Antonio Vivaldi - Summer from Four Seasons
The Vivaldi Philharmonic Orchestra, Антонио Вивальди Concerto For Violin And Strings In E, Op.8, No.1, RV.269 "La Primavera" - Allegro ("La Primavera"). Антонио Вивальди, Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Isaac Stern. Allegro (Spring - The Four Seasons Op 8 No 1). Vanessa-Mae, Антонио Вивальди. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Вольфганг Амадей Моцарт, Антонио Вивальди. Storm. Vanessa-Mae, Антонио Вивальди
"Summer" (L'Estate)
First part. The form of the concerto, which Vivaldi cultivated and perfected, suggests that the concerto, as I have already noted, consists of three parts: fast - slow - fast. It was necessary to have the talent and imagination of Vivaldi in order to partially erupt in the first, that is, fast, mood and state of laziness and languor, which are spoken of in the first two quatrains, which are the programs of this part. And Vivaldi is a brilliant object.
“Exhaustion from the heat” is the composer’s first remark. The music sounds pianissimo (Italian - “very quiet”). Vivaldi makes a small concession to the mood: the tempo of this movement, although Allegro (in this case, this means “fast”), is non molto (“not very”). There are many breaks, “sighs,” and stops in the musical fabric. Next we hear the voices of birds - first the cuckoos. (How many “cuckoos” know the history of music! Vivaldi himself, as noted above, wrote a separate concerto in which this bird is imitated; for example, Daken’s harpsichord “Cuckoo” is famous). Then the goldfinch (and suddenly it turns out that Vivaldi has another concert where this bird is depicted). Voices of birds in music - this could be a separate topic for discussion...
And now, the first gust of cold north wind - boreas, the harbinger of a thunderstorm. It is depicted by all the violins of the orchestra (including the soloist), while the violas and basses, according to the stage directions, have “sharp gusts of wind” and simply “different winds.”
But this first impulse appears, and the mood of languor from the heat returns (the refrain of this part, the music with which the concert begins). But this also happens: one solo violin and bass continues (this line is carried out on the cello and the accompanying organ, as indicated in the score, although often and even, as a rule, the accompaniment in “The Seasons” is entrusted to the harpsichord). The violins have intonations of complaint. You are not mistaken: this is a “shepherd’s complaint,” Vivaldi explains his intention. And again a gust of wind bursts in.
The second part is wonderfully built on a sharply contrasting melody, personifying the shepherd, his fear of the elements of nature and the menacing rumbles of thunder of a clearly defined thunderstorm. This is perhaps the most impressive example of dynamic contrast in the music of the pre-Beethoven period - an example that can safely be called symphonic (compare with the current thunderstorm episode in Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony). Vivaldi's remarks alternated here with the categoricalness of the army command: Adagio e Piano (Italian - “slow and quiet”) and Presto e forte (Italian - “fast and loud”). And no misunderstandings! The second part ends with calm - the calm before the storm...
Titian "The Three Ages of Man"
The third part. And then the storm breaks out. Streams of water falling from the sky are almost visible. And just as the clasp on the wrist in “Spring” is conveyed by a melody with a characteristic pattern (see above about this), so here streams of water rush in different directions, depicted by scale-like passages and arpeggias (chords, the sounds of which sound very quickly one after another, and not at the same time), rush up and down. The speciality of the whole concert is given by certain features of the composition, which are revealed only upon careful listening to the musical fabric of the entire work: for example, in the middle, when fast passages are entrusted to the violas and basses, the violins represent a rhythmic and melodic figure, akin to the episode with the “various winds” from the first parts. . This part (and this concert, but not yet the whole cycle!) ends with a menacing unison of the entire orchestra, about the listener performing in some confusion: what will happen next, after this terrible thunderstorm?
#Violin #Summer #vivaldi
22 сен 2024
