<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a-sunny-day-in-spring-season_small-copy.jpg"><img src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" /><img class="aligncenter" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a-sunny-day-in-spring-season_small-copy.jpg" alt="" width="288" height="216" /></a></p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">http://www.wallpapermenu.com/download/a-sunny-day-in-spring-season_11954_1024x768.html</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">To listen to all three movements of Vivaldi’s<em> Spring</em> "Allegro-Largo-Allegro" from <em>The Four Seasons</em> and see a video inspired by the music, please click on the link below. It was filmed at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales. It features Julia Fischer on violin accompanied by the "Academy of St. Martin in the Fields".</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">Enjoy!</p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&amp;v=aFHPRi0ZeXE&amp;NR=1">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&amp;v=aFHPRi0ZeXE&amp;NR=1</a></p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678-1741) <em>Four Seasons: Spring</em>  should be placed into the 2100 Time Capsule. The two reasons it should be saved are its "ability to lift the heart of the listener"(Grasmeier) and more importantly its power to calm the mind. These attributes, found in music of all cultures and times are magnified and condensed in Vivaldi’s <em>Spring</em>. We should preserve this work for these essential qualities. These qualities are desperately needed now and most surely will be needed in the future.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"The <em>Four Seasons </em>is a series of four concertos (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter) each containing three movements, Allegro-Largo-Allegro which are the first part of a larger 12 concerto work entitled <em>The Contest of Harmony and Invention - Antonio Vivaldi’s 8th Opus</em>." (Grasmeier) "The works were first published in Amsterdam in 1725, but were written a few years earlier."(Grasmeier) "Each season is described in a sonnet that furnishes the program for the concerto. Although Vivaldi revelled in naive, if delightful imitations of bird calls,...he strictly maintained the formal structure (of the concerto)...and indulged in playful descriptions only in the solo sections. The program served at the time as a welcome pretext for virtuosity which Vivaldi expanded far above the level of his predecessors."(Bukofzer, 229)</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"Vivaldi intended this piece to be "programmatic" that is, (to) carry meaning outside of the music itself."(Fiero, 130) With <em>Four Seasons: Spring </em>Vivaldi achieved the apex of "programmatic" style. "Programmatic refers to a composer consciously trying to represent something non-musical, like a story or image, in the composition. This type of composing is called ‘tone-painting’. The composition is a tone poem."(Bickerton) Vivaldi "added poems, that he wrote himself, at appropriate passages of the score for the instruction of performers."(Fiero,130) A translation, from the Italian, for a portion of the poem for Spring follows.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">The festive Spring has arrived,</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">The birds celebrate her return with happy songs,</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">And the brooks of the gentle Zephyrs,</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">With sweet murmurs flow, but,</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">The sky is covered in a dark mantle,</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">And lightning and thunder announce a storm.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">When quiet returns, the birds,</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">Again take up their lovely songs.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"While humanist composers had no idea what Greek music sounded like, they sought to imitate the ancient unity of music and poetry."(Fiero, 57) Many baroque composers combined poetry and music by using choirs to do the poetry and small sets of instruments to accompany them. Vivaldi dispensed with the choir and made violins sing poetry. "Vivaldi also systematized the concerto grosso into a three movement form (fast-slow-fast) and increased the distinctions between solo and ensemble groups.(Fiero, 130) In many ways Vivaldi defined the baroque style in music. <em>Spring </em>is a fantastic example of a baroque composition</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Typical of composers of his time period, Vivaldi "composed 450 concerti for a variety of solo instruments backed by strings."(Vivaldi, X:474) The baroque era was a time "when every composer including such giants as Bach, Handel, Hayden and Mozart, was expected to produce a constant stream of music."(Vivaldi, 19:494) People of those times "went to the opera or to an ‘academy’ as public concerts were frequently called, in order to hear the latest." "The average Venetian in Vivaldi’s day would not think of hearing last year’s opera again."(Pauly, 6) But, composers of this era’s "ambitions" were "not to create a new style, but to perfect the style of their time."(Leichtentritt, 141) "If there is any common thread that unites the great variety of music that we call baroque, then it is an underlying faith in music’s power, indeed its obligation, to move the affections."(Palisca, 4) Affections were a view "propounded by Aristotle in his <em>Rhetoric</em>  that there exist discrete states known as fear, love, hate, anger, joy - to cite a few of these most common. From the last decades of the sixteenth century the arousal of the affections was considered the principal objective of poetry and music."