Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven, Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more. The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by theīreezes.

This was called basso continuo and is a feature of Baroque music.Īs a descriptive basis for his Four Seasons, Vivaldi took four Sonnets, apparently written by himself. The function of the harpsichord was to fill out the bass and inner harmonies as the ensembles were small. Notice in the 2nd video below there is a keyboard instrument called the harpsichord. This could also be called a chamber orchestra, meaning a small orchestra. It features solo violin as well as an ensemble (group) of strings, a string orchestra.

The first 2 movements of 'Spring' is the concerto on your course. Each concerto has 3 movements (sections), a fast, a slow and a fast again. Each concerto is named after one of the seasons. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque (late 17th to early 18th centuries) music.

A concerto is a work in several movements for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra. The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi.

4 seasons violin