Podcast #3 - Vivaldi Four Seasons - The Spring
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Welcome to “Symphonic Guitars” podcast#3
This is the complete works of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons - “The Spring”; also known as “Concerto For Violin, Strings & Continuo In E Major”.
For your listening pleasure I have emulated a string quintet on this most famous classical selection using my 68′ Gibson SG and recording direct with a Line6 Flextone3 amp.
A minimum of 250 tracks of electric guitars were used to complete this sonic tapestry and all 3 movements (Allegro, Largo and Allegro) are incorporated into this musical epic..!
About the project::
This project was a quantum leap in my progress of understanding how to record myriad guitar tracks; the process was fairly straightforward whereas the majority of the task for this piece was the actual learning of the written parts. The instrumentation of this Baroque period classic is comprised of Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola and Bass.
The intertwined melodies between first and second chair Violins is especially interesting in the first section where all instruments play off each other in a succession of trills..!
I chose to make this a “mix” while tying all three parts together with a little “digital signal processing” fun
About Antonio Vivaldi ::
Born in Venice on March 4th, 1678, Vivaldi was employed for most of his working life by the Ospedale della Pietà. Often termed an “orphanage”, this Ospedale was in fact a home for the female offspring of noblemen and their numerous dalliances with their mistresses. The Ospedale was thus well endowed by the “anonymous” fathers; its furnishings bordered on the opulent, the young ladies were well looked-after, and the musical standards among the highest in Venice. Most of Vivaldi’s concerti were intended for performance with his many talented pupils. He was also deeply involved with opera, both in composition and staging, mainly at Venice’s Teatro Sant’ Angelo.
At the end of 1717 Vivaldi moved to Mantua for two years in order to take up his post as Chamber Capellmeister at the court of Landgrave Philips van Hessen-Darmstadt. His task there was to provide operas, cantatas, and perhaps concert music, too. Here he made the acquaintance of the singer Anna Giraud (or Giro), who moved in to live with him, and they stayed together until Vivaldi’s death.
Vivaldi also wrote works on commission from foreign rulers, such as the French king, Louis XV - the serenade La Sena festeggiante (Festival on the Seine), for example. This work cannot be dated precisely, but it was certainly written after 1720. In Rome Vivaldi found a patron in the person of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a great music lover, who earlier had been the patron of Arcangelo Corelli. And if we can believe Vivaldi himself, the Pope asked him to come and play the violin for him at a private audience.
Despite his stay in Rome and other cities, Vivaldi remained in the service of the Ospedale della Pietà, which nominated him “Maestro di concerti.” He was required only to send two concertos per month to Venice (transport costs were to the account of the client) for which he received a ducat per concerto. His presence was never required. He also remained director of the Teatro Sant’ Angelo.
In 1725 the publication Il Cimento dell’ Armenia e dell’invenzione (The trial of harmony and invention), opus 8, appeared in Amsterdam. This consisted of twelve concertos, seven of which were descriptive: The Four Seasons, Storm at Sea, Pleasure and The Hunt. Vivaldi transformed the tradition of descriptive music into a typically Italian musical style with its unmistakable timbre in which the strings play a major role.
These concertos were enormously successful, particularly in France. In the second half of the 18th century there even appeared some remarkable adaptations of the Spring concerto: Michel Corrette (1709-1795) based his motet Laudate Dominum de coelis of 1765 on this concerto and, in 1775, Jean-Jacques Rousseau reworked it into a version for solo flute. “Spring” was also a firm favorite of King Louis XV, who would order it to be performed at the most unexpected moments, and Vivaldi received various commissions for further compositions from the court at Versailles.
In 1738 Vivaldi was in Amsterdam where he conducted a festive opening concert for the 100th Anniversary of the Schouwburg Theater. Returning to Venice, which was at that time suffering a severe economic downturn, he resigned from the Ospedale in 1740, planning to move to Vienna under the patronage of his admirer Charles VI. His stay in Vienna was to be shortlived however, for he died on July 28th 1741 “of internal fire” (probably the asthmatic bronchitis from which he suffered all his life) and, like Mozart fifty years later, received a modest burial. Anna Giraud returned to Venice, where she died in 1750.
Podcast #3 - Vivaldi Four Seasons - The Spring
* Apple’s iTunes Mp3 Podcast
* Click here to Download Mp3
* XML/RSS - Subscribe to this feed
Thank you for listening and be sure to visit http://www.dansindel.us for Guitar Driven Classics - Mp3’s, Videos and More…
Truth be told I am completely fascinated how 
Godard was born August 18, 1849, at Paris, and died at Cannes, January 10, 1895. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Reber (harmony) and Vieuxtemps (violin). He accompanied Vieuxtemps twice to Germany, and also devoted himself to chamber music. He composed music with great facility, and, indeed, his work suffers at times from a lack of careful revision. Nevertheless he gradually obtained recognition. In 1876 his concerto Romantique was performed at the Concerts Populaires, and other works of large dimensions were also performed at these concerts. In 1878 Godard's name was bracketed with that of Dubois, the present head of the Conservatoire in Paris, as winner in a musical competition instituted by the municipality of Paris. this composition, a dramatic symphony entitled Tasso, is perhaps his most important work. His also composed other symphonic work, ballets, concertos, and overtures. As a composer of opera he was only moderately successful, the best known of his works being Jocelyn, from which the beautiful Berceuse has become so popular. Godard is probably best known as a writer of salon music, much of which has become extremely popular. Among his piano pieces may be mentioned the second Mazurka, the second Valse, Au Matin, Postillon, En Courant, En Train and Les Hirondelles. Florian's Song is also very popular in many arrangements
