On September 13th, My mother and I went to see the famous work of Antonio Vivaldi’s Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), played by the violin and cello. In Saint Mark Greek Orthodox Church, The Four Seasons was played by Candlelight. While sitting in a church filled with candles, the work brought out happiness among many listeners. The piece has four sections, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each season was represented differently, but the work brought people together, forming a community.
The four seasons that impact us physically or emotionally were experienced by humans and animals yearly, but the experience can be heard with Candlelight. In the piece, Spring was expressed as a peaceful, joyful, and optimistic view of human nature, with the violin mimicking the cheerful singing of birds. Then, a sudden dark music is played by the cello, representing a thunderstorm, followed by the bird song returning. In Florida, summer is all year round because of its hot weather and bugs. The violin mimics mosquitoes and cockroaches; the instruments altogether evoked the heaviness from the heat and sudden deep melody representing the breeze through the night.
As the weather changes so does the piece, Autumn is where the instruments play on major F to represent the softness of rest and relaxation of people who are delighted after the festival. Back in the 1700s, people hunted, so Autumn was the season to hunt and celebrate. The violin changes its softness to major G, creating a deep rhythm, concluding the darkness and the work that is being done while hunters hunt. The shills that were given by the piece Winter, also show the shills we get from the season, the instruments change their dynamic to a loud, fast, and sudden changes of notes. This represents the storms that come by, and the warmth by the fireplace. This characteristic connects to the audience because it is the time of the year when there are always sudden changes and people evolving from it.
Overall, people loved The Four Seasons because it was the most relatable, not only having a connection to its physical effects that these seasons cause, but also experiencing the emotional side to it. Highly recommended to go and see the show and the art behind it. Classical music is one of the most popular genres of music in Western European culture because of its harmony, but most importantly, the relationship it makes with the audience to the piece.
Bulls, it’s your turn to listen to The Four Seasons by Vivaldi!
