Sound Off

I've been really looking forward to this week's Symphonic Hits concert for a long time.  While I love the music we play week in and week out, it's nice when the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra turns to something that is a bit different from its usual stomping grounds.  This week's concert includes the Vivaldi Four Seasons which comes from the Baroque Period in music history, and it's one that we here at the ISO don't often get to visit.  The Four Seasons is of course one of the most famous works of music ever written.  You hear it everywhere from TV ads to background music in restaurants.  The Weather Channel even used the "Winter" movement for its local weather segments in the '90s.  For a piece of "classical" music, it sure has rather wide popular recognition.  

It's therefore rather amazing that as recently as the 1940s, almost no one had ever heard of this piece or its composer for that matter.  Like many Baroque composers, Vivaldi had fallen out of favor over the course of the 19th and early 20th century, but unlike Handel and Bach who never completely disappeared, Vivaldi had all but been forgotten for nearly two hundred years.  It was only thanks to a few hardworking musicologists and a recording of the Four Seasons in 1942 by Bernardino Molinari, that the work and its composer were rescued from obscurity.  I find it quite fascinating that over the remaining decades of the 20th century, this work from 1725 grabbed the public's attention so strongly.  It is now claimed to be the most recorded piece of Classical Music with more than 100 different versions available.  I think what speaks to us through the centuries is Vivaldi vigorous rhythmic drive.  Check out the visceral excitement created by Vivaldi's use of endlessly virtuosic scales to describe the torrents of water at the end of "Summer."



Another unique aspect to this weekend's concert is the absence of a conductor.  At the time the Four Seasons was written, conducting was still in its infancy.  How an orchestra was led varied considerably depending on the orchestra and the work being performed.  Sometimes there was a rudimentary conductor who would often beat time out loud!  Other times it was lead by the harpsichordist, a staple of every Baroque orchestra, or by the first violin or soloist.  While we don't know how the first performances of the Four Seasons were led, it would be a reasonably good guess that it was played and led by Vivaldi himself.  For our performances this week, Zach De Pue, our Concertmaster and soloist, will be leading the orchestra, giving it an extra layer of authenticity! 

Finally, I don't want to leave out mention of the other half of the concert, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, which will be performed and led by Zach De Pue and the ISO's principal Violist, Michael Strauss.  Michael will also by my guest this week at Sound Off where we'll be discussing the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, as well as looking at Vivaldi a bit more in-depth.  I hope to see you there!