Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner, cond.) Allegro (Alan Loveday, violin Academy of St. Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their magical songs once more.Īntonio Vivaldi: The Four Seasons – Violin Concerto in E Major, Op. Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven. The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes. It’s dancing and happy, the birds are singing in the voice of the violins, and even when we have the arrival of the thunderstorm, we know it’s only a temporary diversion from the beauty of the season. No Ricci paintings have been identified by Vivaldi scholars as being the inspiration for Vivaldi. The conjecture, frequently encountered online and in program notes that Vivaldi was also inspired by a lost seasonal cycle of paintings by Marco Ricci, seems to have arisen in the 1970s after an article making general style comparisons between Vivaldi and Ricci. It is not known if Vivaldi was the author of the poetry or someone else, but the match between the music and the poetry was unique.

One unusual detail about these four works was that Vivaldi also published poetry with each concerto. Marco Ricci: Landscape with Mountain and Figures © Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Antonio vivaldi the four seasons spring