Download Antonio Vivaldi`s “Four Seasons”

Antonio Vivaldi’s
“Four Seasons”
Art & Music
Presentation Created By
Beth Mitchell
Edited by Aimee Vilcins
The Four Seasons: Winter (Allegro)
About the Composer
Vivaldi grew up in Venice and learned to play the violin as
a boy, probably from his father, who was both a
violinist and a barber.
He began his career as the music master at an orphanage
and school for girls, but soon became known for his
compositions, many of which became bestsellers.
Vivaldi is best known for the Four Seasons, which, like the
year, contains four parts, each divided into three small
parts.
Vivaldi published the score of the Four Seasons with
sonnets for his audience and cues for his musicians so
that they would precisely know what sounds they were
hearing or playing.
A Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap,
the workshop of Pieter Brueghel the Younger.
A Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap
About the Artist
Brueghel is called “The Younger”
because his father was also a
painter named Pieter.
In fact, Brueghel the Younger is
primarily know for running a
workshop that made copies of the
picture of his more well known
father.
This painting is one of sixty versions
he made, all based on the same
work
Listen to the piece as you look at the picture…
Can you hear…
The solo violin plays the skater, using quick notes to show the gliding motion?
clumsy skater, turning, crashing, and falling, played by the strings quickly moving all the
way down the scale?
The north wind blowing hard, played by the solo violin going quickly up and down the
The Four Seasons: Summer (Presto)
About the Composer
Vivaldi grew up in Venice and learned to play the
violin as a boy, probably from his father, who was
both a violinist and a barber.
He began his career as the music master at an
orphanage and school for girls, but soon became
known for his compositions, many of which
became bestsellers.
Vivaldi is best known for the Four Seasons, which,
like the year, contains four parts, each divided
into three small parts.
Vivaldi published the score of the Four Seasons with
sonnets fro his audience and cues for his
musicians so that they would precisely know
what sounds they were hearing or playing.
View from the Mount Holyoke, Northhampton, Mass.
After a Thunderstorm-The Oxbow, Thomas Cole
View from the Mount Holyoke, Northhampton, Mass.
After a Thunderstorm-The Oxbow
About the Artist
Cole moved to America from and industrial city in
England when he was eighteen.
Inspired by the grandeur and wilderness of the
American landscape, he became the most
prominent figure in the group of painters now
know as the Hudson River School.
In the lower-central part of the canvas, Cole
depicted himself, at an easel
Listen to the piece as you look at the picture…
Can you hear…
the strings play the thunder at the start of the piece, repeating the same low note?
trees being blown by the wind, played by the violins going quickly down the scale?
A bird trying to find shelter, played by the solo violin playing very high, quick notes?
The Four Seasons: Spring (Allegro)
About the Composer
Vivaldi grew up in Venice and learned to play the
violin as a boy, probably from his father, who was
both a violinist and a barber.
He began his career as the music master at an
orphanage and school for girls, but soon became
known for his compositions, many of which
became bestsellers.
Vivaldi is best known for the Four Seasons, which,
like the year, contains four parts, each divided
into three small parts. This piece is its best
movement.
Vivaldi published the score of the Four Seasons with
sonnets for his audience and cues for his
musicians so that they would precisely know
what sounds they were hearing or playing.
Mountain
Torrent, Jacob
van Ruisdael
Mountain Torrent
About the Artist
Ruisdael was one of the most important
landscape painters in Europe during the
seventeenth century and was highly
admired in Vivaldi’s day.
Naturalistic landscape painting flourished
in the Netherlands from the 1620s
onward, and was encouraged by trade,
exploration, and the study of natural
sciences.
This canvas depicts Scandinavian
topography, which enjoyed a vogue in
Amsterdam during the second half of the
1600s.
Listen to the piece as you look at the picture…
Can you hear…the
solo violin trilling the
same high note over
and over, playing the
bird’s song?
Can you hear…the
mountain stream,
played by the entire
violin section, softly
repeating many short,
connected notes?
Can you hear…the
thunder, played by the
strings quickly
repeating the same low
note?