(Palisca, 4) <em>Spring</em> is a supreme example and succeeds admirably in arousing our affections. When listening to <em>Spring,</em> the first allegre movement, one hears birds, brooks and storms. It raises the spirits and the emotions to a higher and happier state.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Vivaldi and his music were well known and loved in his own time. Because Vivaldi had red hair and he was an ordained priest of the Catholic church, his nickname was "the Red Priest".(Grasmeier) "In 1703, he was ordained ...and from that year until 1740 he taught music at the Ospedale della Peita, an orphan asylum primarily for girls in Venice."(Vivaldi, 19:474) "Much" of his music "was written for the Ospedale’s musical groups, which he directed in performances that became famous throughout Europe."(Vivaldi, 19:474) "Instrumental solo music and concerted chamber music, - as in the violin concertos, sonatas and concerti grossi of Vivaldi...were so much preferred to symphonic orchestral music that not even in the nineteenth century did the symphony find a home in Italy."(Leichtentritt, 171) And no "foreign visitor" to Italy "considered his stay complete without having attended a Vivaldi concert."(Vivaldi, 19:474) "Travelers wrote of these occasions with enthusiasm not unmixed with amusement at the unusual spectacle of a choir and orchestra composed mainly of teenaged girls."(Grout, 483) Vivaldi managed to achieve fame in his own lifetime. His own virtuosity, and that of the girls he taught, were well known and loved.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">As the link to the Julia Fischer’s rendition attests, <em>The Four Seasons: Spring</em> is still played and recognized today. Even if you have never heard the name of it before, you will probably recognize the melody. It "has been used frequently as background music in TV commercials, films, and even music on-hold." Italian violinist Fabio Biondi told an interviewer in March, 2011, Vivaldi’s <em>Four Seasons</em> and other concertos were "very virtuosic" Vivaldi "was using them to investigate solutions for the bow and fingerings" of violins. When you see the fingerings in Vivaldi’s manuscripts you "discover how he uses different positions to search for different sounds. And this was 20 years before Leopold Mozart’s treatise on violin playing." "Vivaldi was a master violinist and it is thought that he wrote the <em>Four Seasons</em> as a performance vehicle to showcase his own virtuosity. The violin part is quite challenging indeed even by today’s standards."(Bickerton) "The addictive rhythmic vitality ...has led to its rebirth and great popularity amongst classical music lovers and the general public as well."(Todes) <em>Spring</em> "has become arguably the most popular piece of classical music in the world with more performances and recordings than even Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony"(Bickerton)</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">At the time when this music was being written, all of life and living seemed to be up for debate. Louis XIV was king of France. Oliver Cromwell, who was not royalty, became the Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Isaac Newton wrote the <em>Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy</em>, which proved that the laws of the heavens were the same as the laws of earth.(Fincher) Every new idea seemed to be in conflict with some old idea. A gap was forming between secular and religious views. The Catholic Church was losing power and the Protestants were gaining power. Music was emerging from its strictly religious purposes and was being played for entertainment. It was still the responsibility of composers to lift the public consciousness, but there was also a growing awareness of music as a way of escape and adventure. We rely on music to bring up and express emotions. The value people place on music, throughout history, was no different in Vivaldi’s era. But, instead of music only performed for royalty or for church, music is now available to the masses. "Musical training formed an important part" in the education of young people.(Grout, 483) So, music appreciation was also growing. It is no different today. People enjoy the music they know most about and flock to concerts to hear it performed. Music became a "weapon of the (Catholic) Counter Revolution." "Small wonder then that the church was the major employer of musicians and, for the general population, the main point of access to ‘art’ music."(Sadie, 6) The winds of change were blowing and the evidence was everywhere. Though churches were still are important contact point for music, it is no longer confined by religion.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">A comparison with Handel’s <em>Messiah </em>would be appropriate. The <em>Messiah</em> was written by George Frideric Handel (1685-1756) and "was performed for the first time in...1742. It received instant acclaim." Based on quotes from the Old and New Testament of the King James Bible, the <em>Messiah</em> is "also Baroque in its style, which features vigorous contrasts of tempo and dynamics. Handel made use of word painting. For example, the music for the last word of the sentence, ‘All we, like sheep have gone astray’ consists of deliberately divergent melodic lines."(Fiero, 108)</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">When comparing <em>Spring</em> with the <em>Messiah</em> many things become evident. <em>Spring </em>and the <em>Messiah</em> have many things in common, having been conceived in the same time period. Both feature the baroque love of coloring their music to illustrate their ideas, in the same way an artist might mix the right shade of blue to paint the color of a sky in the morning. Both have the baroque love of drama. For that drama Vivaldi used tone painting; sound effects produced by the violin incorporated into the melody. Handel used word painting; using instruments only to "spotlight the poetry."