Vivaldi, "Spring", from The Four Seasons

Despite being the most popular Baroque author today, most of the compositions of the prete rosso Antonio Vivaldi remained ignored until the first quarter of the twentieth century. It was not until the years 1927-1930 that a laborious compilation of autograph manuscripts by the Venetian composer was made. As a result of this search, 300 concerts were recognized, plus nine operas and a beautiful oratorio.

A colossal work
A few years later, the French musicologist Marc Pincherle – who had devoted his doctoral thesis in 1913 to the life and work of Vivaldi – stated in 1948 that the number of concertos for solo instrument and string orchestra composed by Il Prete Rosso was 461. But another scholar named Gallois didn't agree, accepting only 446 as authentic. Another one, Negri, reached the same conclusion a bit later. Finally, in 1955, Pincherle went back to it again by proposing the final number of 454 concerts, which is the one generally accepted today.

And if you want to inquire about the complete work, the RV catalog (Ryom Verzeichnis - Ryom Catalog), prepared by the Danish musicologist Peter Ryom and published in 1973, quotes as more than 750 pieces the total number of works composed by Vivaldi.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

The Four Seasons
Written between 1723 and 1725, and published this last year by an Amsterdam editor, Vivaldi will resort for the first time to the imitation of nature – one of the basic tendencies of the Enlightenment culture. At least, so he did in seven of the twelve concertos, but above all in the very famous first four, known as The Four Seasons. Aware of their importance, il prete rosso did not miss an opportunity to perform them throughout his life.

Only three years after their publication, they achieved stunning success at the famed Concerts Spirituels in Paris, which opened only in 1725. It was not long before that they became a true best-seller of 18th-century instrumental music, a recognition that, surprisingly, it continues to this day. In the opinion of several musicologists, if Vivaldi's work ever falls into oblivion, there will be a title that will withstand the onslaught of time: The Four Seasons.

Concerto No 1 "The Spring"
In a superb rendition by the charming German violinist Julia Fischer accompanied by the chamber group Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, we are offering here the concerto N ° 1 in E major RV 269, The Spring, in a beautiful video recorded in the National Botanical Garden of Wales.

The movements are:
00:00  Allegro
03:25  Largo e pianissimo semper
06:00  Allegro pastorale