Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"

The "Four Seasons" is the most well-known set of violin concertos written by Baroque composer and musician, Antonio Lucius Vivaldi. Each season's concerto has a sonnet that goes along with it. The sonnets were originally written in Italian, and were later translated to English.



The Four Seasons depicts moods and scenes from spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In the Baroque style, each concerto is built upon the sound of a solo violin, and other instruments come in and out to create drama, mood, and a forte/piano effect even though no volume is changed in any one instrument.

Vivaldi's inspiration for the concerti most likely came from the countryside near Mantua, where he was offered the position of Maestro di Cappella, basically a prestigious choir teacher, in the governor of Mantua's court.