RV416, copied by Horneck, is not universally agreed by Vivaldi experts to be an early work. The sticking point is the employment for the second and third movements of a ‘large 3’ time signature that stands in both instances for 3/4 metre. In Vivaldi’s autograph manuscripts the reduction of triple-metre time signatures to ‘3’ is observable only from the early 1720s. However, there is a possibility that Horneck, when copying, introduced the simplified time signature of his own volition: it is certainly true that this form was at the time more current in Germany and France than in Italy. In stylistic respects, the concerto conforms perfectly to the model provided by RV420. Its outer movements exhibit a five-ritornello structure, and the slow movement is in miniaturized ritornello form. An interesting detail is that the slow movement, instead of moving to a contrasting key, remains in the tonic, G minor. Such ‘homotonal’ treatment—famous from Haydn’s adoption of the principle half a century later—is unusual for the time, except in chamber sonatas based on dance movements. Vivaldi’s partiality for homotonality is perhaps connected with his strong drive towards thematic (and, one might say, emotional) unity.
from notes by Michael Talbot © 2006
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