We feel the chill north winds course through the home despite the locked and bolted doors. Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up. We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and falling. I don't have information about the other musicians. In the audio files below for the Four Seasons, John Harrison plays the lead violin. Compare your thoughts and feelings with those around you. You can also draw on paper what the music makes you 'see' in your mind. Does the music resemble or portray the things in the sonnets? Does the music match the seasons? Read the poem that goes with each part of The Four Seasons, and then listen to the part. These Italian words indicate the TEMPO of the piece-how fast or slow it should be played. The parts are titled with Italian words such as Allegro (joyfully) or Largo (slowly). Some people think that Vivaldi wrote the sonnets himself.įor each season, there are three parts.

The most well-known piece of music he wrote was a set of violin concertos titled 'The Four Seasons.' The concertos are accompanied by sonnetes (poems) that depict the seasons. While Vivaldi's music was quite popular in his lifetime, towards his final years his music fell out of popularity, and he died as a pauper. He then went to teach in an orphanage for girls, and composed lots of music for them for example Vivaldi wrote over 400 concertos for his students. However, his asthma kept him from saying the mass. As an adult, Vivaldi became a Catholic priest.

He taught his son probably at a very young age to play violin.

His dad, Giovanni, was a barber before becoming a professional violinist. Vivaldi had very bright red hair and was nicknamed 'the Red Priest.' Antonio Vivaldi (1678 to 1741) was born and lived in Italy, and was a BAROQUE style composer and violinist.

Antonio vivaldi four seasons spring