Concerto No. 4

At a glance

• What it isthe first movement of 'Winter' from The Four Seasons, marked Allegro non molto, fast but not too fast.
• Who, when, whythe first movement of the last of the four concertos that open Vivaldi's collection, published in 1725.
• What to listen forthe trembling notes the strings stack up one by one, and the solo violin's sharp wind.

Listen for

• Shiveringthe strings repeat the same note in quick, fine strokes, piling up one by one to create the feeling of a body stiffening in the cold. The clashing notes sting the ear.
• Windthe solo violin runs up and down quickly, depicting a biting wind.
• Stamping and chatteringthe orchestra's pounding rhythm and the solo violin's very finely trembling notes depict the gestures of enduring the cold.

When it was written

The Four Seasons are the first four concertos of Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, a collection Vivaldi published in Amsterdam in 1725. Each comes with a sonnet describing its season, and the score marks which line of the poem each passage depicts. The sonnets are sometimes thought to be by Vivaldi himself, but this is not certain.

Vivaldi continues 'Winter' with a second movement depicting rest by a warm fire and a finale of walking carefully on ice. The first movement is the harshest of these, winter outdoors.