Classical Music | Cello Music

Recorded on 10/01/2010, uploaded on 10/01/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

World première

The four concertos known as The Four Seasons are Antonio Vivaldi’s best-known works. Composed in 1723 and published two years later in Amsterdam, they are actually part of Vivaldi’s larger opus 8, entitled Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention), a set of twelve concerti for solo violin, string orchestra and continuo. A unique aspect of The Four Seasons is the sonnets Vivaldi supplied as an aid to the scenes depicted in the works. The author of the sonnets is unknown and it is possible that Vivaldi himself may have written them. Each divides neatly into three sections, correspondingly exactly to the three movements of each concerto.

Undeniably among the most recognized melodies in all of Western music, right alongside Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, is the melody that opens the first concerto of The Four Seasons. A joyful exclamation at the arrival of spring, the first movement is set in the brilliant key of E major while soloist and ensemble alike utter florid melodies representing the songs of birds and murmuring creeks. The middle movement, marked Largo, turns to the key of the relative minor. Following the sonnet which Vivaldi supplies as a programmatic aid, a goat-herder is asleep in the meadow with his dog by his side. The music is relaxed with a dreamy quality to it but underneath the melodic line is the barking of the goat-herder’s dog. Finally, the last movement is the peasants’ dance at the arrival of spring. Over drone fifths, imitating the sounds of bagpipes, a light-hearted 6/8 melody is sounded. Unlike the first movement which nearly bubbles over with joy, the finale is more restrained but still concludes the piece with the positive expectancy one associates with the coming of spring.    Joseph DuBose