56 pages • 1-hour read
The Instrumentalist
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Themes
Content Warning: This section includes discussion of child death.
The Erasure of Women’s Creative Labor
While the orchestra provides many opportunities for the orphaned girls, the novel examines how such opportunities come with strict limits due to gender. Vivaldi’s willingness to use his students’ work without proper credit reflects the broader sexism of 18th-century Venice, revealing the historical erasure of women’s creative labor.
Vivaldi first begins to exploit the creativity of the figlie di coro through the contest that he holds to grant the most talented among them the “opportunity” to work “with him” on his composition. He informs them: “I have been tasked with composing something already, for the war effort against the Turks in Corfu. I will hold a competition among the figlie to help me with it” (137). The girls view this as a chance to be singled out by their teacher, but to Vivaldi it is a way to decrease his labor without relinquishing any of his glory: He will not credit his assistant for her contributions. This contest reflects Vivaldi’s tendency to manipulate his pupils, as he misrepresents the contest as well as his own intentions without any true regard for the girls’ feelings or careers.
Vivaldi begins to exploit Anna Maria when she becomes his composing assistant, noticing her talent but refusing to nurture it for its own sake. When she begins composing for him, her work is too unique, too unlike his. He explains to her: “You must learn my language” (149, emphasis added). He does not want her to contribute her own compositions. Rather, he wants her to create work in the style of his. In this way, he executes a double-erasure of Anna Maria’s creative labor: He does not credit her for her contributions to his pieces, and he attempts to stifle her own creative voice.
The moment when Vivaldi burns Anna Maria’s compositions functions as a key example of the erasure of women’s creative labor: Anna Maria’s unique compositions are erased from the annals of history as Vivaldi attempts to ensure her real genius remains unknown. During a heated exchange, Vivaldi scoffs at her desire, as a woman, to become anything other than an instrumentalist. He reinforces patriarchal social norms by angrily telling her that it is not possible for women to equal men in the world of composing.
Anna Maria learns to resist this erasure by forming bonds with other women in the orchestra. Together, they compose a piece and unexpectedly perform it during an important concert, leaving Vivaldi enraged and sidelined. In doing so, Anna Maria and her friends attempt to assert and celebrate their own creative talents and hard work in a world that so often ignores them.
Ambition and Drive Versus Friendship and Loyalty
During the novel’s early scenes, Anna Maria’s mother desperately wants her daughter to accomplish “great things” in her life. As Anna Maria grows up and discovers her talent for music, she becomes convinced that her ambition is the only thing that matters, consistently choosing her art over nurturing her bonds with others. Through Anna Maria’s experiences with other women especially, the novel explores ambition and drive versus friendship and loyalty.
Anna Maria’s ambition only increases when she begins to study with Vivaldi. Vivaldi encourages her to direct the entirety of her attention toward music, forsaking friendship in favor of her career. Although Anna Maria describes her two best friends, Paulina and Agata, as “sisters” and cannot recall a time when they were not friends, she is willing to spend less and less time with them so that she can produce the musical results that Vivaldi demands. Anna Maria is willing to accept the superiority of Vivaldi’s values system even as it robs her of the only real relationships she has ever had. She feels she is destined for greatness and cannot achieve it without devoting herself entirely to music. She views the other musicians in the orchestra as competition rather than as compatriots.The results of Anna Maria’s ambition are, at times, tragic. When Paulina begs her to go to Agata’s sickbed, Anna Maria refuses. When Paulina balks, she responds: “Don’t look at me like that. I’m going to be the best. This is what it takes” (74). Anna Maria would rather advance her career than spend an evening comforting her ailing friend. When Agata dies, however, Anna Maria is stricken. Paulina ends their friendship, which further pains her, but she finds solace in music. She throws herself into her craft because becoming “the best” is her primary goal, but also because it provides her with a way to divert her attention from her sadness. She echoes this decision later in the novel when she refuses to help Paulina deliver her child
Rejecting Vivaldi as a mentor allows Anna Maria to reject his entire worldview and make room in her life for friendship. She realizes that it is possible to achieve success while collaborating with others. The composition that she crafts with Chiara and the rest of the musicians in the figlie di coro represents the marriage of ambition and friendship: They create a beautiful piece together. Girls she has long viewed as competitors have become collaborators, friends, and colleagues. The novel’s ending thus suggests that more is achieved through cooperation than competition.
The Complexity of Mentor-Protégé Dynamics
Vivaldi’s mentor-protégé relationship with Anna Maria is fraught and defined by seeming contradictions. He recognizes her talent early in her musical career and nurtures it, although in large part to further his own reputation. He can be caring and she at times thinks of him as a father figure, but he has a volatile personality and is also capable of coldness and cruelty. Through Vivaldi and Anna Maria’s dynamic, the novel explores the complexity of mentor-protégé dynamics.
Initially, Vivaldi seems to be a force for good in Anna Maria’s life. He is the first of Anna Maria’s teachers to take a serious interest in her, and it is under his tutelage that she begins to devote herself entirely to the violin. He recognizes a talent in her akin to his own virtuosity, and the other girls understand that he has made her his protégé because she has a unique gift. He provides her with opportunities not given to the other girls: She has private lessons, is exempt from the worst of the Pietà’s chore duties, is given precious paper and ink to compose with, and he arranges for a beautiful violin to be crafted especially for her.
At worst, however, their relationship is exploitive. Vivaldi hides the complexity of his motives from her, styling himself as her mentor and protector while remaining keen to exploit her for his own advantage. He nurtures Anna Maria’s talent because he understands that her ability will reflect well on him and that her presence in the figlie di coro will increase its greatness and revenue. When Anna Maria dares to defy him and assert her own worth, he immediately becomes cruel and belligerent, telling Anna Maria: “You should have drowned in the canal like the others” (252). His quickness to humiliate and dehumanize her exposes his lack of genuine concern for her well-being.
When Anna Maria realizes that Vivaldi never had any intention of crediting her for her ideas, she is faced with a difficult choice: She can either break free from a man whom she has long considered her cherished mentor, or continue to work for him, uncredited. His cruelty toward her during their confrontation makes her decision easier, but she also draws upon another of the qualities that the two share: willpower. Even when she is a young child, Vivaldi sees that Anna Maria’s ambition matches his own, but he does not quite understand that she is as headstrong as he is. He assumes that because she is a woman, she perceives self-determination as out of her reach.
Ultimately, Anna Maria rejects Vivaldi’s influence. She stops composing for him and turns her attention instead to her own work and the work that she creates in collaboration with the rest of the figlie di coro. She obtains the position of Master of Music, demonstrating that it is possible for a protégé to assert her own musical genius and become successful in her own right.
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