Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0821226177 ISBN 13: 9780821226179

Publisher: Little, Brown US, 1999

Enjoy classical composer Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' as they were experienced in Vivaldi's own time. This new edition is a reproduction of the very first edition of The Four Seasons book and uniquely combines the music with the sonnets that inspired the concertos and the art work of Vivaldi's Venice. Rococo illustrations from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York capture the allure of Venice and illustrates how the '... peasant celebrates with dances and songs/The immense pleasure of the happy harvest.'

The accompanying compact-disc recording of the concertos by The Philharmonia Virtuoso allows the reader to live the full experience of the sonnets as Vivaldi intended.

Book Description:

A special edition of the original FOUR SEASONS book, produced in conjunction with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and featuring a CD recording of Vivaldi's most popular piece.

From the Back Cover:

Vivaldi's violin concertos called "The Four Seasons" are among the best-known and most-loved collections of string music. Their programmatic nature, based on the lines of sonnets printed along with the music, brings seasonal sights and sounds readily and delightfully to the ear: the bird calls in "Spring," the swarms of wasps in "Summer," the hunters' horns in "Autumn," the winds and icy snow of "Winter."
Dr. Eleanor Selfridge-Field, a recognized authority on music of the Italian Baroque, has researched primary sources in Italy to prepare this specially commissioned, authoritative new edition. Together with its excellent scores new music plates have been prepared to create an unusually pristine and elegant edition the volume provides a thorough introduction to Vivaldi's music and times, as well as a new English translation of the original sonnets (with a guide to their linear placement in the scores). The work appears here in full score, with bar-numbered movements. Ideal for study in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable, high-quality, conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for music students and music lovers alike.
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