A. Vivaldi "The Seasons": history, content, interesting facts, listen

A. Vivaldi "Seasons"

Perhaps one of the most popular musical works in the world is the cycle of 4 concerts by Antonio Vivaldi - The Seasons, which the composer wrote in 1723 for a solo violin and orchestra. They are unique in their own way, in each piece brilliant virtuosity and enchanting cantilena miraculously merged. Vivaldi accompanied the concerts with sonnets, but, alas, we do not hear them today at the performance, they almost never read out. Who is the author of these words - still remains a mystery. Supposed to

Concert history of Antonio Vivaldi "The Seasons" and a lot of interesting facts about these works read on our page.

History of creation

The year 1725 was marked by the publication of one of the most significant collections of the composer - the eighth opus, which he entitled as "The Experience of Harmony and Invention". Vivaldi included 12 virtuoso violin concertos, the first four of which are called "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn" and "Winter". Today's performing practice has combined these compositions in the cycle "The Seasons", but in the original version of this title there is no.

It is believed that the idea to embody various states of nature in music arose from A. Vivaldi during his travels in Italy. He made his first big trip in 1713, when he was appointed chief composer of the Orphanage Orphanage for Girls. The maestro took a month off and went to Vicenza to stage his opera "Otto in the Villa" there. This event was the starting point for his creative biography - from that time he plunged into work on opera creations and gladly accepted many orders for performances, while not forgetting to visit various cities of his native country. He traveled on the popular at that time postal diligence. It was then, according to biographers, watching from the window of the wildlife world and listening to the clatter of hoofs and the sound of wheels, he decided to create his brilliant violin concerts.

Here are just over the creation of the "Seasons" is still being debated. Some historians believe that the concerts were written in 1723, others are more likely to be called the year 1725 - it is precisely this that is listed in many authoritative reference books. But art critic A. Maikapar insists that they were created in 1720. In his statements, he refers to the work of Paul Everett, a researcher of the Vivaldian heritage. This scientist, analyzing the preserved authentic versions of these concerts, came to the conclusion that their copy already existed in 1720 and was even sent to Amsterdam. However, for unknown reasons, it was published only five years later under the direction of Michel Le Price. In 1739, a Parisian edition appeared, released by Le Clerk.

It is interesting, but these first editions have survived and forced many musicologists to break the head. And this happened because in the last century in Manchester, researchers discovered another manuscript of The Seasons. It was noticeably different from the Amsterdam and Paris editions, in which the musical text was similar. In the found version, there were very detailed unfamiliar solo parts for individual instruments - for example, a beautiful cello solo was written for the middle part of the Winter concert. Why such parties were absent in the first publications, still managed to guess. Historians came to the conclusion that initially, for convenience, they were written and printed on separate sheets, but after a while they were simply lost and soon everyone forgot about them. But scientists were interested in the main question - which score was the original source? They were also embarrassed by the fact that the Manchester notes were written not by Vivaldi, but by two other people and on two types of paper, which the composer had never used before, and besides, there was no dating on all the sheets. Historians had to conduct a real investigation. The answer to the question helped them find information from the life of the owner of this music collection - Italian curial Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. His Eminence visited Venice in 1726, where for the first time he heard the music of Vivaldi - one of his cantatas. Most likely, historians summarized it, Vivaldi in honor of their acquaintance, and decided to present him with the gift of the Seasons. He was preparing for this meeting in advance, and therefore prudently ordered a copy of the notes from the scribes. One of them, according to biographers, was his father Giovanni Battista Vivaldi. This gave reason to believe that the original source is still the Amsterdam edition - the one that had lain in non-existence for five years.

Interesting Facts

• The researchers noticed that the manuscripts Vivaldi found significantly different from the print editions. Having carefully studied them, they concluded that these differences were introduced by the composer himself. The thing is that he himself personally prepared all the essays for publication, but never copied them exactly. Rewriting the text for the publisher, he made many changes to it, but left his version the same.
• Vivaldi once used the music of Allegro for the first concert in one of his operas, created in 1726. It was called "Dorilla in the Valley of Tempi".
• One of the most passionate fans of this music was the French king Louis XV. Especially for him, the courtiers even put on a play to the music of "Spring", wanting to please their ruler.
• The Seasons is sometimes called the Four Acting Violin Opera. And all because the composer built his cycle in a very logical and coherent way, moreover, he united everything not only with the plot and title, but also through the symphonic development.
• Fragments of the "Seasons" today often sound on large screens. So, they can be heard in the TV series "Grey's Anatomy", "The Big Bang Theory", the films "The philosophy of the boudoir of the Marquis de Sade", "1 + 1", "Following the tracks of Vivaldi", "Tomorrow was a war" and the cartoon "Simpsons".
• The music of these concerts was repeatedly used for their productions by choreographers - Roland Petit, Angelin Prelijokaz, James Kudelka, Mauro Bigonzetti.
• The disks with the recording of these works, made in 1989 by Nigel Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra, broke all sales records - more than two million of them were bought.
• Stefan Lambiel won the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships, performing his free program to the music of The Seasons.
• "Spring" was included in the music samples of Windows 3.0.

Arrangements and modern arrangements

1. In 1765 the first vocal arrangement of the concert "Spring" appeared in Paris - it was a motet.

2. In the late 60s. Of the 20th century, the outstanding Argentine Astor Piazzolla created a peculiar imitation of this work - a cycle of four tangos called "The Seasons in Buenos Aires." Subsequently, the Russian composer, a graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory Leonid Desyatnikov became interested in this work. On this material, he created a transcription for violin with accompaniment of a string orchestra. For all her freedom and virtuosity, he tried to maximize the connection with the original creation of Vivaldi, and therefore added several quotes to it.

