Page 62 - FULL BOOK Isata Kanneh-Mason Childhood Tales

“More mud than mist these days. More rain than shine. Leaves to scuffle; berries
and nuts to squirrel away,” reads a familiar voice. “The house hunkers down,

heaves and creaks. In the monster gale that shakes windows and doors… it’s not

Wordsworth, but that gives you a flavour,” says Michael Morpurgo, smiling out
from the screen. Occasionally, this job has its perks, and Sir Michael giving an

impromptu reading of work-in-progress via Zoom is certainly one of them.

The War Horse author has written a new piece to complement Vivaldi’s TheFour

Seasons, the evocative violin concerto that captures the essence of spring,
summer, autumn and winter. He’ll narrate the words alongside violinist Daniel

Pioro, who has curated the concert (May 21, Queen Elizabeth Hall) as part of his
residency at London’s Southbank Centre.

The Four Seasons is one of the most recognisable pieces of classical music, up
there with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Puccini’s Nessun dorma and

the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen. In some ways that popularity hasn’t helped –
you’re more likely to hear a tinny recording of Spring as hold music on the

phone, rather than see it performed live on stage. Pioro thinks that’s a shame:

“Vivaldi’s music is packed with colour and character,” he says. “I’ve always adored
the vividness of Michael’s words and I was hoping he’d be enthusiastic about

writing for Vivaldi’s seasons.”

He was – Pioro received a draft almost immediately after the proposal. It’s not

the first time the violinist and writer have worked together: Pioro has performed
the stage version of Morpurgo’s The Mozart Question – the children’s story about

a violinist’s parents’ experience during the Holocaust –for over a decade. Music is
important to Morpurgo; in 2021 he wrote new episodic pieces to accompany

Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, which was performed by the Kanneh-Masons

at the Proms. But the writer is under no illusions of his own musical ability. “I
took Grade one violin – and just passed,” he smiles. “It is an honour to be

connected to music through words.”

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons have been sampled and reworked for centuries –

including by the composer himself. Astor Piazzolla’s irresistible tangos The Four