Listening exercise

The Four Seasons is one of the most famous sets of violin concertos. Outside of the concert hall, you can hear it in movies (Spy Game), television commercials (HP Touch Smart PC) or it performed in wedding ceremony.

Inspired by landscape paintings by Italian artist Marco Ricci, Vivaldi composed the Four Seasons between 1720 and 1723. He published his work in Amsterdam in 1725. The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni) consists of four concerti (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). Each concerto represents one season of the year. Vivaldi included a series of poems describing each season`s events. Each one is in a distinct form containing three movements with fast-slow-fast tempos.

Spring

Antonio Vivaldi – Spring – The Four Seasons (Vivaldi, 1720)

The opening concerto of the Four Seasons is Spring. In the first movement we can hear bird song and a spring storm. The second movement is slow and dignified and it pictures a shepherd who sleeps with his dog by his side. The scene is tranquil and idyllic, capturing the peaceful idleness of spring. The third movement portrays a lively spring dance. The poem describes nymphs and shepherds dancing to festive sounds. The orchestra presents an upbeat melody as well as the sounds of a joyous gathering of people. The fast movements are written in Ritornello form, which means “returning”. The main theme played by the orchestra and reappeared after each solo section.

In the Spring we can discover many different techniques. The opening movement is joyful and consists of an opening phrase and an answering phrase. The answering phrase is the basis for the Ritornello form which gives the piece a feeling of continuity. This movement is played by the whole orchestra and goes to the words of the poem Spring has arrived. During the first solo, we can hear the imitation of birdsong by different techniques such as mordent, layered entries, staccato, trill and imitation. The second solo represents the flowing of streams and blowing of the wind by using slurs to slur every two notes together. The third solo describes a spring storm, with dark sky, thunder, and lighting. Vivaldi creates this effect by having all instruments play in unison in a low pitch. The music sounds heavy and ominous. He also uses contrast between tremolo and a quick ascending pitch run played by the violin solo to create the effect of uncertainty. Finally, the bird song solo reoccurs, and the movement finishes with Ritornello which repeated a few times.

Summer

Vivaldi`s depiction of summer correlates to the poem`s blazing heat. This intense heavy heat begins to be replaced by a cool and refreshing breeze which accompanied by singing birds. However, the use of minor chords and dramatic undertones creates an effect of the approaching storm. The shepherd begins to worry. The second movement is slow, lyrical, and tender. As the shepherd becomes more aware of the approaching storm, the tempo of the piece speeds up. The movement consists of continuous alternation between the lyrical solo violin, which represents the shepherd and the full orchestra which plays aggressive repeated notes to suggest the coming storm. The orchestra also mimics furiously buzzing insects. The final movement is hurried, anxious and dramatic as the shepherd realizes the seriousness of the storm. The orchestra perfectly captures the elements of the storm such as thunder, wind, and hail as well as the worrying shepherd.

Autumn

From the warm and stormy summer, we move into the cool blessings of autumn. The first movement pictures a joyous celebration of a rich harvest with drinking, dancing, and singing among the peasants until they fell asleep. The skipping rhythm of the main theme indicates the celebratory dance. The second movement depicts the peaceful sleep following the harvest festival. It is in a form of Adagio with softly arching strings which imitates the arrival of the autumn`s cool breezes. In the orchestra, the festive music fades away which replaced by peaceful melodies. The third movement is in an upbeat again but this time it has a more dramatic feel. This is a hunt scene where the whole orchestra plays the hunting motif representing the hunters, and the solo violin part narrates the hunt from the point of view of the hunted animals. The music perfectly depicts the hunters` joy and triumph, the barking dogs, the firing rifles as well as the panic and death of the pray. The lively fall begins to fade to winter.

Winter

Vivaldi`s depiction of the seasons ends with the harshness of winter setting. It composed in ritornello form and it is in the parallel minor key of Autumn (F minor) showing the relationship between these two seasons. Winter opens with a frosty, harmonically jagged phrase which sets a stormy winter scene. The orchestra plays a dissonant chord to each beat which creating a crescendo. The soloist representing the howling frozen wind by dramatically playing a rhythmically complex line. Icy sound effects such as shivering from the cold, chattering of teeth, and the stamping of feet to keep warm (fast running notes and wide leaps) are all portrayed in this piece.

A sharp contrast is drawn with the cosy feeling of sitting by a warm fire while rain dripping outside. This scene very well represented by the violins pluck the strings to imitate the sound of raindrops while the solo violin plays a pleasant, contented tune.

Overall, I think this piece is beautiful as well as fascinating. It was surprising how different moods and themes could be portrayed by the violins using a range of technical devices and performance practices. It was also interesting how each section of the concerto actually sounded like the part of its poem. The Four Season for me is a perfect combination of the arts of music, painting and poetry.

Reference:

Talbot, M. and Lockey, N., 2001. Vivaldi, Antonio. [online] Grove Music Online. Available at: <https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040120?rskey=OHrl4g&result=2&gt; [Accessed 10 May 2020].

Vivaldi, A., 1720. Antonio Vivaldi – Spring – The Four Seasons. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjpLxlSMJPo&gt; [Accessed 10 May 2020].

Vivaldi, A., 1720. Antonio Vivaldi – Summer – The Four Seasons. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY1p-FmjT1M&gt; [Accessed 10 May 2020].

Vivaldi, A., 1720. VIVALDI “The Four Seasons” – Autumn. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8AN0jWNrJA&gt; [Accessed 10 May 2020].

Vivaldi, A., 1723. Antonio Vivaldi – Winter – The Four Seasons. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZCfydWF48c&gt; [Accessed 11 May 2020].