Four Seasons of Vivaldi

Picture courtesy of http://baroquemusic.wikispaces.com/Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, happy 332nd birthday! Born on March 4th over three centuries ago in Venice, the capital of the Republic of Venice (697-1797), Vivaldi later became a noted baroque composer and famous virtuoso violinist (“virtuoso” means he possessed great skills in playing the violin). Despite being raised to become a priest by his family, he did not want to join the priesthood and there are stories that he would leave the altar to write down a musical idea. He composed various styles of music, ranging from sonatas and concertos to operas. Being an outstanding violinist, Vivaldi, unsurprisingly, favored the violin in his instrumental works.

One of Vivaldi’s most noted works is The Four Seasons, composed in 1723. It is a collection of four violin concertos (favoritism showing through) and is first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concerti titled Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The Contest between Harmony and Invention). Each of the four concertos corresponds to a season in the year and each concerto consists of three movements. The four concertos accompany four sonnets, and each concerto beautifully translates the sonnet and the season into music. Even after three centuries, Vivaldi’s sounds still reverberate with the world (and its seasons).

Thus, let us celebrate Vivaldi’ birthday with The Four Seasons.

Up first is...Spring

...Summer

...Autumn

...and finally, Winter