Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra

by Stephen Costanza

Every day, Antonio Vivaldi composes a new orchestral piece, and every day, the orphan Candida transcribes Vivaldi's masterpiece into sheet music for the Invisible Orchestra. Nobody notices Candida or appreciates her hard work. But one day Candida accidentally slips a poem she wrote into the sheet music and the girl so often behind the shadows gets recognized for her own talents. Vivaldi really did have an Invisible Orchestra made up of orphan girls he taught to play. This beautiful book pays tribute to their inspiration.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Art, Historical, Juvenile

40 pages

First published February 28, 2012

Reviews

[Tammy M]

School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-Vivaldi's musicians were orphan girls who performed behind the stage. Candida is a member of the Invisible Orchestra, and her job is to copy the composer's notes for each instrument. As she is transcribing La Notte, a concerto about the night, she imagines the violins as "glittering stars . .The violas are the fireflies; the cellos below them, the crickets." While copying a concerto about winter, she is equally moved by the music and can hear the sound of "frozen raindrops" against the windowpane and feel her "teeth chatter." She writes her poetic imaginings in the margins of L'Inverno, much to the amusement of the musicians. Vivaldi, however, delights in her writing and is inspired to create The Four Seasons. Costanza's pastel illustrations evoke a Venetian setting bathed in a warm glow. There is a lovely melodic quality to the text. An author's note provides factual details about Vivaldi and the orphans at the Ospedale della Pieta and the origins of this story. A good introduction to both music history and creative writing.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


**I enjoyed reading about a orphan girl named Candida, who each morning receives new music. With a steady hand she writes the notes for each instrument and the new composition. While thinking of the instrument and since there is no words, she comes up with a poem that she daydreams of how the music may sound if there had been words.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wondered what you're supposed to be thinking about or envisioning when classical music is played? This book will introduce you to music's beautiful thoughts and the illustrations it paints in our head when we listen. A great read for your child before visiting the symphony!

Ages: 6 - 10

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[Natalie Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra is the fanciful story of Candida, an orphan girl from the famed Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, Italy, whom the author imagines filling the role of copyist for Vivaldi’s compositions. Candida’s daydreams lead her to write lines of poetry, which Vivaldi then translates into his movements of Four Seasons. The story lacks a clear arc and beyond the tribute to the “invisible orchestra” of orphan girls who performed his works, there is not much of historical or musical value in the story. The pastel illustrations by Véronique Lefèvre Sweet pay tribute to the dreamy emphasis of the book.

[Caroline Herfindahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something very beautiful about this book. It would make a wonderful companion to listening to Vivaldi. Although the story of Candida her is an imagining I didn’t realize that Vivaldi had orphan girls play his music or that there are sinners connected to his Four Seasons score.

[Sue Mosher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story and interesting information in the end notes.

[Brianna Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty illustrations. Bede never read.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An invisible copyist, who is in turn hard at work for the invisible orchestra, dreamily copies the parts of Vivaldi's works for each instrument to play.

[sincerely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty and readable. But didn't teach my kids a whole lot about Vivaldi. I think this is a great intro for the 5 year old crowd. We enjoyed Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Celenza more

[Emmanuella Frimpong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked reading this book, I loved the illustration and the inspiring picture book

[Tori Fullmer]

Historical fiction. An orphan girl inspires one of Vivaldi's greatest works. A great factual summary is found in the back of the book. The illustrations bring the story to life.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fictional story about a real composer and existing poetry. When The Four Seasons, one of Vivaldi's most well known pieces, was first published it appeared as music and four sonnets. The author remained anonymous. Stephen Costanza imagines where the poetry might have come from. Vivaldi's attachment to a girls' orphanage is also written about in The Orphan Singer. I have mixed feelings about children's books that are both fictional and non. My students often remember books as either true or imagined but rarely distinguish between the two in one work. Another good book on the subject is I, Vivaldi. The well known author of composer bios for children, Anna Harwell Celenza, is releasing one on Vivaldi's Four Seasons this summer - July 2012.

