115 Tracks, 1:59:36
- 01:34Introduction: Opening, upward-pointing figure
- 00:23Answering, downward figure completes the phrase
- 00:25Beginning of dialogue
- 01:27The nature of musical conversation; repetition; ' echo ' effect
- 00:41Upward pointing to one ' target ' note
- 00:11' Answer ' points to two, downward notes
- 00:19Same idea repeated 3 times
- 01:54The first Solo section: birdsong from three soloists, not one
- 00:22Repeat of ' two-pronged ' theme in orchestra
- 00:51Orchestra depicts murmuring stream, but still there's no real melody
- 00:32Further illustrative ' water studies '
- 00:27Orchestra erupts into thunderstorm
- 00:54Orchestral thunder, virtuosic ' lightning ' from soloist - but still no ' tune '
- 00:42Soloistic ' birds ' return to the air
- 00:26Variant of opening theme, with ' argument ' between two notes, one high, one low
- 00:20Cue to First Movement
- 03:29First Movement (Complete)
- 01:57Scene setting and Main Theme of Second Movement
- 00:58Analytical comment and Main Theme again
- 00:41Main Theme varied
- 00:43Further variation, tracing slow, descending scale-steps
- 02:52Analytical discussion of ' pace ' and ' tempo ' ; further variant of main theme
- 00:44Vivaldi springs a surprise, reversing direction and heightening tension
- 00:45Analytical cue to Second Movement
- 02:36Second Movement (Complete)
- 01:06Undercover ' bagpipes ' initiate the finale
- 00:18Second part of Main Theme: new notes, same rhythm
- 00:24An ' echo ' with a difference
- 00:12Reminder of ' echoed ' phrase in its original form
- 00:20Surprise variant provides springboard into new descending four-note pattern
- 00:36Unexpected, ' flowing ' entrance of soloist
- 01:21The use of ' sequence ' in first extended solo
- 00:20Vivaldi prepares expectation...
- 01:08... and frustrates it by bringing in a new theme, using his four-note ' motto '
- 00:34Violins accompanied by flowing ' commentary ' in lower strings
- 00:37Soloist returns with new variant
- 00:25Pace slows as violins trace another four-note scalewise descent
- 00:47The peasants return with the main theme, which turns unexpectedly downward
- 00:38Intensification as harmonies change under broad, descending four-note ' motto '
- 00:47Mini-earthquake transformed into harmonic landslide
- 00:43Critical mood-change in soloist's lonely soliloquy
- 00:23Cue to restoration of main theme in its entirety as the movement ends
- 04:15Third Movement (complete)
- 00:34Scene setting and opening of First Movement
- 00:24Expanded groups of answering phrase
- 00:49Upper and lower strings alternately succumb to lethargy
- 00:35As in ' Spring ', soloist enters with birdsong
- 00:41Orchestra hijacks soloist's material
- 00:51Soloist returns,first as turtle-dove, then as goldfinch
- 01:03Gentle breezes give away to North Wing
- 01:00The storm subsides; soloist enters as weeping peasant boy
- 00:18Movement ends as storm returns
- 05:20First Movement (complete)
- 01:35Second movement opens with extremecontrasts
- 02:29Second Movement (complete)
- 00:38Stormy Weather; thunder
- 00:22Lightning from upper strings
- 00:25More lightning: ' heat ' lightning from violins, ' fork ' lightning from violas
- 00:47Torrential rain, depicted by entire orchestra
- 00:55Deferred entry of solo violin, in virtuoso vein
- 00:22Peasant's failing resolve as violin spirals down
- 01:36Nature triumphant; soloist draws on orchestra's 'rain' music
- 00:23The peasant's capitulation
- 03:03Third Movement (complete)
- 01:17Repetitiousness and folk music; the movement's opening
- 00:28Secondary theme, a closely related development of the first
- 01:06Solo entry restates the opening theme, ' double-stopping '
- 00:37Unexpectedly, a new theme where a repeat might be expected
- 00:45The soloist as ' drunkard '
- 00:15Further violinistic slips and slides
- 00:19Orchestra re-enters with main theme, but is interrupted by the drunkard
- 01:01Other drunks join in ' dialogue ' with the orchestra
- 00:57The orchestral peasants continue their dancing, but things have changed
- 00:40Enter another drunk, courtesy of the virtuoso soloist
- 00:38The dance breaks up
- 00:56The drunkard interrupts again, then falls asleep, breathing heavily
- 00:25Conversation amongst the sober peasants leads to their final dance
- 04:46First Movement (complete)
- 01:09Scene-setting for Second Movement
- 02:46Second Movement (complete)
- 01:07Similarities between the Third Movement and the First
- 00:27Expectation and surprise: Vivaldi tacks on one bar too many
- 00:36A case of predictable unpredictablity: novelty and repetition
- 00:35Soloist's double-stopping depicts hunting horns
- 00:38Orchestra yields to unexpected display of virtuosity by soloist
- 00:25Soloist suddenly takes the part of the fleeing beast
- 00:47Symmetrical paralels with First Movement: ' beast ' / ' drunkard ' etc
- 00:17Death of the quarry, end of the movement
- 03:13Third Movement (complete)
- 01:24Orchestral strings enter, part by part; soloist depicts the biting wind
- 00:54Wind subsides and returns, tormenting the trudgers through the snow
- 00:27Soloist depicts snow flurries
- 00:32Soloist's flurries interrupted by six blasts of orchestral wind
- 01:54Teeth chattering, and with stamping feet, the travellers finally reach their goal
- 00:11Cue to First Movement as a whole
- 03:25First Movement (complete)
- 00:38Soloist's ' aria ' accompanied by pizzicato ' raindrops '
- 00:34A sequence of simple scales, accompanied by opening rhythm
- 00:52Two scalewise ideas for the price of one: foreground and background
- 00:36New, rising scale-pattern unfurled with ever-greater breadth
- 00:36The pace increases eight-fold in concluding downwards scale
- 01:04Against an unvarying tempo, the pace is repeatedly varied
- 00:35Foreground / Background
- 02:14Detailed discussion of foreground / background perceptions; analogies with speech
- 02:20Second Movement (complete)
- 00:47Scene-setting; soloist begins for the first time
- 00:26Soloist rises progressively, in sequence, decoratively outling chord of the home key
- 00:48First orchestral section; ace is halved; the undermining onset of chromaticism
- 00:23The walkers lose their balance and stylishly fall down
- 00:23Soloist returns as the original solitary walker and strides away from the others
- 01:51One tempo, two rates of speed: fast for the soloist, slow for the orchestra
- 00:36Orchestra evokes the warm winds of the Sirocco
- 01:07Answering blast from the Borea, the could wind of the north; struggle for supremacy
- 00:23Cue to final movement
- 03:09Third Movement (complete)