(Fiero, 130) <em>Spring</em> has no accompanying choir. The <em>Messiah</em> is all about a huge, many-voiced choir. So, which one is superior?</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Freed from propagandist verbiage, Vivaldi’s <em>Spring</em> is superior, because it uses only the language of music. It is understood cross-culturally. Because it is divorced from blatant religiosity it works better to ease people into a spiritual mood. The Messiah is powerful. It brought even a king to his feet when it was first played. It is also religious propaganda in the extreme. The <em>Messiah</em> is emotionally closer to a John Philip Sousa march than to a spiritual, meditative experience. Vivaldi’s <em>Spring</em> evokes Nature in all her beauty and glory. The sounds, rather than words, speak to the heart rather than the brain. Spring allows the imagination to meditate on all that was good on our old earth and nurtures those emotions that are positive in individuals. <em>Spring</em> calms the soul<em>.</em></p>
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<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">The above belief, that Vivaldi’s work has the power to calm the spirit, has been proven in a Newcastle nursing home and again at Marobe Home in Australia. "Australian psychiatrist and musician Christian Heim led a study testing the effects of baroque music on fourteen dementia patients." Heim wrote that ,"played at low volume , for four hours each evening,...studies have shown that such compositions produce alpha brain waves and a state of calm, relaxed alertness." "The researchers found a 40% reduction in adverse behaviors that included...distraction...verbal abuse and agitation,"(Rlotter, 19) Heim’s research proves that we need to make sure that we take <em>Spring</em> with us where ever we go. The peace that this music evokes will prove useful in any environment that we and our children find ourselves in.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Vivaldi’s <em>Spring </em>is the<em> </em> most admirable piece of music ever written. It has the ability to engage the imagination and lift the spirit. When the violins trill, you hear the birds sing. It sounds simple, but is deceptively complicated. "The violin concertos of Vivaldi...abound in passages of extravagant virtuosity, difficult leaps, and surprising configurations; outbursts of fire and fury alternating with moments of intense lyricism."(Palisca, 3) John Grasmeier called Vivaldi’s <em>Four Seasons</em> "a masterwork of a renowned baroque composer, (and) also one of the great masterworks in all of Western art." When people of differing cultures and attitudes hear it, <em>Spring</em> speaks to them. It sounds like Spring and calms human emotions. In an era that has become more divisive as time goes on, we need a piece of music that crosses cultural and political boundaries. This music can do that. Vivaldi’s <em>Spring</em> should be saved, and preserved. If it is included, <em>Spring</em> is sure to be as cherished by future generations as it is today. I hope that you will vote with me to include Antonio Vivaldi’s glorious <em>Four Seasons: Spring</em> in the 2100 Time Capsule. We will need it.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="CENTER">Works Cited</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Bukofzer, Manfred F. <em>Music in the Baroque Era</em> New York: W.W. Norton and Company. 1947. Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Cannon, Beekman C., Alvin H. Johnson, and William G. Waite. <em>The Art of Music</em> New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1960. Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Fiero, Gloria K. <em>The Humanist Tradition: The Early Modern World to Present</em> Boston: McGraw Hill. 2011. Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Grasmeier, John <em>"Vivaldi’s Four Seasons"</em> Angelqueen.org. 2006. Web. 21 Sept. 2011.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Grout, Donald J. and Claude V. Palisca. <em>A History of Western Music</em> New York: W.W. Norton co., Inc. 1988. Print</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Kettle, David.<em> "Early Wake Up"</em> The Strad June 2011: 42-46 Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons)"</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Angelqueen.org.  2006. Web. 21 Sept. 2011</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Leichtentritt, Hugo <em>Music, History, and Ideas</em> Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973. Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Palisca, Claude V. <em>Baroque Music</em> Englewood Cliffs: Hitchcock, 1968. Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Pauly, Reinhard G. <em>Music in the Classic Period</em> Englewood Cliffs: Hitchcock, 1973. Print. Prentice- Hall History of Music Series. Ser. 4.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Rlotter, Jule. <em>Baroque Music and Dementia</em> Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients October 2004: 19-20 Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Sadie, Julie Ann, ed. <em>Companion to Baroque Music</em> Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">Todes, Ariana. <em>"Recent discoveries are destroying cliches that we’ve held to for so long"</em> The Strad March 2011: 62-66 Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"Vivaldi, Antonio" <em>The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia</em>. 15th ed. 1979. Print.</p>
<p dir="LTR" align="LEFT">"Vivaldi, Antonio" <em>The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia.</em> 15th ed. 1979. Print.</p>
Bickerton, John <em>Royalty Free Classical Music: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons </em>UniqueTracks. 27 Sept. 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2011.