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Vivaldi Four Seasons Year



A landscape with rivers and figures by Marco Ricci, a contemporary of Vivaldi who shared his bold representations of elemental forces.

Four Seasons By Antonio Vivaldi free download, and many more programs. An exciting way to learn the seasons of the year with four season activities. Learn to understand four seasons e.g.

  • As a descriptive basis for his Four Seasons, Vivaldi took four Sonnets, apparently written by himself. Each of the four sonnets is expressed in a concerto, which in turn is divided into three phrases or ideas, reflected in the three movements (fast-slow-fast) of each concerto. The published scores (by Estienne Roger of Amsterdam in 1725) are.
  • The Four Seasons, Italian Le quattro stagioni, group of four violin concerti by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives a musical expression to a season of the year. They were written about 1720 and were published in 1725 ( Amsterdam ), together with eight additional violin concerti, as Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (“The Contest Between Harmony and Invention”).
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Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are four violin concertos depicting the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They are some of the most extravagant examples of music that tells a story (“program music”) from the baroque period. Here are some key moments to listen out for.

About Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Title:Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), op. 8
Composer: Antonio Vivaldi (1678­–1741)
Period: Baroque
Composed: c. 1723, Italy
Published: 1725, Amsterdam as part of a set of 12 concertos, Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention)
Genre: Concerto (set of four)
Instrumentation: Solo violin, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, organ or harpsichord
Duration: c. 45 minutes

What to Listen for in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Timecodes refer to the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra's album Vivaldi: The Four Seasons with Elizabeth Wallfisch as soloist (ABC Classics).

Each concerto has three movements, Fast-Slow-Fast. Vivaldi published the concertos alongside sonnets, possibly written by himself, describing the events of the music in meticulous detail.

Birds in Spring

Best Vivaldi Four Seasons Performance

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The first movement celebrates the start of spring with singing birds, murmuring streams, and soft breezes, which are depicted between returns of the infectiously happy theme.

The theme’s first statement is interrupted by a chorus of birds [0:30]. Vivaldi imitates birdsong in five different ways. The solo violin plays trills and a solo first violin responds with a dipping three-note pattern ending in a trill. Then the solo violin changes to short, chirping “staccato” notes while the first violin plays a downward run. The chorus builds with the second violins playing a rising skipping pattern that becomes faster and more even before becoming a rapid trill. These are clearly not Australian birds.

Summer storms

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The first two movements of Summer depict an experience that will be familiar to all Australians: lying in the suffocating heat waiting for the wind to change. A fierce north wind does eventually arrive. The third movement depicts the ensuing storm with vigorous scrubbing and wild arpeggios.

Drunk peasants in Autumn

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Autumn opens with the songs and dances of peasants as they celebrate the harvest. “Fired up by Bacchus’ liquor” the solo violin breaks from the village dance and ranges virtuosically between its high and low registers [1:10]. The first violin is still in control of itself, if a bit boorish, but Vivaldi specifically marks the string accompaniment to be played “drunk” [1:32]. The solo violinist finally succumbs to Bacchus [2:33], though interpretations differ in their portrayal of inebriation. The peasants end their revelry in sleep [3:30].

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The slow movement of Autumn depicts “the season that invites so many, many / Out of their sweetest slumber to fine enjoyment,” but you tell me if these woozy chords don’t sound like a hangover.

Winter Chills

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Winter opens with relentless icy daggers that engulf the string orchestra. The solo violin breaks in with the “harsh breath of a horrid wind,” though the effect again depends upon the performance. The first violins try to keep warm with fast, running notes and wide leaps depicting stamping feet [1:05].

Vivaldi Four Seasons Year Composed

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But winter isn’t all icy winds, there is also the cosy feeling of sitting by the fire with the rain dripping outside. Vivaldi has the violins pluck the strings to imitate the sound of raindrops while the solo violin plays a pleasant, contented tune.


THE FOUR SEASONS:

1: Concerto No.1 in E Major, RV 269, 'SPRING'
Allegro / Largo / Allegro (Pastorale dance)

2: Concerto No.2 in g minor, RV 315, 'SUMMER'
Allegro non molto - Allegro / Adagio – Presto – Adagio / Presto (Summer Storm)

3: Concerto No.3 in F Major, RV 293, 'AUTUMN'
Allegro (Peasant Dance and Song) / Adagio molto (Sleeping Drunkards) / Allegro (The Hunt)

4: Concerto No.4 in f minor, RV 297, 'WINTER'
Allegro non molto / Largo / Allegro

One of the earliest uses of music was in the accompaniment of theatrical dance and story-telling, so it is natural that composers should from time to time produce what we know as 'program music' – music written to portray events, activities or moods such as pastoral scenes or storms. Music representing the moods of the four seasons has always been popular, and baroque composers such as Werner and Fischer among others produced cycles of concertos representing the fours seasons. But none were to do so in such precise pictorial detail as Antonio Vivaldi in his Four Seasons concertos.

As a descriptive basis for his Four Seasons, Vivaldi took four Sonnets, apparently written by himself. Each of the four sonnets is expressed in a concerto, which in turn is divided into three phrases or ideas, reflected in the three movements (fast-slow-fast) of each concerto. The published scores (by Estienne Roger of Amsterdam in 1725) are marked to indicate which musical passages are representative of which verses of the sonnet. It is advisable, at least during the first few hearings, to follow the sonnets and music together, for they are bound up with one another to an extent rarely heard in any other programmatic pieces either of the baroque period or subsequently.

