Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was one of the most significant Italian composers during the Baroque era. Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos for solo violin, strings and basso continuo, was first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concerti, Op. 8. The Four Seasons is found at beginning of Op. 8, and Vivaldi entitled this collection of 12 concertos Il cimento dell-armonia e dell'inventione (“The Contest between Harmony and Invention”). The programmatic The Four Seasons concertos depict sounds associated with the seasons such as music that imitates the sounds of birds in the movement entitled Spring, and music that depicts the sound of a cold, icy wind in the movement entitled Winter.[1]

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REFERENCE NOTES

[1] Talbot, Michael and Ryom, Peter. "Antonio Vivaldi," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London : Macmillian, 1980. 20:31-46.

*Sheet music is scored in three-part harmony, and parts are available with interchangeable viola, cello and bass music. Sheet music files are in PDF format, and require Acrobat® Reader. If you don’t have Acrobat® Reader installed, it’s a free download. Click on the following link: Get Acrobat Reader