Seasons of Music at Unity Church - Fall! Vivaldi THE SEASONS

Seasons of Music at Unity Church

Fall! Vivaldi THE SEASONS

Soloist: Irina Muresanu, violin

Performers:

Violin I

Greg Vitale

Audrey Ma

Violin II 

Yumi Okada

Lequing Wang 

Viola

Mark Berger

Peter Chew

Cello

Ronald Lowry

JaeHee Park

Bass

Peter Walsh 

Basso Continuo

Asiya Korepanova

Vivaldi's The Four Seasons:

1 Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, "Spring" (La primavera)

I Allegro (in E major)

II Largo e pianissimo sempre (in C♯ minor

III Allegro pastorale (in E major)

2 Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer" (L'estate)

I Allegro non molto (in G minor)

II Adagio e piano – Presto e forte (in G minor)

III Presto (in G minor)

3 Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, "Autumn" (L'autunno)

I Allegro (in F major)

II Adagio molto (in D minor)

III Allegro (in F major)

4 Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno)

I Allegro non molto (in F minor)

II Largo (in E♭ major)

III Allegro (in F minor)

Program notes:

The Four Seasons is the best known of Vivaldi's works.

They were composed around 1718–1723, when Vivaldi was the court chapel master in Mantua, and published in 1725 in Amsterdam in what was at the time the Dutch Republic.

They were a true revolution in musical conception: Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, and warm winter fires.

Unusual for the period, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets (possibly written by the composer himself) that elucidated what it was in the spirit of each season that his music was intended to evoke. The concerti therefore stand as one of the earliest and most detailed examples of what would come to be called program music—in other words, instrumental music with a narrative element intended to evoke something extra-musical, and an art form which Vivaldi was determined to prove sophisticated enough to be taken seriously.

Vivaldi took great pains to relate his music to the texts of the poems, translating the poetic lines themselves directly into the music on the page. 

In addition to these sonnets, Vivaldi provided instructions such as "The barking dog" (in the second movement of "Spring", when the goatherd sleeps, his barking dog can be heard in the viola section), "Languor caused by the heat" (in the first movement of "Summer"), and "the drunkards have fallen asleep" (in the second movement of "Autumn").

The music is elsewhere similarly evocative of other natural sounds. Vivaldi divided each concerto into three movements (fast–slow–fast), and, likewise, each linked sonnet into three sections.

The Seasons remain one of the most famous classical music works of all time, appearing in their original and modified forms in many fields. Derivative works of these concerti include arrangements, transcriptions, covers, remixes, samples, and parodies in music — themes in theater and opera, soundtracks in films (or video games), and choreography in ballet (along with contemporary dance, figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, etc.) — either in their entirety, single movements, or medleys.