Summer’s slow introduction suggests a hot, humid Italian summer day: “Under the merciless summer sun languishes man and flock the pine tree burns…” Lethargic birdcalls are abruptly interrupted by violent thunderstorms. In the third movement, a country dance celebrates the season of renewal. A solo viola intones the insistent slow barking of the goatherd’s dog (listen for the “bow wow”). In the slow movement we hear a gentle lullaby for a sleeping goatherd. Subsequent solos evoke a flowing brook and a cloudburst. Spring begins with a joyful welcome to the Goddess of Spring the first solo’s birdcalls are a natural complement to the structured music of the ritornello. The slow movements are freer, in the manner of an aria. As with Johannes Brahms, who often set second-rate poetry in his masterful lieder, so here the literary quality of the sonnets is negligible, but the music they inspired has endured for more than 350 years.Īll the concertos feature the conventional Baroque structure of three movements, fast-slow-fast, and the fast movements are composed of alternating ritornello (whole ensemble)-solo sections.
Each concerto is accompanied by a sonnet, very possibly written by Vivaldi himself, which gives specific descriptions of the music as it unfolds. Another interesting aspect of these works is their literary and programmatic components. Although published in 1725, there is no firm date of composition scholars believe the Four Seasons to have been composed as much as a decade earlier. For one thing, they are the first four concertos of a larger collection of concerti titled Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The contest between harmony and invention). With that level of exposure, it is easy to assume one “knows” the Four Seasons, but there is more to these concertos than meets the eye, or the ear. These four concertos are arguably the most well-known works from the Baroque period, and are some of the most recognizable and most performed classical pieces of all time. Instrumentation: solo violin, continuo, and strings Most recent Oregon Symphony performance: Guest conductor/violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg led the Oregon Symphony on January 6-8, 2017 1–4 Concerto in E Major (“La primavera”)Ĭoncerto in F Minor (“L’inverno”) SooBeen Leeįour Seasons for Violin and Orchestra, Op.
The Four Seasons for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 8, Nos. Program Listing FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2022, 7:30 PM
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