Music describing the four seasons has always been popular, Baroque composers such as Werner and Fischer, to name but a few, composed music on this theme. But none have ever done so pictorially and emotionally as Antonio Vivaldi in his Four Seasons! Especially the new production by Maestro Giuseppe Raffa conceived as a visual concert, with the creation of virtual stage sets using the great pictorial masterpieces of the Renaissance
The attention of the entire Baroque period to the changing seasons and the astonishing changing appearance of the natural landscape can also be seen in Bernini’s sculptural masterpieces. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are the symbol of this era. Not only is his spectacular description of nature a source of wonderment, as we have seen, but so is his musical language itself. The composition aims to surprise the listener with unusual melodies, created through greater rhythmicity and increased harmonic contrasts. His music is therefore freer and more fluid, capable of best describing the story he wishes to tell, the scenes of birdsong in spring, summer thunderstorms, the flight of foxes in autumn, and finally the chattering of teeth and rain in winter.