Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Candlelight - 21st June, Newcastle

PROGRAMME

Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Bach - Violin Concerto in E major

Vivaldi - Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor

Four Seasons

Tonight’s programme opens with Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik (“a little night music”), originally written as outdoor evening entertainment. Its opening Allegro, with an instantly recognisable rising figure, has become one of the best-known beginnings in classical music. Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major was probably written for performance at the court of Köthen; its central slow movement unfolds over a hypnotic repeating bass line as the solo violin spins long, lyrical lines above it — music Bach later valued enough to rework as a concerto for harpsichord.

We then have Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor, essentially a musical duel between the soloists. It comes from L’estro armonico, a collection that helped make Vivaldi’s name across Europe. The evening culminates in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, one of the earliest and most vivid examples of storytelling in music: each concerto is linked to a poem describing the season, with Vivaldi’s own instructions in the score depicting birdsong, storms, barking dogs and icy winds.

Disclaimer: Please be aware that the cathedral is a historic building and therefore has uneven floor surfaces, so appropriate footwear is advised at the event.

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