How Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’ Sprang Back to Life

"Abundance and the Four Elements," circa 1615, by Hendrick van Balen the Elder and Jan Brueghel the Elder. The Prado Museum, Madrid. Public Domain

Today, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s series of violin concertos, “The Four Seasons,” is instantly recognizable. However, after its celebrated debut during Europe’s Baroque period in the 1700s, it was forgotten for centuries. It wasn’t until the 20th century that one of the most successful violinists helped catapult the Italian classical composer’s most famous work onto the international stage.

The pioneering piece of inventive classical music was written to inspire audiences to picture the vivid changing of each season. Vivaldi’s “Spring” concerto, which kicks off the series, became the cornerstone of the piece.

A Man of Faith

A portrait generally believed to be of Antonio Vivaldi, circa 1723, by an unknown artist. Paul Hermans/CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

Born in Venice, Italy on March 4, 1678, Antonio Vivaldi was one of the most influential musical figures of the Baroque period. He was a visionary composer and master violinist, and he had one of classical music’s most inventive minds.

A religious youth, Vivaldi started working toward becoming a priest when he was just 15 years old. By his 25th birthday, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. While he was committed to his faith, he was also committed to music.

About 800 concertos, sacred works, and operas have been attributed to him. However, “The Four Seasons,” in particular, brought Vivaldi out of relative obscurity when the works were rediscovered long after being written.

Art Full of Life

Portrait of Marco Ricci, 1720, etched by Giovanni Antonio Faldoni after Rosalba Carriera. Engraving on paper. ETH Library, Zurich. Public Domain

One of Vivaldi’s favorite artists was Italian painter Marco Ricci, who specialized in landscapes. His pieces feature an array of scenes ranging from the ruins of Ancient Greece to thirsty horses drinking from a cool stream on a hot summer day. Featuring rich colors and vibrant, welcoming light, Ricci’s dynamic paintings are full of life.

Like Ricci, Vivaldi was inspired by the natural world. Ricci’s landscape paintings served as the initial inspiration for the composer’s “The Four Seasons.” Ricci’s vibrant paintings convey movement, from wind rustling trees to small waves rolling over water. An entire world comes to life in each work. This was Vivaldi’s intent with his four violin concertos, each representing a change of season with lively orchestration and a range of unique sounds that brought the music to life for listeners.

"Memorial to Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell," 1725, by Marco Ricci and Sebastiano Ricci. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Public Domain

"Landscape With a Woman and Child," between circa 1725 and circa 1730, by Marco Ricci. Oil on canvas. Royal Collection, U.K. Public Domain

While Ricci’s paintings served as an initial inspiration, another type of art came into play while Vivaldi worked on his composition.

To accompany the sheet music for “The Four Seasons,” Vivaldi included a set of sonnets representing each season’s concerto. Because scholars have never been able to link these sonnets to a known writer, many attribute the poems to Vivaldi himself.

He didn’t simply utilize the violin or viola for melody but instructed these instruments to mimic the real-world sounds he included in the sonnets. Over the years, orchestras have had a bit of fun with their own musical interpretations of his poetry.

Instruments play roles like a river flowing or birds singing. Even chattering teeth due to chilly winter air make an appearance.

In his “Spring” concerto, the viola section mimics a barking dog. A line from the concerto’s poem references the canine companion that has become a fan favorite, “On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goatherd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.”

A Pioneer of the Baroque Period

"With leafy branches rustling overhead, the goatherd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him” reads a line from the "Spring" concerto. "The Shepherd Sleeping With His Dog," 19th century, by Filippo Palizzi. Oil on canvas. Public Domain

Vivaldi transformed the concerto, making it an integral form of classical music. The concerto consists of a single soloist, although sometimes there is more than one, accompanied by a full orchestra. Each concerto features a three-piece structure with Vivaldi’s trademark “fast-slow-fast” pace during the composition’s movements.

With a knack for artistic invention, he was also the first to compose what is now called “program music.” This pioneering style set music to a narrative. Vivaldi did so by combining sonnets and descriptive cues with his music. This type of immersive instrumental songwriting told a story to each listener, despite a lack of vocal parts.

Vivaldi worked on “The Four Seasons” for several years, from 1718 to 1723. In 1725, it was printed and published in Amsterdam as part of a larger collection of 12 violin concertos. Vivaldi titled this collection “The Contest Between Harmony and Invention” in reference to the interconnected nature between traditional technique and the creative ingenuity of the artistic process. “The Four Seasons” is the first series of concertos in the group. “Spring” rightfully kicks things off when Vivaldi purposely invites audiences into a world in bloom from the beginning.

The concerto was well-received in Europe after it was published. But not long after Vivaldi’s passing in July 1741, the popularity of his work began to fade. For many years, the work of one of the classical period’s most influential composers was hardly played.

A 20th-Century Revival

Musical quartet with (L–R) S. Jacobsen, Bernard Ocko, Marie Roemaet-Rosanoff, and L. Kaufman in 1900. Library of Congress. Public Domain

After Vivaldi’s compositions were rediscovered in 1926 by Alberto Gentili, a music professor at the University of Turin, it kicked off a slow-moving revival of his music. By 1947, the United States had gained interest in Vivaldi’s work. Concertmaster Louis Kaufman was contacted by CBS to record “The Four Seasons” in New York with a select group of musicians from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. One of the 20th century’s most successful violinists, Kaufman spent a large portion of his career performing music for film soundtracks, including classics such as “Casablanca” and “Gone With The Wind.”

Kaufman made the trip from California to New York with his wife. As they traveled by train, he used the time to learn the four violin concertos. The view of America’s changing landscape through his passenger window served as ideal inspiration for practice.

Kaufman recorded “The Four Seasons” over a series of four days with musicians from the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. The concertos were distributed to the public on LP record sometime between 1948 and 1950. Both Kaufman’s passionate performance and the popular medium in which the recording was released catapulted Vivaldi’s concertos onto the world’s stage, gaining international recognition. Kaufman’s recording was also recognized as the first complete American recording of what is now considered to be Vivaldi’s masterpiece.

After its release in America, more than 100 violinists recorded “The Four Seasons.” Listeners particularly gravitated toward the invigorating melody of “Spring.” This concerto has been included in so many movies and commercials over the years that it has taken on a life of its own, becoming a rare classical piece that is as instantly recognizable as a hit.

A moving tribute to the vibrant nature of spring, “The Four Seasons” is a unique, multi-medium classical music experience that was once in danger of fading into the distant past. More than 200 years after it was published, Kaufman’s dedication to classical music and his hard work with the New York Philharmonic set a new standard. Like Vivaldi’s “Spring,” Kaufman gave the visionary work new life. Now, “The Four Seasons” is considered to be one of classical music’s greatest hits.

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