jan 1, 1725 - Four Seasons

Description:

a group of four violin concerti by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. They were written around 1716–1717 and published in 1725 in Amsterdam, together with eight additional concerti, as Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention).

Music Imitating Nature: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
1. Vivaldi’s earliest publication of concertos shows the flamboyant young composer at
his most extravagant.
2. In 1725 he published The Four Seasons.
a. These works were popular in France, especially “Spring.”
b. The work carries a corresponding sonnet that celebrates spring.
c. The storm, birds, brook, etc. are all pictured in the music.
3. In Vivaldi’s concertos, we can find elements of old style (imitation, polyphony, madrigalisms) alongside the most up-to-date innovations (instrumental structures, tonality, new ways of playing the violin).

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