Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was one of the most significant Italian composers during the Baroque era. Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos for solo violin, strings and basso continuo, was first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concerti, Op. 8. The Four Seasons is found at beginning of Op. 8, and Vivaldi entitled this collection of 12 concertos Il cimento dell-armonia e dell'inventione (“The Contest between Harmony and Invention”). The programmatic The Four Seasons concertos depict sounds associated with the seasons such as music that imitates the sounds of birds in the movement entitled Spring, and music that depicts the sound of a cold, icy wind in the movement entitled Winter.[1]

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