50 Fun Facts About Vivaldi's Four Seasons

How many concertos make up Vivaldi's The Four Seasons?

Each gives musical expression to one season, and each is in three movements, fast–slow–fast.

Which instrument takes the solo part in The Four Seasons?

All twelve concertos of the Opus 8 set are for solo violin, strings and basso continuo.

In which city were The Four Seasons first published, in 1725?

They appeared with eight other concertos in what was then the Dutch Republic.

The Four Seasons form the first four concertos of a set of twelve whose title translates as what?

Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione may really mean 'the quality test' of both harmony and invention — an advert for Vivaldi's skill.

What opus number carries The Four Seasons?

Op. 3, L'estro armonico, had been his breakthrough; Op. 9, La cetra, was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI.

Unusually for the period, Vivaldi published each concerto alongside what?

Each poem splits into three sections matching the three movements, which is why many think Vivaldi wrote them himself.

How many movements does each of the four concertos have?

The pattern is fast–slow–fast, and each linked sonnet is likewise divided into three sections.

In the slow movement of Spring, while the goatherd sleeps, which instruments imitate his barking dog?

Vivaldi wrote 'The barking dog' straight into the score, one of several such instructions.

Because they depict creeks, birds, storms and drunken dancers, The Four Seasons are an early example of what genre?

Vivaldi was determined to prove that music with a narrative could be taken seriously.

The Four Seasons were composed around 1718–1723 while Vivaldi was court chapel master in which city?

He served Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt there for three years, though the concertos may date from as early as 1716.

In which key is the Spring concerto, RV 269?

The other three are G minor, F major and F minor respectively.

In which key is the Winter concerto, RV 297?

Its opening Allegro non molto has been covered by everyone from Trans-Siberian Orchestra to a Finnish rhythm game.

To whom was the Opus 8 set dedicated?

He was an adviser to the emperor and should not be confused with the later Count Morzin who employed Haydn.

Which publisher's workshop issued The Four Seasons in 1725?

Roger had published Vivaldi's Opus 3 in Amsterdam in 1711; Sala printed his Opus 1 in Venice.

Roughly how long does a performance of all four concertos take?

Summer and Autumn run about 11 minutes each, Spring 10 and Winter 9.

By what nickname was Vivaldi known?

Il Prete Rosso — he was ordained in 1703 at 25 and had the family's red hair.

The 'red' in Vivaldi's nickname referred to what?

It was a family trait; his father Giovanni Battista was a barber turned professional violinist.

In which city was Antonio Vivaldi born in 1678?

He was baptised at home immediately by the midwife, probably because of poor health, though legend blames an earthquake.

What kind of institution was the Ospedale della Pietà, whose all-female ensemble Vivaldi wrote for?

The girls got a musical education and the best stayed on as performers and teachers; boys had to leave at fifteen.

Vivaldi's lifelong 'tightness of the chest' is now usually interpreted as which condition?

It stopped him playing wind instruments but not the violin.

In which city did Vivaldi die, impoverished, in 1741?

His patron Charles VI died soon after Vivaldi arrived, and he expired in a house owned by a saddlemaker's widow.

At what age was Vivaldi ordained a priest?

He had begun studying for the priesthood at fifteen.

The Spring concerto borrows motifs from a sinfonia in which contemporaneous Vivaldi opera?

The other three concertos are wholly original.

Which German composer used the opening motif of the Spring concerto in an aria of his cantata BWV 27?

The cantata is Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende?

Vivaldi himself re-scored the Spring Allegro as an opening sinfonia and chorus for which of his operas?

He also based the aria 'Gelido in ogni vena' on the first movement of Winter.

Which Enlightenment philosopher published a flute version of the Spring concerto in 1775?

Nicolas Chédeville had already arranged the set for hurdy-gurdy in 1739.

Nigel Kennedy's blockbuster 1989 recording of The Four Seasons was made with which ensemble?

