“We feel the chill north winds coarse through the home despite the locked and bolted doors… this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own delight” —Antonio Vivaldi, the Sonnets*

Cutting edge
Ornately Baroque
Artistry

We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously,
for fear of tripping and falling.
Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground,
And rising, hasten on across the ice in case it cracks

—Antonio Vivaldi, the Sonnets*

Rosined bow
Keening tensile strings
Trembling

We hear the cuckoo’s voice; followed by
sweet songs of turtledove and finch.
Soft breezes stir the air, but, threatening,
the North Wind sweeps them suddenly aside

—Ibid*

Resonance
Redolent of scents
Volatile

Under a hard season, fired up by the sun
Man and flock both languish, and pine trees burn

—Ibid*

Red spruce peaks
Norway maple dells
Willow woods

The peasant celebrates with songs and dances
the pleasure of a bountiful harvest.
And fired up by Bacchus’s liquor,
many end their revelry in sleep

—Ibid*

Slender stem
Voluptuous curves
Purfling edge

Everyone is made to forget their cares and made to sing and dance
By the air which is tempered with pleasure
And (by) the season that invites so many, many
Out of sweetest slumber to blissful enjoyment

—Ibid*

This post is dedicated to the violin, sonnets, and music of the virtuoso fiddler and cutting edge composer of Baroque concertos.
Antonio Vivaldi wrote 200 violin concertos (out of 500), including those which furnished the musical inspiration for the series of picture poems in the post, reflecting the changing shapes, colors, temperatures, and textures of Vivaldi Season.

*The quotes are excerpts from a translation of Vivaldi’s sonnets, published 1725 in a first edition of the concertos.
The four complete sonnets, with notes about the “Petrarchan Sonnet” form, its relationship to the musical structure and pace, and to the visual art which inspired the poetry, may be found on the Toronto Symphony Orchestra website.