Posted on by tjphilbrick

Fall

Hello all,

Fall has arrived, so I thought it was a good time to bring back a piece we’ve heard before that will prepare us for the delights of autumn. Today you will hear the violinist Frederieke Saeijs perform Autumn from Antonio Vivaldi’s famous “Four Seasons” on a 15th-century Italian Guarneri violin. She is accompanied by the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.

Here’s a quick refresher on the “Four Seasons.” The “Four Seasons” is a set of four violin concertos (or, in the more appropriate Italian plural form, concerti) in which each concerto represents one of the four seasons of the year. The composer is the great Italian violinist Antonio Vivaldi, who penned them around 1716 and later premiered them in Venice to dazzling reviews.

As with the rest of the seasons, Autumn is based on a set of written sonnets. Each movement of the “season” corresponds to one of the sonnets. The first movement’s Allegro, which represents the harvest dance of a drunk farmer (Vivaldi’s subscript says that he has been “inflamed by Bacchus”), is delightfully cheerful. The pensive second movement represents the eventual and peaceful slumber of the tired peasants. The third and final movement depicts a country hunting party setting out a dawn with their horns blaring. If you watch the (incredibly helpful) subtitles that the maker of this video inserted into the video, you’ll be able to see when the hunt begins and what takes place as the hunters journey through the wilderness.

Enjoy!

T

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Autumn

Hello all!

Since the summer is winding to an end and we will soon (for those of us in
non-tropical climates, at least) be surrounded by orange and red leaves, I
thought it was a good time to bring back a piece we’ve heard before that
will get us in the mood for fall. Today you will hear the violinist
Frederieke Saeijs perform Autumn from Antonio Vivaldi’s famous
“Four Seasons” on a 15th-century Italian Guarneri violin.
She is accompanied by the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.

Here’s a quick refresher on the “Four Seasons.” The “Four
Seasons” is a set of four violin concertos (or, in the more
appropriate Italian plural form, concerti) in which each concerto
represents one of the four seasons of the year. The composer is the great
Italian violinist Antonio Vivaldi, who penned them around 1716 and later
premiered them in Venice to dazzling reviews.

As with the rest of the seasons, Autumn is based on a set of
written sonnets. Each movement of the “season” corresponds to one of the
sonnets. The first movement’s Allegro, which represents the harvest
dance of a drunk farmer (Vivaldi’s subscript says that he has been “inflamed by
Bacchus”), is delightfully cheerful. The pensive second movement represents the
eventual and peaceful slumber of the tired peasants. The third and final
movement depicts a country hunting party setting out a dawn with their horns
blaring. If you watch the (incredibly helpful) subtitles that the maker of this
video inserted into the video, you’ll be able to see when the hunt begins and
what takes place as the hunters journey through the wilderness.

Enjoy!

T

 

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Top 25 #15 – Four Seasons

Hello all,

The fifteenth installment in our series on the Top 25 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music is “Autumn” from Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

No list of greatest hits would be complete without the Four Seasons. Vivaldi’s classic composition is one of the most commonly-performed pieces of music even today, and many of us have heard his “Spring” melodies in television advertisements and waiting room playlists. Today you will hear violinist Frederieke Saeijs perform Autumn with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.

The “Four Seasons” are essentially a set of four violin concertos in which each concerto represents one of the four seasons of the year. The composer is the great Italian violinist Antonio Vivaldi, who penned them around 1716 and later premiered them in Venice to dazzling reviews.

As with the rest of the seasons, Autumn is based on a set of written sonnets. Each movement of the “season” corresponds to one of the sonnets. The first movement’s Allegro, which represents the harvest dance of a drunk farmer (Vivaldi’s subscript says that he has been “inflamed by Bacchus”), is delightfully cheerful. The pensive second movement represents the eventual and peaceful slumber of the tired peasants. The third and final movement depicts a country hunting party setting out a dawn with their horns blaring. If you watch the subtitles that the maker of this video inserted into the video, you’ll be able to see when the hunt begins and what takes place as the hunters journey through the wilderness.

Enjoy!

T

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Fall is around the corner…

Hello all!

Since the summer is winding to an end and we will soon (for those of us in non-tropical climates, at least) be surrounded by orange and red leaves, I thought it was a good time to bring back a piece that we’ve heard before that will get us in the mood for fall. Today you will hear the fantastic violinist Frederieke Saeijs perform Autumn from Antonio Vivaldi’s famous “Four Seasons” on a 15th-century Italian Guarneri violin. She is accompanied by the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.

First off, here’s a quick refresher on the “Four Seasons” (or, for those of you who are just joining us, an overview of what it is about). The “Four Seasons” are essentially a set of four violin concertos (or, in the more appropriate Italian plural form, concerti) in which each concerto represents one of the four seasons of the year. The composer is the great Italian violinist Antonio Vivaldi, who penned them around 1716 and later premiered them in Venice to dazzling reviews.

As with the rest of the seasons, Autumn is based on a set of written sonnets. Each movement of the “season” corresponds to one of the sonnets. The first movement’s Allegro, which represents the harvest dance of a drunk farmer (Vivaldi’s subscript says that he has been “inflamed by Bacchus”), is delightfully cheerful. The pensive second movement represents the eventual and peaceful slumber of the tired peasants. The third and final movement depicts a country hunting party setting out a dawn with their horns blaring. If you watch the (incredibly helpful) subtitles that the maker of this video inserted into the video, you’ll be able to see when the hunt begins and what takes place as the hunters journey through the wilderness.

Enjoy!

T