#music, «Winter» Music for an Autumn Morning: Viva Vivaldi!

Let’s talk about a great composer, Antonio Vivaldi…

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)… This Venetian Baroque composer was a virtuoso violinist, and a Catholic priest. This aspect of his life surprised me but did not scandalise me as I recognised that he was a very spiritual man. We know him mostly for his instrumental concertos, particularly for the violin, and cello. And also for his sacred choral works and over forty operas. His most famous work is The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos that musically depict scenes from each season of the year. My personal favourite you can hear in the video below, which is «Winter». I have chosen a version done with cello, one of my favourite string instruments. Vivaldi was a major influence on the development of Baroque music. His style was energetic, vivid and filled with imagery, and rhythmic innovation. This is his lasting legacy.

«Winter» from The Four Seasons

«Winter/L’inverno» is the final concerto in The Four Seasons, composed around 1723. It’s written in three movements:

Allegro non molto – Depicting harsh winds and shivering cold.

Largo – Slow, lyrical, portraying warmth and rest by the fire.

Allegro – Representing the way we slip, slide, and carefully walk on ice, and ending with a return to the stormy chill.

Each movement is accompanied by lines of a sonnet, possibly written by Vivaldi himself, vividly describing the season’s scenes. The music is highly descriptive, using rapid scales and dynamic contrasts to evoke the feeling of winter’s intensity.

This is the sonnet that accompanies «Winter«.

«Winter» – (This is my own free translation from the Italian original)

I. Allegro non molto

My lips tremble…

it is icy cold…

the breath of the wind rips through my skin

and I run stamping my feet

while my teeth chatter from the cold.

II. Largo

I find comfort by the warmth of the fire

through the window I see many soaked by rain.

III. Allegro

I walk slow and cautiously on the ice accumulated

on my sidewalk,

I fear falling,

yet every step I take is like I’m gliding

and I am falling, and falling once again

until the ice cracks, breaks and opens

and I feel the thrill of the winds as they battle one another

like me they feel the joy that winter brings!

Because the verses correspond to musical elements in the concerto, «Winter» is one of the earliest and clearest examples of program music. i.e. music that tells a story or paints a picture.