A vision of spring: Nicolas Poussin’s pastoral landscape echoes the renewal, light, and harmony found in Vivaldi’s La primavera . Spring ( La primavera ) opens Antonio Vivaldi ’s celebrated cycle The Four Seasons and stands as one of the earliest and most vivid examples of programmatic music. Each movement is closely linked to an accompanying sonnet—very likely written by Vivaldi himself—which guides the listener through a sequence of natural images and human scenes associated with the arrival of spring. I. Allegro “Springtime is upon us. The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes. Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven. Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.” The opening Allegro bursts forth with brightness and joy. A fresh, buoyant theme introduces the season, while solo violin and orchestral violins imitate birdsong through...
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