Most people, whether they know anything about classical music or not, are at least peripherally aware of “The Four Seasons,” the baroque equivalent of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or Wagner’s “The Ride of the Valkyries.”
“The popularity of ‘Le quattro staggioni (The Four Seasons)’ still knows no bounds,” British musicologist Paul Everett wrote in his 1996 book, “Vivaldi: The Four Seasons and Other Concertos, Op. 8.”
“Other compositions from Western art-music traditions have found their way to popular culture and to the dubious status of ‘classical pops,’ but not to such a widespread extent.”
That might be an exaggeration, but not by much.
Besides constant performances of the work by orchestras of all kinds worldwide, snippets of Antonio Vivaldi’s celebrated work can be heard regularly on movie soundtracks and television commercials and as cellphone ring tones.
The list of recordings of the work already numbered more than 200 at the time of Everett’s book, and it continues to grow.
“Since the 1950s,” he wrote, “virtually every solo violinist, every conductor and every orchestra have aspired to issue at least one recording, both as evidence of their respective interpretative skills and as a mark of professional status.”
Scott Yoo, who will serve as guest conductor and violin soloist for the Colorado Symphony’s three performances of the work beginning this evening, is as big a fan of the oft-performed piece as anyone.
“I’ve done it probably 30 times, and even I’m not sick of it,” he said from his home in New York City. “I think it has to do with the fact that the music is very fresh, and it’s just really great music. As I like to say, it’s famous for a reason.”
Vivaldi (1678-1741) wrote some 550 concertos for a staggering array of instrumental combinations and played a key role in the development of the form and influenced other composers of his time, such as Johann Sebastian Bach.
Virtually all of Vivaldi’s manuscripts bear no date, but Everett believes “The Four Seasons,” a set of four three-movement concertos, was probably written in the mid-1710s and compiled no later than 1720 or so. What is known for sure is that it was first published in 1725 in Amsterdam as part of a group of concertos labeled Op. 8.
The piece stood out from Vivaldi’s other works from the start, becoming an especially big hit in France, where Vivaldi capitalized on an Italian music craze that peaked in the 1730s.
In many ways, today’s infatuation with “The Four Seasons” picks right up where its 18th-century fans left off.
The question, of course, is: what lies behind this enormous popularity? Why do audiences never seem to tire of the work, no matter how many times they’ve heard it?
For starters, it is superbly constructed, with its innovative structure, dramatic interplay of soloist and orchestra and focused relationship to its immediately compelling theme, expounded in a group of accompanying sonnets.
“There is so much variety within the four concertos and within the 12 movements,” Yoo said. “Vivaldi just takes advantage of so many techniques to make so many different kinds of sounds. He really exploits a string orchestra to its fullest.”
He believes other works from the baroque era, and “The Four Seasons” in particular, especially resonate with contemporary listeners because their rigid structure is much like that of modern pop songs.
“And also, let’s face it, the tunes, are very catchy,” he said. “You play the ‘The Four Seasons’ and you finish a rehearsal and you find that even people in the orchestra are whistling something from ‘The Four Seasons.’ It’s just infectious.”
Many people, though, only know certain bright, oft-heard snippets, such as the short first movement of “Spring,” said Frank Nowell, artistic director of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado.
“But there are other parts of ‘The Four Seasons,'” he said, “and really probably most of it, that is very bold and brash and kind of wild. Those are the parts that we don’t hear at weddings or on commercials.
“To me, the best way to hear it is to hear the whole work. It’s just very effective that way.”
Audiences will get just such a chance this weekend, when the symphony presents “The Four Seasons” in its entirety, along with two comparatively less familiar baroque works by Bach — the “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 1 and Orchestral Suite No. 1.
Yoo, who serves as music director of the Festival Mozaic in California and resident conductor for the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, said he will put an emphasis on achieving as balanced a sound as possible, given Boettcher Concert Hall’s uneven acoustics.
“It’s very difficult to do,” he said, “and most ensembles don’t quite get there, and we’re going to do our very best to get those balances, so people can really hear all the lines, because the beauty of Bach or Vivaldi is hearing the counterpoint.”
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“The Four Seasons”
Classical music. Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. Guest conductor and violinist Scott Yoo joins the Colorado Symphony for a baroque program including Vivaldi’s popular masterpiece. 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $15-$69.50. 303-623-7876 or .
