Like poets and painters, composers like to celebrate the arrival of Spring.
And one of the early signs of the season’s arrival is the call of the cuckoo:
The first of the four Vivaldi violin concertos entitled The Seasons – Primavera/Spring, not only conjures up birdsong but includes in its vernal sound-catalogue streams, breezes, thunderstorms, dogs and dance.
Birds and dance also make their presence felt in the first of Ottorino Resphigi’s Trittico Botticelliano [Botticelli Triptych] based on the painter’s famous Primavera:
…and, finally, two round dances to welcome in or induce the new season. The first (Debussy’s : Rondes de Printemps [Spring Rounds]) is based on a children’s game:
… while the second, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is set in primitive Russia and is anything but child’s play:
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Pontarddulais!
Previous weeks:
The Art of Listening 