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Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) · sheet music

  • Key G major
  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 2–9
  • Passages 6

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Antonio Vivaldi, Italian baroque (1678–1741). The reading release has 6 passages from this piece at levels 2–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 25–28 for the left hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299.

  1. Left hand alone · bars 25–28 level 2
  2. Hands together · bars 1–8 level 9

How to play Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299

  1. Tempo:Allegro assai in 2/4 means a quick two-beat pulse; begin well below performance speed so every chord lands cleanly, then raise it in small steps.
  2. Right hand:The right hand moves between full chords for the ensemble passages and eighth-note figures for the solo violin's lines; treat each figure as a broken-chord shape and move the hand as a unit.
  3. Left hand:The left hand plays the bass, often in octaves that jump between registers; practice the octave leaps alone and keep the wrist loose so they do not get heavy.
  4. Hands together:In the opening chords both hands strike together, so practice them slowly as blocks until the attacks line up exactly.
  5. Dynamics:Use contrasting levels for the ensemble passages and the solo episodes, a Baroque habit of terraced dynamics, instead of gradual swells inside each figure.
  6. Rhythm:Keep the eighth-note pulse strict through the rests and short notes of the opening, because the energy depends on steadiness more than volume.
  7. Practice:Learn the ensemble passages and solo episodes as separate units, then link them; loop the widest octave leap in each phrase until it is dependable.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the octave bass get heavy and slow in the leaps. Fix: Practice the left hand alone with a metronome, keeping each octave light and on time.
  • Rolling or spreading the full chords so the hands do not land together. Fix: Play the chord progression slowly as silent shapes first, then strike each chord as one sound.
  • Starting too fast and falling apart in the solo figures. Fix: Start at half speed and raise the metronome only when the previous setting is clean.

Structure: concerto in three movements (fast–slow–fast)

RV 299 follows the usual fast–slow–fast plan of a Vivaldi concerto. In the outer movements, full-ensemble passages marked Tutti return between Solo episodes for the violin; the slow movement sits in between. This page uses only the first movement.

I · Allegro assai (G major)
In 2/4. The full-ensemble opening hammers out G major chords over an octave bass, and the solo violin answers with lively eighth-note figures; in a keyboard version, both become chord shapes and broken-chord lines for the right hand.
II · Slow movement
A slow middle movement that gives the soloist a quieter, lyrical stretch between the two fast movements.
III · Allegro (G major)
A fast finale that brings back the energy of the opening, again alternating full-ensemble and solo passages.

About Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299

Antonio Vivaldi was ordained a priest in 1703 and that same year became master of violin at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. He wrote more than 500 concertos, about 230 of them for solo violin and strings.

RV 299 is a three-movement violin concerto in G major. It was printed in Amsterdam by Estienne Roger in 1720 as part of Vivaldi's Twelve Concertos, Op. 7, which came in two books of six; it is the second concerto of the second book, so it appears both as Op. 7 No. 8 and as Op. 7, Book 2, No. 2. The opening movement is marked Allegro assai in 2/4.

Johann Sebastian Bach arranged this concerto for solo keyboard as his Concerto in G major, BWV 973, one of several keyboard transcriptions he made of Italian concertos. That is why pianists meet RV 299 as a keyboard piece; the music on this page is a keyboard version of the first movement.

  • Vivaldi was nicknamed the Red Priest, probably for the red hair that ran in his family.
  • A London edition printed by John Walsh around 1730, Select Harmony, includes RV 299 as Concerto X, with the first movement marked Allegro Assai in 2/4.
  • Sources disagree on the slow movement's marking: IMSLP gives Larghetto staccato, while Wikipedia lists Largo, cantabile.
  • Vivaldi's music was revived in the twentieth century, helped by the Vivaldi Week that Alfredo Casella organized in 1939.

Why the first passage is level 2

That passage is level 2 rather than 1 because notes come faster than one per beat, it leaps a minor third, it moves in eighth notes.

The right hand alternates full chords and broken-chord figures, so read by chord and direction rather than note by note; the left hand's octaves move mostly by leap between a few bass notes.

Questions about Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299

How hard is Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299 to play?
Its passages grade from level 2 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299 for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 25–28 for the left hand alone, the level-2 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 2 because notes come faster than one per beat and it leaps a minor third.
What key and time signature is Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299 in?
Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299 is in G major, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299?
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian baroque (1678–1741). Antonio Vivaldi was ordained a priest in 1703 and that same year became master of violin at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice.
Can I practice Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 6 graded passages from Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 299 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Did Bach arrange Vivaldi's G major violin concerto for keyboard?
Yes. Bach's Concerto in G major for solo keyboard, BWV 973, is his arrangement of RV 299.
Why is RV 299 called both Op. 7 No. 8 and Op. 7 No. 2?
Op. 7 was printed in two books of six concertos; RV 299 is the second concerto of the second book, which makes it No. 8 of the full set.
Is this page the whole concerto?
No. The passages here come from a keyboard version of the first movement, Allegro assai.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 6 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 2
bars 25–28 left hand · bars 49–52 left hand
Level 3
bars 25–30 left hand
Level 9
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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