Spring – Concerto in E Major

Allegro
'Giunt' è la Primavera e festosetti
La Salutan gl' Augei con lieto canto,
E i fonti allo Spirar de' Zeffiretti
Con dolce mormorio Scorrono intanto:
Vengon' coprendo l' aer di nero amanto
E Lampi, e tuoni ad annuntiarla eletti
Indi tacendo questi, gl' Augelletti;
Tornan' di nuovo al lor canoro incanto:'

Largo
'E quindi sul fiorito ameno prato
Al caro mormorio di fronde e piante
Dorme 'l Caprar col fido can' à lato.'

Allegro
'Di pastoral Zampogna al suon festante
Danzan Ninfe e Pastor nel tetto amato
Di primavera all' apparir brillante.'

Spring – Concerto in E Major

Allegro
Springtime is upon us.
The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven,
Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.
Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.
Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.

Summer – Concerto in g-minor

Allegro non molto
'Sotto dura Staggion dal Sole accesa
Langue l' huom, langue 'l gregge, ed arde il Pino;
Scioglie il Cucco la Voce, e tosto intesa
Canta la Tortorella e 'l gardelino.
Zeffiro dolce Spira, mà contesa
Muove Borea improviso al Suo vicino;
E piange il Pastorel, perche sospesa
Teme fiera borasca, e 'l suo destino;'

Adagio e piano - Presto e forte
'Toglie alle membra lasse il Suo riposo
Il timore de' Lampi, e tuoni fieri
E de mosche, e mossoni il Stuol furioso!'

Presto
'Ah che pur troppo i Suo timor Son veri
Tuona e fulmina il Ciel e grandioso
Tronca il capo alle Spiche e a' grani alteri.'

Summer – Concerto in g-minor

Allegro non molto
Beneath the blazing sun's relentless heat
men and flocks are sweltering,
pines are scorched.
We hear the cuckoo's voice; then sweet songs of the turtle dove and finch are heard.
Soft breezes stir the air….but threatening north wind sweeps them suddenly aside. The shepherd trembles, fearful of violent storm and what may lie ahead.
Adagio e piano - Presto e forte
His limbs are now awakened from their repose by fear of lightning's flash and thunder's roar, as gnats and flies buzz furiously around.

Presto
Alas, his worst fears were justified, as the heavens roar and great hailstones beat down upon the proudly standing corn.

Autumn – Concerto in F Major

Allegro
'Celebra il Vilanel con balli e Canti
Del felice raccolto il bel piacere
E del liquor de Bacco accesi tanti
Finiscono col Sonno il lor godere'
Adagio molto
'Fà ch' ogn' uno tralasci e balli e canti
L' aria che temperata dà piacere,
E la Staggion ch' invita tanti e tanti
D' un dolcissimo Sonno al bel godere.'
Allegro
'I cacciator alla nov' alba à caccia
Con corni, Schioppi, e canni escono fuore
Fugge la belua, e Seguono la traccia;
Già Sbigottita, e lassa al gran rumore
De' Schioppi e canni, ferita minaccia
Languida di fuggir, mà oppressa muore.'

Autumn – Concerto in F Major

Allegro
The peasant celebrates with song and dance the harvest safely gathered in.
The cup of Bacchus flows freely, and many find their relief in deep slumber.
Adagio molto
The singing and the dancing die away
as cooling breezes fan the pleasant air,
inviting all to sleep
without a care.
Allegro
The hunters emerge at dawn,
ready for the chase,
with horns and dogs and cries.
Their quarry flees while they give chase.
Terrified and wounded, the prey struggles on,
but, harried, dies.

Winter – Concerto in f-minor

Allegro non molto
'Aggiacciato tremar trà neri algenti
Al Severo Spirar d' orrido Vento,
Correr battendo i piedi ogni momento;
E pel Soverchio gel batter i denti;'
Largo
'Passar al foco i di quieti e contenti
Mentre la pioggia fuor bagna ben cento'
Allegro
'Caminar Sopra 'l giaccio, e à passo lento
Per timor di cader gersene intenti;
Gir forte Sdruzziolar, cader à terra
Di nuove ir Sopra 'l giaccio e correr forte
Sin ch' il giaccio si rompe, e si disserra;
Sentir uscir dalle ferrate porte
Sirocco Borea, e tutti i Venti in guerra
Quest' é 'l verno, mà tal, che gioja apporte.'

Winter – Concerto in f-minor

Allegro non molto
Shivering, frozen mid the frosty snow in biting, stinging winds;
running to and fro to stamp one's icy feet, teeth chattering in the bitter chill.
Largo
To rest contentedly beside the hearth, while those outside are drenched by pouring rain.
Allegro
We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and falling.
Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up.
We feel the chill north winds coarse through the home despite the locked and bolted doors…
this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own delights.

BMC 19
ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741):
The FOUR SEASONS
The Modena Chamber Orchestra,
Leader, and solo violin, Francesco Calvi
Caterina Montanari, harpsichord continuo
GLORIA in D, RV 589
Mimi Coertse & Ina Dressel, sopranos / Sonja Draxler, alto
Vienna Academy Chorus & State Opera Orchestra
Conductor Hermann Scherchen
This lyrical performance by the Modena Chamber Orchestra under Maestro Calvi reflects every detail of the original sonnets.. the birds of spring, a summer storm, the peasants' revelries when the autumn harvest is completed, the chattering teeth as the winter wind blows. English text of the sonnets is enclosed with the CD.

'Four Seasons' recordings are usually accompanied on a CD by some similar string concertos. The Baroque Music Club CD however has taken the opportunity to offer something different and a complete contrast in sound, with Vivaldi's magnificent Gloria in a wonderful performance full of sensitivity and detailing.

Here on one CD is something familiar, something perhaps a little less known. The Gloria will certainly prove a revelation to those unfamiliar with it.

Total Time: 74:51.

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