(They also established the concerto as a vehicle for instrumental virtuosity-fittingly so, given Vivaldi’s stature as one of the finest violinists of his generation more than two hundred of Vivaldi’s concertos are for violin.) Vivaldi’s concertos served as significant models for no less than Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, among other major works of the Baroque period.īut of equal importance to the formal innovations manifested in works like The Four Seasons are the breadth of their dramatic character and the extent of Vivaldi’s vision in imagining the expressive potential of the concerto form. His contributions to the genre, which total more than five hundred, defined the concerto form as a dialog between soloist and ensemble and established certain formal characteristics as standards in concerto writing. The Four Seasons evinces Vivaldi’s importance to the development of the Baroque concerto. The sonnets’ tripartite structures align with the three movements of each concerto, which in turn provide vivid musical depictions of the corresponding text. Vivaldi composed them to accompany a set of four sonnets-“La primavera,” “L’estate,” “L’autunno,” and “L’inverno”-whose authorship is uncertain but generally attributed to Vivaldi himself. The concertos that make up The Four Seasons ( Le quattro stagioni) appeared as the first four of twelve violin concertos published as Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione ( The Contest between Harmony and Invention), op. Such widespread popularity is a double-edged sword: The Four Seasons’s ubiquity in popular culture has too often presented as harmless background music a fiendishly inventive work by a composer of terrific originality. – Musicians using their bodies and different parts of their instruments to make percussive sounds.Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons makes a strong case as the Western canon’s most universally familiar music. – Elements we’ve heard before – crickets, tango, glissando, all coming together in a fugue (when each player takes turns with a theme – before they all the different themes are woven together). Piazzolla: ‘Primavera porteña’ (Spring in Buenos Aires) – Icicles – the chattering of teeth and shivering. Vivaldi: Concerto in F minor, ‘L’inverno’ (Winter) – Hints of Vivaldi’s Summer interwoven like passing characters in a busy square. Perhaps the person is deep in thought – but surrounded by the city. – A love song between the solo cello and violin. Piazzolla: ‘Invierno porteño’ (Winter in Buenos Aires) – A section where someone is sleeping because they stayed up too late eating and drinking! Who do you think the solo violin might be? Imagine the people stamping and linking hands. Vivaldi: Concerto in F major, ‘L’autunno’ (Autumn) – A reflective section introduced by a cello, as if someone new has just walked onto the scene. – Insects – played using a technique called sul ponticello where the musicians place their bow very close to the wooden bridge of their instruments to create more of a rasping sound. Piazzolla: ‘Otoño porteño’ (Autumn in Buenos Aires) – Thunder rumbling in the background – and then a dramatic summer storm. Perhaps it’s feeling a bit lazy in the heat? – The solo violin taking lots of time singing away. Vivaldi: Concerto in G minor, ‘L’estate’ (Summer) – An echo of Vivaldi’s Winter (when it’s summer in Buenos Aires, it’s winter in Italy!) – Sliding movements in the violin, called glissandos, playing over the ‘chugging’ rhythms which set the tango pulse. Piazzolla: ‘Verano porteño’ (Summer in Buenos Aires) – A barking dog in the viola during the slow section. – Twittering birds in the trilling violins. Vivaldi: Concerto in E major, ‘La primavera’ (Spring)
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