The text describes the tired shepherd and his fears of thunder and lightning. The ensuing Adagio – Presto movement alternates between the lethargic but beautiful playing of the solo violin theme and the stormy interjections of the string orchestra. Calm returns soon, but the movement ends breathlessly, as a storm threatens to wreak troubles for the shepherd. But after a brief tranquil section, the music suddenly becomes violent and frenzied, with the onset of a clash among neighbors. But soon the pacing turns lively and the mood brightens to depict singing birds and cool breezes. In this Concerto in G minor, subtitled “ Summer,” he attempts to capture the bright scenery and mood of that warmest of seasons, but the music is more a mixture of good and bad than one might normally think: the sonnet opens: “Under the merciless summer sun….” Thus the first movement, despite its lively Allegro non molto marking, begins as if an oppressive pall hovers above, the music listlessly struggling forward. In each of the concertos the composer attempts to depict the pastoral scenes and events described in the sonnet. The four violin concertos in The Four Seasons were each inspired by an Italian sonnet, possibly written by Vivaldi himself. The bleakness and dissonance of L’inverno (Winter) create a severe but expressive portrait that provides a striking summation of Vivaldi’s pictorial ingenuity in these four works.
L’autunno (Autumn) is marked by a folksy harvest celebration and the galloping of a hunting party on horseback. L’estate (Summer) is painted in similarly vivid colors that portray both the piping of a shepherd and a gathering storm. The birds that greet the season “with their joyful song” in La primavera (Spring), for example, are colorfully depicted in the work’s elaborately ornamented figuration. Each concerto is accompanied by a descriptive poem whose imagery becomes an essential element of the musical fabric. 8, entitled Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention) and remains the composer’s best-known and most characteristic work.Īside from the features that have come to be associated with most of Vivaldi’s music – grace, virtuosity, energetic motoric rhythms – the concertos of The Four Seasons are remarkable for their extraordinary programmatic imagination, which is counterbalanced by close attention to formal structure. Four concertos, known collectively as The Four Seasons, were first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concerti, Op. Adagio e piano – Presto e forteĪntonio Vivaldi must be regarded as the indisputable king of the Baroque instrumental concerto. Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, “Summer”, “The Four Seasons” / “Le Quattro Stagioni” – “L’Estate” – Concerto No.
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