Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, Italy, on March 4, 1678, and died in Vienna, Austria, on July 28, 1741. Approximate performance time is forty minutes.
Three centuries after its creation, Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons remains one of the most popular works in all of concert music. The Four Seasons, scored for solo violin, strings, and continuo, is part of a larger work, a series of twelve concertos for violin and orchestra the composer entitled Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (The Contest of Harmony and Invention), Opus 8. The Four Seasons comprises the first four of the Opus 8 concertos. Le Cène, in Amsterdam, published Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione in 1725.
Vivaldi himself may well have played the solo violin in performances of The Four Seasons. If so, it must have been a thrilling experience. Vivaldi was a brilliant violinist who performed with spellbinding technical facility, if not always the utmost charm or beauty of tone. Johann von Uffenbach, a Frankfurt-am-Main architect and devoted amateur musician, journeyed to Venice in February of 1715. During a concert at the Teatro San Angelo, Uffenbach heard Vivaldi play the violin:
Towards the end Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment excellently, and at the conclusion, he added a free fantasy that absolutely astounded me, for it is hardly possible that anyone has ever played, or ever will play, in such a fashion. He put his fingers but a hair’s breadth from the bridge so that there was scarcely room for the bow, and he did this on all four strings with fugues and with incredible speed. Everyone was astounded, but it can hardly be described as captivating, for it was more deftly played than pleasing to the ear.
The 1725 score of The Four Seasons includes sonnets (perhaps authored by Vivaldi), describing the narrative for each of the twelve movements. Certain passages in the score are accompanied by additional captions revealing what the music is intended to portray. For example, the repeated forte viola figure in the second movement of Spring is designated by the composer as “Il cane che grida”—the goat herd’s “barking dog”!
What is remarkable is that while Vivaldi incorporates dozens of such descriptive touches into The Four Seasons, the music never lapses into a mere series of effects. Rather, The Four Seasons embodies an admirable and highly satisfying unity and structure. This is achieved, in great part, by Vivaldi’s use of the ritornello (a recurring instrumental phrase) in the outer movements of each “Season.” Further, Vivaldi’s considerable melodic gifts, daring harmonies, and brilliant writing for the solo instrument produce an immensely entertaining work. If there was ever music that radiated the composer’s joy in its creation, it is Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The continued affection for Vivaldi’s masterpiece testifies that such enthusiasm was not misplaced.
Each “Season” consists of a three-movement concerto. Two quick-tempo outer movements frame a central slow-tempo movement. The sonnets included in the score provide a specific description of each movement. This writer’s prose translation of the original Italian is provided below.
La Primavera (Spring)
Opus 8, No. 1, in E Major
I. Allegro—
Festive Spring has arrived,
The birds salute it with their happy song.
And the brooks, caressed by little Zephyrs,
Flow with a sweet murmur.
The sky is covered with a black mantle,
And thunder, and lightning, announce a storm.
When they are silent, the birds
Return to sing their lovely song.
II. Largo e pianissimo sempre—
And in the meadow, rich with flowers,
To the sweet murmur of leaves and plants,
The goatherd sleeps, with his faithful dog at his side.
III. Danza pastorale. Allegro—
To the festive sound of pastoral bagpipes,
Dance nymphs and shepherds,
At Spring’s brilliant appearance.
L’Estate (Summer)
Opus 8, No. 2, in G minor
I. Allegro non molto—
Under the heat of the burning summer sun,
Languish man and flock; the pine is parched.
The cuckoo finds its voice, and suddenly,
The turtledove and goldfinch sing.
A gentle breeze blows,
But suddenly, the north wind appears.
The shepherd weeps because, overhead,
Lies the fierce storm, and his destiny.
II. Adagio; Presto—
His tired limbs are deprived of rest
By his fear of lightning and fierce thunder,
And by furious swarms of flies and hornets.
III. Presto—
Alas, how just are his fears,
Thunder and lightning fill the Heavens, and the hail
Slices the tops of the corn and other grain.
L’Autunno (Autumn)
Opus 8, No. 3, in F Major
I. Allegro—
The peasants celebrate with dance and song,
The joy of a rich harvest.
And, full of Bacchus’s liquor,
They finish their celebration with sleep.
II. Adagio molto—
Each peasant ceases his dance and song.
The mild air gives pleasure,
And the season invites many
To enjoy a sweet slumber.
III. Allegro—
The hunters, at the break of dawn, go to the hunt.
With horns, guns, and dogs they are off,
The beast flees, and they follow its trail.
Already fearful and exhausted by the great noise,
Of guns and dogs, and wounded,
The exhausted beast tries to flee, but dies.
L’Inverno (Winter)
Opus 8, No. 4, in F minor
I. Allegro non molto—
Frozen and trembling in the icy snow,
In the severe blast of the horrible wind,
As we run, we constantly stamp our feet,
And our teeth chatter in the cold.
II. Largo—
To spend happy and quiet days near the fire,
While, outside, the rain soaks hundreds.
III. Allegro—
We walk on the ice with slow steps,
And tread carefully, for fear of falling.
If we go quickly, we slip and fall to the ground.
Again we run on the ice,
Until it cracks and opens.
We hear, from closed doors,
Sirocco, Boreas, and all the winds in battle.
This is winter, but it brings joy.