Though normally linked with vocal works, Vivaldi use text painting, aka word painting, portray the scenes and sounds of Spring. He pulls some influence from opera, and its use of word painting. Vivaldi uses these poems to tell his story in music.
For the Four Seasons, Vivaldi wrote a short poem for each movement of each concerto. Over the years, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been a regular story used for programmatic works. This could by based on a book, play, poem, etc. Programmatic meaning a piece has a written story that is to be portray in the music heard. So the form of the first movement is AB-AB-AB-AB-AB-A and the third movement AB-AB-AB-A.Ī unique characteristic of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is that they are an early example of what are called programmatic works. To help describe the form, let’s call the orchestra section A, and the solo sections B. The third movement is in the same form but shorter three alternations of orchestra/soloist followed by a final ritornello. Listening to the first movement of Spring, you’ll hear this alternation five time, with a final ritornello to finish the piece. The ritornello meaning return, or refrain, played by the orchestra would alternate with solo sections for the featured player to show off their skills. Keep in mind, our modern concept of the conduct was not define until the Romantic Era (1800s).Ĭharacteristically, concertos of the Baroque period including Vivaldi’s, the first and third movements are written in what is known as ritornello form. During his time, when performing these works, Vivaldi would act as conductor and soloist for the performance. Each of these concertos is a solo concerto for violin.
And of those La Primavera (The Spring) is the biggest hit. His most famous concertos are La Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons). With as many as he wrote, he solidified the structure of the form: three movements in a FAST-SLOW-FAST tempo organization. Over his career he wrote over 450 concertos, both in solo and grosso form. Antonio Vivaldi is known as the “Father of the Concerto”.
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