the first to record Il Gran Mogul after it was rediscovered was British music ensemble La Serenissima in 2010.