Analysis of Vivaldis Winter
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Selection: "Winter" from The Four Seasons
Composer: Antonio Vivaldi
The coming of winter is a seasonal shift from the warmer harvest months of autumn. It is the coming of a sleep - of a silent, cold, brutally biting sleep when life hibernates under a blanket of bleak white snow. The listener feels this chill, this silence, this death from the very beginning. The selection begins with short, staccato strides, conjuring up almost an eerie introductory image. These short strides bring to mind the bite of winter and our attempts to stomp our feet to keep warm. Even Vivaldi had this intentional imagery because his sonnet that accompanied this musical piece also describes it as: " To shiver frozen mid the frosty snow/ in unrelenting winds that bite and sting,/ to stamp one's icy feet, run to and fro,/ one's teeth for bitter chill a-chattering." Suddenly we are interrupted by a gust of piercing wind, represented by the strong violin solo, catching the listener almost offguard. The wind (solo) twists its way through your clothes, stings your face, and leaves almost as suddenly as it came. The scene is joined by heavier gusts of wind, represented by of the alternations between the solo and the whole ensemble. Then, the rhythmically steady notes of before return, depicting more stomping of feet and more bitter chills...