“Program music” didn’t really explode onto the scene until the Romantic era and so we have to appreciate how explicitly programmatic these concerti really are.

But, if we look past the ubiquity of the concerto in commercials, movie soundtracks, and Italian restaurants (cough!), we have to admit that The Four Seasons are actually very innovative. Correspondingly, many violinists view the piece as an inane “pop-classical” work. The concerto, admittedly, is a bit overplayed. (Obviously, the original poems were written in Italian, so the sonnet form has disappeared in the English translation.) Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring. On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him. Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more. Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven, The birds celebrate her return with festive song,Īnd murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes. The author of these sonnets is unverified, but it is widely assumed to be Vivaldi himself. The piece is almost explicitly programmatic sonnets are included in the published manuscript line by line with their corresponding musical phrases. The Four Seasons fall into the latter category.

In this set Vivaldi sets forth to demonstrate the difference between the prevailing manner of composition of the time and a more innovative, imaginative form of composition. The Four Seasons are four violin concerti that were part of a set of twelve concerti entitled The Contest between Harmony and Invention. We can’t get much more explicit than this, especially for a Baroque piece.

It might be time to take a look at Vivaldi’s “Spring” concerto from The Four Seasons. I personally see connections between the Tchaik serenade and elements of spring, as mentioned previously, but what about a more explicitly programmatic springtime piece? It is so sunny and warm in Ann Arbor right now (over 80° this week!) that the topic of spring remains on my mind.

Vivaldi spring violin