It was marketed like a pop album, with a promotional single and billboard, TV and radio ads.

Roughly how many copies has Nigel Kennedy's 1989 Four Seasons sold worldwide?

It topped the UK classical chart for more than a year.

Which violinist made the first American recording of The Four Seasons in the last week of 1947?

He then tracked down the full Opus 8 and became the first to record all twelve concertos, in Zürich in 1950.

Where was the 1947 American recording made, rushed through before the 1 January 1948 recording ban?

It won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1950 and later entered the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry.

Which Italian ensemble, starting with Felix Ayo in 1955, has recorded The Four Seasons most often?

Its 1959 remake with Ayo was the very first stereo recording of the work.

Which soloist featured on the Academy of St Martin in the Fields' first gold record, Marriner's 1969 Argo recording?

It sold over half a million copies.

Max Richter said he discarded roughly what share of Vivaldi's music in his 2012 'Recomposed' Four Seasons?

What survives is phased and looped in his minimalist style; the album runs 44 minutes.

Which violinist recorded Max Richter's Recomposed Four Seasons in 2012?

André de Ridder conducted, and Deutsche Grammophon released it before the first live performance.

Which Argentine composer's 'Four Seasons of Buenos Aires' is often paired with Vivaldi's in 'eight seasons' concerts?

The tango pieces appeared in 1970.

A MIDI arrangement of which of the four concertos shipped with Windows 3.0 in 1990?

Passport Designs made the arrangement; the same concerto later turned up as muzak in The Simpsons: Hit & Run.

Gil Shaham's mid-1990s Weather Channel music video was for the first movement of which concerto?

He recorded it with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Vanessa-Mae's 1998 electric crossover hit was the Presto from which concerto?

That same movement has been shredded by The Great Kat, surf bands and thrash-metal acts alike.

The Piano Guys' 2014 arrangement mashed the Winter concerto with 'Let It Go' from which Disney film?

Wednesday Addams also plays the Winter concerto on her cello in the Netflix series.

Which period ensemble's Four Seasons recording was used in the 2019 film Portrait of a Lady on Fire?

Gramophone later called it potentially the most streamed interpretation ever, with over 165 million Spotify plays.

What was Vivaldi's father's trade before he became a professional violinist?

Giovanni Battista taught Antonio the violin and toured Venice playing alongside him.

Which Holy Roman Emperor met Vivaldi at Trieste in 1728 and knighted him?

Vivaldi dedicated his Opus 9, La cetra, to him and later moved to Vienna hoping for his patronage.

Vivaldi's breakthrough collection of twelve concertos, published in 1711 as Opus 3, is called what?

Its concertos for one, two and four violins were widely imitated across Europe.

Roughly how many operas did Vivaldi compose?

His first, Ottone in villa, was staged in Vicenza in 1713; he later ran the Teatro San Angelo as impresario.

Who sang all eleven parts, male and female, in Vivaldi's 1716 oratorio Juditha triumphans?

It celebrated Venice's victory over the Turks and the recapture of Corfu.

Who conducted the first proper electrical recording of The Four Seasons in 1942, for the Cetra label?

It was issued on six double-sided 78s; a 1939 French radio broadcast by Alfredo Campoli may predate it.

Roughly how many recorded versions of The Four Seasons had been made by 2011?

In 1952 the World's Encyclopedia of Recorded Music could cite only two.

In which key is the Summer concerto, RV 315?

Summer is the only one of the four in a minor key apart from Winter; Spring is in E major and Autumn in F major.

Where in the score does Vivaldi note that 'the drunkards have fallen asleep'?

Other cues in the score include 'The barking dog' in Spring and 'Languor caused by the heat' in Summer, tying the music to the sonnets.

Which actor recites the sonnets on Arnie Roth's recording of 'The Four Seasons Suite'?

It is debated whether the sonnets were meant to be narrated with the music or simply read by the audience, so the recording may not count as a derivative work.