Page 105 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

papally controlled lands, which then constituted a large portion of Italy. This ban affected his income as well as his creativity. He died poor and obscure in 1741 in Vienna, where he had gone in search of a post at the imperial court.
The “Spring” Concerto is Viv-
aldi’s most popular piece and is
likely the best-known composi-
tion in the entire repertoire of Ba-
roque music today. As the name
suggests, the “Spring” Concerto is
one of a set of four concertos that
Vivaldi called The Four Seasons.
Each of the four works in turn
represents the feelings, sounds,
and sights of one of the four sea-
sons of the year, beginning with
spring. So that there would be no ambiguity as to what sensations and events the music depicts at any given moment, Vivaldi first composed a poem (an “il- lustrative sonnet,” as he called it) about each season. Then he placed each line of the poem at the appropriate point in the music where that particular event or feeling was to be expressed, even specifying at one point that the violins are to sound “like barking dogs.” In so doing, Vivaldi showed that not only voices, but instruments as well, could create a mood and sway the emotions. Vivaldi also fashioned here a landmark in what is called instrumental program mu- sic—music that plays out a story or a series of events or moods (for more on program music, see Chapter 12).
You have no doubt heard the jaunty opening of the “Spring” Concerto (see Listening Cue). This ritornello consists of two parts (Examples 5.7A and 5.7B). After the statement of each part, it is repeated at a different volume (here more quietly); such sharp contrasts of volume, common in Baroque music, are called terraced dynamics.
Figure 5.15
Foreign visitors attend a
concert performed by orphan girls (upper left) assembled
from various orphanages
around Venice, as depicted by Gabriele Bella about 1750. The Hospice of Mercy was the most musically intense of the Venetian orphanages. Here girls who showed a special talent for music were placed within a prestigious ensemble of forty musicians. Their musical education included tutelage in singing, ear training, and counterpoint, as well as instruction on at least two musical instruments. Antonio Vivaldi was one of the teachers.
Example 5.7A > r#
œ.œ œ.œ œ œ ##fœœœœ œœœœœ œœœœœœ
itornello part 1
#œœœœ &J
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 5.7A online.
Example 5.7B ># œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ##fœ œ
ritornello part 2
#œJœJ &JJ
LiSTeN TO . . . Example 5.7B online.
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