3. In 2016, the first arrangement of these baroque concerts in the symphonic metal genre appeared. And it belongs to Vivaldi's compatriot, Giuseppe Yampieri. Over the creation of this album "The Four Seasons" worked more than a hundred classical and rock musicians.

4. Flutist Mo Kofman recorded a jazz album from "The Seasons" by A. Vivaldi in 1972. (listen)

5. Patrick Gleason in 1982 made the first computer recording (synthesizer) of concerts.

6. French musician Jean-Pierre Rampale made the arrangement for the flute of all four concerts. (Listen)

7. Violinist David Garrett, along with the classical version, in 2010 recorded his modern version of The Thunderstorm. (listen)

9. The Japanese band "Aura" sang "a cappella" all 4 concerts.

10. The chamber choir from France "Accentus" recorded "Winter" in choral performance.

11. New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra adapted "Winter" into a song called "River of Dreams". (listen)

12. The American symphonic rock group "Trans-Siberian Orchestra" in 2012 recorded the song "Dreams of Fireflies (On A Christmas Night)" making a modern processing of "January". (listen)

Music from A.Vivaldi's concerts "The Seasons" in the cinema

• "Spring" can be heard in the films: "Beginners" (2010), "Calendar" (1993), "Flabber" (1997), "Billiard Brotherhood" (2016), "Close to the Heart" (1996), "Miami Rhapsody" (1995) , "Spy Games" (2001), "The View on the Murder" (1985), "The Hologram for the King" (2016) and in Gart Jennings's new musical cartoon, "Animal Carrier" (2016).
• "Summer" sounds in films: "Tenant" (1990) and "The Story of a Necklace" (2001).
• Music from "Autumn" can be found in the films: "Exit to Paradise" (1994), "Sisters Banger" (2002) and "View of the murder" (1985).
• "Winter" Meets in the movies: Billiard Brotherhood (2016), Hologram for the King (2016), Tin Cup (1996), Another Sister (1999) and the Thriller "The Fate of Salem" (2004).

Content

"Seasons" A. Vivaldi considered the benchmark of program music. Each concert is preceded by a sonnet - a kind of literary program that tunes the listener to the desired mode. Who is the writer of these poetic lines is still not known for certain. It is assumed that it was Vivaldi himself. Curiously, all the sonnets very clearly correspond to the form of concerts. This fact has led to some confusion of many researchers. Carefully comparing the verse lines and the musical fabric, they came to the conclusion that music was originally written from the very beginning, and the verses were already written directly to it.

In all four baroque concerts, the composer reaches the heights of fine art. So, in the "Spring" in front of the listeners a grandiose picture of triumph unfolds, which is caused by the arrival of heat and the awakening of nature. The music is easy to guess the singing of birds, the murmur of a stream, peals of thunder, rustling leaves and even a dog barking. In "Summer" Vivaldi also brilliantly manages to embody those conditions that are so well known to every person, suffering from heat, deer and languor. But soon they are replaced by stupor and fear arising from the icy gusts of wind and raging thunderstorms. In Autumn, the maestro invites everyone to a harvest festival and masterfully recreates everything that happens there: the solo violinist pours wine into his glasses in his passages, after which the tipsy peasants stumble and stutter a little at home. The village is plunged into sleep, and in the morning everyone goes on a hunt - the music picturesquely "draws" a picture of horse racing, playing on hunting horns and well-aimed shots. The characteristics of the winter season in the last concert are very vividly given. It can be heard and the sound of teeth from the cold, and howl blizzard, and the tramp of the legs, helping to warm up in the bitter cold.

It is interesting, but the researchers do not limit the content of all parts only to the natural plot. Four phases of human life are associated with these four concerts - childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. This interpretation is also supported by the fact that in “Winter” the composer left a hint at the last circle of hell, described by Dante Alighieri in the “Divine Comedy”. In addition, the "Seasons" and correlate with the four regions of Italy, located on the cardinal points - the sunrise corresponds to Venice, noon - Naples, the evening - Rome, well, midnight - Bologna. However, there is still an opinion that these are not all implications that can be found in music. Only contemporaries could understand them to the full.

"Seasons" - real picturesque canvases on which the whole palette of natural colors is captured only by the sounds of the orchestra. Listen, and you will be able to distinguish the murmur of the stream, the singing of birds, the thunder of thunder, the rustle of leaves, the riot of snowstorms, and many more of the most diverse natural phenomena. They are so visible that many performers have a desire to translate everything they heard into reality. Is it possible? And how! We bring to your attention one of the successful experiments in this area, produced by the duet "ThePianoGuys".

And musicians are experimenting over the fourth part of the cycle, which is called "Winter". If you suddenly forgot how this concert from the "Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi in the original sounds, watch his performance with soloist Julia Fisher. Something like this work sounded a few centuries ago, lacking only antique instruments, luxurious costumes and powdered wigs.

But “Winter” performed by the duet “ThePianoGuys” is hardly recognizable. Will you find vivaldian notes in their performance? Or maybe something else, inspired by the images of Disney cartoons? To your attention - an impressive improvisation, modern processing, bringing together two winter stories, separated by hundreds of years. Their action takes place, as befits, in a real snow kingdom, where all living things are encased in ice hugs. All but the talented musicians and their technically swift fingers.

Listen "Seasons" in modern processing: