The Four Seasons Concertos And The Baroque Era

Instruments are the heart to one’s self-expression that allows individuals to express their feelings beyond words. The Baroque era from about 1600 to 1750 as well as the classical period from the 1770’s to 1827 can be thanked for the creation of instrumental music as a result of many historical and cultural trends. The Baroque era was the era that contributed to the rise of the soloist, was highly polyphonic, and used ornamental music in which many embellishments, such as trills were added to decorate a line of music. As for the Classical period, which was the period that came after the Baroque era, a clear tune became seen in music and music became less complex. This essay will delve into examining the historical as well as cultural trends …show more content…
The solo concerto of the Baroque era was particular in that it arose from the Baroque era as a replacement of the Concerto Grosso. One of the main performers/composers of the solo concerto from the Baroque period was Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi composed over 350 solo concertos, his main one being The Four Seasons Concerto, composed in 1723. The Four Season Concerto was made up of an orchestra, a group of violas, a solo violin, and a bass continuo. Four Seasons was based upon a poem that was written by Vivaldi himself, in which it described several seasons within a year. The concerto can be described as having lots of energy, very virtuosic, and the majority being in major modes, except every once in a while minor modes would come into play within the storms of the specific …show more content…
“The violin, by all accounts, originates in Northern Italy during the first half of the 16th century. But the "inventor" is unknown and will remain open to discussion” (Bartuff). However, some try and credit Andrea Amati of Cremona (c.1511-1566), as he created two violins between 1542 and 1546. Today several different violins have been created throughout history, but the first standardized violin resulted from the Baroque period. “The Baroque violin [had] a shallower angle of the neck, which is usually thicker to support the tension of the strings, although the string tension is lower than on a classical violin” (Bartuff). The sound of this violin is typically characterized as being “quiet with a sweet sharpness” (“The Baroque Violin More Than the Catgut Strings”). As innovation occurred, the classical violin came about and the violin came to have a slenderer neck, higher string tension and was made in different types of wood based on the preference of musicians. As for the sound of the classical violin, the sound can be classified as having a warm sound with rich