Vivaldi's Spring
No words, no pictures, and yet you hear birds, a stream and a thunderstorm. Antonio Vivaldi's Spring, Concerto No. 1 in E major from The Four Seasons (published in 1725 in his Op. 8), came with a sonnet describing the scene: birds greet the season with song, streams murmur, a storm brings thunder and lightning, then the birds sing again. Hear how the solo violins paint it (trills and high repeated notes for birds, soft running notes for streams, fast tremolos and rushing scales for thunder), follow ritornello form (the full orchestra's refrain returns between solo episodes), and hear echo effects and the concerto's contrast of one soloist against the whole group. Then paint spring yourself over E – B – E. Vivaldi's melody is not reproduced: only his harmony, with our own refrain, birdsong, streams and thunder.
In this lesson you'll
- Hear how the solo violins paint the sonnet of Spring as program music: trills (two neighbouring notes alternating fast) and high repeated notes for birds, soft running notes for streams, fast tremolos (here: fast repeated notes, not lesson 84's wobble in volume) and rushing scales for thunder.
- Follow ritornello form, R · S · R · S · R: the full orchestra's opening theme returns like a refrain between solo episodes; hear echo effects (loud, then soft: terraced dynamics, forte and piano from lesson 39) and the concerto's contrast of one soloist against the whole group.
- Paint your own spring over E – B – E (I – V – I in E major): a bird trill on B and C sharp, a soft stream on the E major scale, thunder with fast low repeated notes and a rushing scale, and a ritornello of your own: refrain, solo, refrain.
Music in this lesson
- Spring, Concerto No. 1 in E major, from The Four Seasons, Op. 8Antonio Vivaldi · 1725 · in E major (public domain; not reconstructed: only the harmony E – B – E, with our own refrain, birdsong, streams and thunder)
Remember
Vivaldi's Spring (The Four Seasons, 1725, Op. 8; Concerto No. 1 in E major) follows a sonnet, possibly by Vivaldi himself: birds, murmuring streams, a storm with thunder and lightning, then birds again. Music that tells a story or describes a scene is program music, like the Moldau (lesson 79).
In the solo episodes the violins paint the scene: trills and high repeated notes are birds, soft running notes are streams, fast tremolos (fast repeated notes) and scales are thunder.
Ritornello form: the tutti refrain keeps returning between solo episodes. Baroque music switches between loud and soft in blocks (terraced dynamics, echo effects), and a concerto sets one soloist against the whole group: the contrast is the drama.