STRING CONCERTOS 2 – the Red Priest

Il Pio Ospedale della Pietà [The Devout Hospital of Mercy] the Venetian ‘orphanage’ for which Vivaldi wrote much of his music:

The title page of Vivaldi’s Op.8 collection of twelve violin concertos, the first four of which constitute The Four Seasons. The entire set bears the title Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione [The Contest Between Harmony and Invention]…

The scores:

The complete Quattro Stagioni [Four Seasons] with Janine Jansen as soloist:

CONCERTO No.1 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in E major La Primavera [Spring] RV 269
11 (Allegro) – 0:04
2 (Largo) – 3:31
3 (Allegro) – 6:02

CONCERTO No.2 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in G minor L’Estate [Summer] RV 315
1 (Allegro non molto) – 10:22
2 (Adagio) – 15:41
3 (Presto) – 17:54

CONCERTO No.3 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in F major L’Autunno [Autumn] RV 293
1 (Allegro) – 21:01
2 (Adagio molto) – 26:10
3 (Allegro) – 28:41

CONCERTO No.4 for Violin, Strings and B.C. in F minor L’Inverno [Winter] RV 297
1 (Allegro non molto) – 32:05
2 (Largo) – 35:21
3 (Allegro) – 37:00

Another Four Seasons! Philip Glass wrote his American Four Seasons as a companion piece to the Vivaldi. The composer and the dedicatee/soloist (Robert McDuffie) couldn’t agree which season was which(??); so they compromised by leaving the decision up to the listener! The Prologue for solo violin and the three unaccompanied Songs that precede the 2nd, 3rd and 4th movements are in lieu of the usual cadenza: