Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Winter

The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. For example, "Winter" is peppered with silvery staccato notes from the high strings, calling to mind icy rain, whereas "Summer" evokes a thunderstorm in its final movement, which is why said movement is often dubbed 'Storm'.
The concertos were first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concerti, Vivaldi's Op. 8, entitled Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest between Harmony and Invention). The first four concertos were designated Le quattro stagioni, each being named after a season. Each one is in three movements, with a slow movement between two faster ones. At the time of writing The Four Seasons, the modern solo form of the concerto had not yet been defined (typically a solo instrument and accompanying orchestra). Vivaldi's original arrangement for solo violin with string quartet and basso continuo helped to define the form.

Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "L'inverno" (Winter)

1. Allegro non molto
2. Largo - actually, this movement is in E-flat major, and the only movement that violins I and II (not solo) pizzicato, except in the ending with whole notes.
3. Allegro

Information source: Wikipedia

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Blow thou winter wind

Blow, blow, thou winter wind.
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember’d not.

From As You Like It
by William Shakespeare

Chopin - Etude Op.25 No.11 ('Winter Wind') - Sviatoslav Richter

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When it snows, ain't it thrillin?

In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he is Parson Brown...

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Winter comes

In the depths of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus, French philosopher and writer, 1913-1960

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It's almost Christmas! It's time for snow!

Snow snow snow
Is
Falling
From
The sky
And
It is a
Winter
Wonderland
Out there
Believe
Me

Aldo Kraas

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Iced in

Last night we were hit with another of Oklahoma's famous ice storms which sock you in worse than any snow storm I ever encountered while living in Montana. By comparison, it's not all that cold, but the temperatures are sub-freezing, so that combined with a southern plains winter thunderstorm is the recipe for a slick, slippery coating of ice, that leaves the outdoor world looking sugared and gorgeous, but is treacherous to get out into.

Guess I have to stay home from work today.


Well, damn!

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