At the age of 15, Antonio began training to become a priest. At the age of 25, he was ordained a priest and soon after became known as the II Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest", because of his red hair. Due to his health, he left the priesthood in 1703 after only 3 years. But he was still able to pursue a career in music.
Vivaldi's music is joyful, almost playful, revealing his own joy of composing. In addition, Vivaldi was able to compose non-academic music which means it would be enjoyed by many people rather than just college professors. It was these qualities that made Vivaldi's music very popular.
Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, composed in 1723, is a set of four concertos for violin. It is his most popular work and is among the most popular works of the Baroque Era. For this composition he wrote sonnets to match each season.
This week the students listened and discussed Vivaldi's "Winter" from "The Four Seasons". Ask your child how many movements or sections "Winter" contained and the differences in tempo and mood. Below you can listen to this piece from YouTube with some really cool sand art to accompany it. The students are also being introduced to the theme from "Spring" from "The Four Seasons" as well via boomwhackers. We will do some breaking down of parts next week and put this together for our Spring concert.
