Celebrating the seasons . . .
was born around 1680 in Venice. Although he was ordained as a priest, because of health problems he became a teacher at an orphanage for girls. Beginning as a teacher of violin, his love of music also manifested itself in composing. This served two purposes, actually; he had both a ready-made orchestra or performers in varying assortments - and astonishing skill levels, plus an audience. Always a handy thing to have on hand!
We think of Vivaldi primarily as a composer of instrumental concertos, yet he also wrote 49 operas. 21 of these survive, if only in fragments. It is quite possible that his most famous work is a set of concertos: The Four Seasons. One of the earliest examples of program music, Vivaldi is reputed to have written the explanatory sonnets that accompany the music. For all four of the seasons to evolve requires 48+ minutes, and each of them are in 3 sections.
Spring is light and airy with birds singing and streams burbling through the countryside. Summer begins with a thunderstorm before the sun arrives, bringing languorous visits to the country, which are cut short by yet another thunderstorm that heralds the coming of autumn. Fruits of the vine - wine, in particular - and the hunt are hallmarks of the fall of the year, followed by the perils of winter snows, offset by the comforts of a roaring fire.
Vivaldi's Seasons came early in his life: those of Franz Josef Haydn, on the other hand, were latecomers. It was major news in Vienna in 1799, when the greatly revered composer was reported to be engaged on a great new work. He was in his late 60s after all, an age when many men were content to do nothing. However, one year earlier, he had achieved a great success with a mammoth oratorio "The Creation" and, with more verses from the same author, the Baron Gottfried van Swieten, he was tempted once again.
There were minimal difficulties - the old man much preferred writing music to be sung by angels than peasants, but eventually, the work was finished. It was an unqualified triumph when performed for the first time on April 24, 1801. As in the Vivaldi, the seasons begin with spring, and tell the same basic story.
A different look at the seasons is provided by the Russian, Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936). For one thing, he gives us
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