Spring (The Four Seasons), Concerto No. 1

A. VivaldiOp. 8 No. 1, RV 269

Key

E

Time

C

Tempo

♩=100

AO focus

AO3

Form

Programmatic violin concerto — Vivaldi attached a sonnet to each of the four seasons describing the scene the music depicts. 1st movement Allegro: 'Joyful spring has arrived, the birds salute it with happy song'.

Teaching points

• Programmatic music — bird-call episodes, brook-flowing passages, thunder-storm tremolos. Match each musical gesture to a line of the sonnet
• Ritornello form — orchestra theme returns between solo episodes. Track each return
• AO1: top violin audition piece — the bird-call episodes are showpiece-virtuosic
• AO3: the gold standard for programmatic instrumental music in the Baroque