VIVALDI FOUR SEASONS
wobbling through the first movement of “ Autumn .”
Here are a few highlights to listen for in each concerto .
“ Spring ” ( E major ) is viewed , along with “ Autumn ,” as a benign season in which Mother Nature brings unclouded happiness to humankind . Its opening movement features enchanting birdsong for the soloist and two other solo violins . According to the accompanying sonnet , the slow movement describes a goatherd slumbering in the fields ; listen for the “ woof-woof ” of his watchful dog in the violas . The final Allegro is a pastoral bagpipe dance in a rustic meter with the lower strings providing the drone .
In G minor , “ Summer ” is the most threatening of the seasons . Its imaginative opening movement is a portrait of summer ’ s breathless heat , with rumbles of a thunderstorm in the distance . The soloist imitates the rapid song of the cuckoo and later the turtledove and goldfinch . We hear the background buzz of insects in the slow movement as the peasant sleeps restlessly , fearing the coming storm that might damage his crops . In the last movement , the storm finally breaks with all the fury Vivaldi could muster from his small ensemble .
The bountiful harvests of “ Autumn ” ( in the traditional hunting-horn key of F major ) are celebrated by a sober peasantdance ritornello in the first movement . But the soloist has drunk far too much , and his inebriated antics provide delightful virtuoso opportunities . Vivaldi wrote in the slow movement ’ s score that this is the sleep of the drunken revelers ; the harpsichord takes the foreground over muted strings . The most fascinating movement is the last : a detailed scenario of an autumn hunt with the horses ’ stately prancing , the baying dogs , rattling gunfire and the soloist as the fleeing stag , who dies just before the final ritornello .
In F minor , “ Winter ” is another menacing season . Vivaldi may be recalling here the terrible winter of 1708 – 1709 when Venice ’ s lagoon froze over . In an extraordinary opening movement , the chattering instruments enter one by one , piling up harsh dissonances to evoke the bitter cold . By contrast , the slow movement in warm E-flat major conjures up the cozy atmosphere indoors by the fire , with the pattering raindrops outside imitated by plucked violins . The final Allegro describes people walking slowly on the ice , then quickly with frequent falls . As the string winds blow , the music reminds us that winter also brings pleasure as well as discomfort .
Instrumentation : Harpsichord and strings .
KONZERTSTÜCK
Robert Schumann
Born in Zwickau , Saxony , now Germany , June 8 , 1810 ; died in Endenich , near Bonn , Germany , July 29 , 1856
One of the best-loved sonorities in German Romantic-era music was the warm , noble sound of horns , which , because of their hunting-horn origins , seemed to conjure the unspoiled forests of the German landscape . In the winter of 1849 , Robert Schumann celebrated this sonority in his Konzertstück or Concert Piece for Four Horns . Despite its name , it is a true concerto in three movements for not one soloist but — in the spirit of the old concerto grosso form like Bach ’ s Brandenburg Concertos — a group of them .
In the first half of the 19 th century , the horn was undergoing revolutionary changes . Formerly , hornists had been forced to create their pitches by skillful hand adjustments within the bell of the instrument , which led to many out-oftune notes and uneven-sounding scales . Now valves were added to the instrument to facilitate the production of all pitches in a smooth and reliable way , although it must be said that this valve horn is still one of the trickiest instruments in the entire orchestra to play well .
In 1849 , Schumann was living in the city of Dresden , whose orchestra boasted one of Europe ’ s greatest masters of the new valve horn : French-born Joseph- Rudolph Lewy . His virtuosity inspired Schumann to write the Konzertstück as well as a chamber work the Adagio and Allegro for horn and piano . As Schumann scholar John Daverio wrote , “ The piece is just as impressive from a visual as from an aural standpoint : the sight of four horns arranged in front of an orchestra creates an image not easily forgotten .”
The opening movement , marked “ Lebhaft ” or “ lively ,” is an exuberant , extroverted sonata form . Virtually all of its melodic material is derived from the two elements in the four horns ’ opening cry : a triplet-rhythm fanfare followed by a swinging four-note idea leaping upward at the end . Despite the energy and intensity of this music , the middle development section introduces some lovely , lyrical interludes for the horns showing off their most mellow tones .
That lyricism and emphasis on warm sonorities really comes to the fore in the second-movement Romanze . Schumann ’ s popular “ Rhenish ” Symphony has a remarkable movement that describes the composer ’ s memories of attending a service in Cologne ’ s magnificent Gothic cathedral ; this movement captures some of that entranced , mystical feeling as well . The four horns are layered in call-and-response contrapuntal lines ; this cathedral-echo effect is also shared between the quartet and the orchestra . The middle section features a warm , very Brahmsian melody , introduced by the orchestra and then given to the horns over a subtle plucked accompaniment . Trumpet calls suddenly intrude , and the entrance of the finale breaks off this beautiful reverie . Marked “ Sehr lebhaft ” or “ very lively ,” this is a fiery movement driven by a relentless rhythm . A gentler reminiscence of the Brahmsian melody from the Romanze in the horns during the middle development section provides a bit of relaxation before the music rollicks to its hyper-energetic conclusion .
Instrumentation : Two flutes , piccolo , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , two trumpets , three trombones , timpani and strings .
Notes by Janet E . Bedell , © 2018
30 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org