What is it about?
This article shows how Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' was a bold departure from previous musical representations of the seasons, particularly in the central role played by the natural world (as opposed to a mythological realm) and the use of orchestral effects to enhance sonic splendor. For the first time, Vivaldi's sonnets accompanying each concerto are shown to be part of his broader effort to bring the music in line with emerging trends in literary, artistic, and philosophical thought.
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Why is it important?
By showing how Vivaldi shifted the emphasis from mythological and allegorical themes towards a complex relationship between humans and the natural world, this research contributes to the growing body of evidence that concepts similar to the limitless and terrifying sublime as defined by Burke and later writers were circulating in the early eighteenth century (if not earlier), before the term 'sublime' itself was applied to the natural world. The new hypothesis for Vivaldi's motivation to provide accompanying sonnets now situates his work in the context of Arcadian reform ideals concerning verisimilitude and intelligibility. Also, the examination of Vivaldi's use of the expressive potential of the orchestra calls into question assertions that the art of orchestration was not developed until the latter half of the eighteenth century.
Perspectives
I think this article provides a lot of stimulating ideas about the motivations that shaped the particular course Vivaldi took with these concertos and sonnets. In trying to address many of the basic questions that have remained unanswered since these works were first revived in the earlier twentieth century, clues emerged from a host other disciplines - visual and decorative art, literature, poetry, and philosophy. It is my hope that readers will come away with a greater appreciation for just how revolutionary and daring these very popular works once were and much can be gained paying closer attention to their details.
Nicholas Lockey
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This page is a summary of: ANTONIO VIVALDI AND THE SUBLIME SEASONS: SONORITY AND TEXTURE AS EXPRESSIVE DEVICES IN EARLY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ITALIAN MUSIC, Eighteenth-Century Music, August 2017, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1478570617000070.
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