Review (PDF) The Four Seasons (Dover Miniature Music Scores)
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.
Series: Dover Miniature Music Scores
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications (January 26, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 048640644X
ISBN-13: 978-0486406442
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.3 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #539,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #16 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Violin Concertos #23 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Vivaldi #29 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Concerto
The recording is crisp and superb. Ms Brown gives a very pleasing interpretation of this piece of Vivaldi's work. Her playing is clean, bright and energetic. The energy and moods are easily felt by the listener. I recommend this CD to both anyone who is just starting to enjoy classical music as well as the seasoned listener who enjoys the baroque era and is building a collection of Violin masters. When this CD was first released several years ago I searched high and low and couldn't find it. All sold out everywhere. I was so happy to learn Hanssler did another issue and now I finally have my own copy.
This score is one of the easiest to follow whether in a concert hall or listening to a CD at home. One can also play directly from the score due its clear printing and spacey musical notes. This musical composition contains only 4-6 instrumental "roles" consisting of strings and bass continu; which makes it an excellent score to follow even by a newbie musician who just starts reading a full musical score;(in comparison to Berlioz's "symphonie fantastique" 5th movement, over 27 different musical instrumental roles playing simultaneously). The listener can easily find his way: bars are numbered and above the musical tones there are short descriptive sceneries comments which serve as "Mile Stones". Actually just by listening to the music one can easily navigate himself since Vivaldi's music is very descriptive and effective in creating vivid mental pictures of: storms, rain, thunder, chorus birds' songs, a dizzy drunkard; no listener will mistake one for the other.Score also contains the sonnets text, upon which the "The Four Seasons" violin concerto is based. A slight drawback, the musical score is somewhat scanty on dynamics especially at critical stages as the climax of "thunder and lightning" in "Spring" 1st movement in bars: 44, 45, 47 (pages 4-5) "forte" instructions are omitted. Despite that fact this miniature score is still highly enjoyable and recommended.
This book, which is a combination of music/text/pictures, is an excellent way to experience Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." Many people are familiar with the music, but how many know that sonnets were printed along with it, to help give imagery to the concertos as they're heard? This book takes that idea one step further, adding prints of paintings from artists who were active during Vivaldi's lifetime. All of these prints depict scenes from the various seasons, and all can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The aforementioned sonnets appear alongside the prints, and are listed in both English and the original Italian verse.A few notes: the music comes in the form of a CD, and it is encased in plastic on the inside back cover of the book. One should be careful when removing the plastic, because if you remove too much of it, you won't have a place to store the CD. I cut a slit a few inches down so that I can remove the CD but also return it there when finished. There is no "jewel case" for the CD. On a positive note, an extra concerto was included on the CD, which is not part of "The Four Seasons." Vivaldi's "Concerto for Mandolin" etc. (RV 425) can be found at the end of the CD, an unexpected bonus!Four stars. A nice little combination to be experiecned together - listen to the music, read the sonnets, and view the paitings. This makes an excellent inexpensive gift for a music lover (or even for yourself)!
I bought this with my intermediate students in mind. I found these arrangements quite good from musical and pianistic point of view. Well done!
These are worth the price just for the beautiful sketches and the music for the Piano is quite good. I own the entire series and I am very happy with my purchase.
The Four Seasons (Dover Miniature Music Scores) The Four Seasons and Other Violin Concertos in Full Score: Opus 8, Complete (Dover Music Scores) Requiem, K626, in Full Score (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Prélude à "l'Après-Midi d'un Faune"/Trois Nocturnes (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Symphony No. 9 (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Messiah in Full Score (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Symphony No. 104 (Dover Miniature Music Scores) The Creation in Full Score (Dover Miniature Music Scores) The Planets: Op. 32 (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Symphony No. 4 in G Major for Soprano and Orchestra (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Symphony No. 8 (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Symphony No. 6 in A Minor (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Violin Concerto in E Minor (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Piano Concerto No. 2 (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2 (Dover Miniature Music Scores) La Valse in Full Score (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Verklarte Nacht (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 (Dover Miniature Music Scores) The Moldau and Other Works for Orchestra in Full Score (Dover Miniature Music Scores) Petrushka (Dover Miniature Music Scores)
