VIVALDI & WILD NATURE

Art imitates nature – or at least draws inspiration from it. Antonio Vivaldi, the most famous composer of the Italian baroque period, wrote more than 500 concertos, including almost 250 for violin and orchestra. The Four Seasons tower above the others; Vivaldi’s music, which mirrors his own sonnets in great detail, depicts the cycle of nature, from the blossoms of spring to the heat of midsummer, and from the autumn harvest festivals to the frosts of winter.

Almost a century after Vivaldi, Ludwig van Beethoven also transformed the emotional turmoil evoked by natural phenomena into music. In his Sixth Symphony, known as the ‘Pastoral’, Beethoven invites listeners to the outskirts of Vienna and the peace of the countryside. There, the ambience is enhanced by a rushing brook, dancing peasants, rumbling storm clouds and the song of shepherds after a storm.