[Elizabeth Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Costanza’s Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra is a perfect story for 1st through 3rd grade that captures historical elements (historical fiction) of Antonio Vivaldi’s life. The story begins with Vivaldi’s musicians, who are youth from the local orphanage and one in particular, named Candida. Candida, described as a daydreamer, is charged with the task of copying Vivaldi’s music for the orchestra. In one instance, she scribes poetry between the lines of a piece, to the amusement of the orchestra. However, Vivaldi takes inspiration from it and creates a concerto titled, “The Four Season”, which include her poetry.
Personally, I enjoyed how the story unfolded through beautiful illustrations that captives and mesmerized. Additionally, the book provides the potential for great discussions in the classroom with bolded vocabulary. The book also models the usage of vivid descriptions and anthropomorphism.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivaldi writes orchestral pieces performed by an "invisible orchestra" of orphan girls, who perform hidden behind a curtain. The orphan Candida, whose job it is to transcribe Vivaldi's notes for the orchestra, daydreams about the music. Her daydreams are shown in beautiful spreads of dreamy pastels. Candida writes poetry inspired by the music, and faces teasing from the orchestra when they discover her writings. But Vivaldi is inspired to write "The Four Seasons."

The author takes several little-known topics (the invisible orchestra, the sonnets that accompany Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and the unknown authorship of those sonnets) and creates a story that is entertaining, educational, and pretty to behold, all at the same time.

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story of the most invisible person in Vivaldi's "Invisible Orchestra (orphan girls who played behind a curtain to accompany him). Candida is the little girl responsible for copying the music Vivaldi writes for all the orchestra. She sees his titles and imagines the roles all the instruments would play (e.g. in the song The Night the bassists would be moonlight, the violinists stars). One day she writes a bit of poetry beside the music and gets taunted for it by the other girls. Vivaldi happens to see it and is inspired. He writes (... wait for it!) The Four Seasons.

Lovely, imaginative, colorful illustrations.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of an imaginary copyist from whom Vivaldi took inspiration for his Four Seasons. Candida's job is to prepare the music for the orchestra. As she does this she daydreams and sometimes those daydreams come out as words.

I picked this book up because Vivaldi is a composer whose music I enjoy.

I finished the book because I wanted to see if this was a true story.

I would recommend this to Nevyn. She would like the music that I would play as we read the story together.

[Louella Wan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells you a bit of history of the composer Antonio Vivaldi. It talks about this girl who prepares music for Vivaldi's orchestra to play for the concert. One day, she starts to copy the notes off of some sheets of music. This girl has a very wild imagination and starts to imagine the different parts of the orchestra depicting different seasons.
I recommend this book to people who like music

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's note answers my pressing question about whether this was fact or fiction. Based on the truth about Vivaldi's composing patterns, performances, and processes, including his involvement with the orphanage/orchestra/singers. This particular tale is fictional, but brings to life a distant and detached composer in ways that spark interest and encourages further exploration.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that Elaina likes this book. It talks about hearing music and creating stories in your head which is what you can talk about but can't teach. It also shows little girls that make a BIG difference! This is a library book but I think we need this for our own library.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A made up story based on real events, the pastel illustrations are Escher-esque and have an fun sense of mystery.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one more and would have loved to see this as a fictionalized biography similar to A Boy Called Dickens. But alas it was not. Sweet illustrations.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about classical music and poetry with gorgeous, dreamy illustrations? Yes please!

Could be a good mentor text for talking about imagery or showing, not telling.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sense & use of the imagination!

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivaldi writes beautiful music and Candida, an orphan fills in the words.

[Aimee Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the real story of Vivaldi's orchestra of orphan girls, this is a beautifully written tale.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated picture book about Vivaldi, his time, and the orphan girls who helped his art come to life.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Serina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooo! Very nice, hisorical but not obviously so. And I love anything with the female empowerment and imagination.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely book. I enjoyed reading it to me children, and we enjoyed talking about the music Vivaldi created. The illustrations were beautiful and the story was simple and quaint.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting theory on why the Four Seasons include poetic notes. Love that this is based in history but interjects plenty of artistic license.