CELEBRACIÓN DÍA MUNDIAL DE LA CRUZ ROJA

Entrega de condecoraciones Cruz Roja 2025, presidida por Su Majestad la Reina Doña Letizia

A. Vivaldi (1678—1741) – Largo from the Concerto per Flautino, RV 443

A. Vivaldi (1678—1741) – 1st movement of L'Inverno, RV 297

(Le quattro stagioni, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, op. 8)

J. S. Bach (1685—1750) – Polonaise, Menuet and Badinerie from the Suite en si menor, BWV 1067

Sadly, wars have been, and continue to be, a constant in the history of humanity. But intrinsically bound up with them, unmoved by the passage of time, the values of solidarity and humanitarian aid emerge and endure. Venice, the last third of the 17th century: like other Venetian ospedali (hospitals), la Pietà was established as a hostel for the crusaders. When the Crusades came to an end, it gradually became a charitable institution for orphans and abandoned girls. All of these ospedali were funded by the Republic, whose resources were, in spite of everything, insufficient. One of the strategies of la Pietà was to employ great masters in order to provide a high level of musical excellence and attract audiences. Antonio Vivaldi was a young man of twenty-five when he began working at the Ospedale. Over the following thirty years he would compose most of his great works there, while training the most talented children musically. Not only wars, but also natural disasters continue to place us in scenes of great suffering and need, often in very adverse weather conditions. Antonio Vivaldi, who had survived an earthquake on the very day of his birth, published his Op. 8, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, years later (in 1725). Among its pages are the world-famous “Cuatro estaciones”, with which il prete rosso describes the beauty of nature, but also the languor of bodies under the effects of heat, or the suffering and struggle against the harshness of extreme cold. The invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 marked the beginning of the Second World War. With the Polonaise by Johann Sebastian Bach we travel back two centuries, to another European region and an age of great social contrasts. The German people knew well what had happened in the previous century: the consequences of war, the sacking of cities and the pandemic of the black death. Poverty among the lower classes persisted, as did a high rate of infant mortality (let us remember that of the twenty children Johann Sebastian had, only nine reached adulthood). The Thomasschule in Leipzig, with its musical tradition and its social mission, made the city the Lutheran capital of central Germany: there Bach, the master cantor, instructed a large group of disadvantaged children taken in by the school. Wealthy citizens began to give donations and bequests to talented boys, which allowed some of these children a decent professional future and even the hope of entering well-placed circles.