Violin Concerto (Tempesta di Mare)

About two centuries earlier, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) composed his most famous works and the most significant examples of Baroque program music. The Four Seasons are the opening works in his Opus 8 concerto set published in 1725. That set actually contains twelve violin concertos, but the brilliance and popularity of the first four have generally—and unfortunately, I believe—obscured the remaining works. Tonight we enjoy the fifth concerto in the set, given the Shakespearean subtitle “The Tempest” (or literally, “The Storm at Sea”). In contrast to the “Four Seasons”, for which Vivaldi actually published accompanying sonnets, Concerto no. 5 carries no further programmatic information apart from its subtitle. Still, it is not hard to visualize the roiling waves (captured in the rapid rising and falling lines) and driving rains (agitated repeated notes). These storms are more invigorating than frightening. Perhaps more striking than the textural details is the inconclusive final cadence which allows the opening movement to flow directly into the next. The pathos-laden middle movement (a Largo in F minor) also ends with a half-cadence, which is far more typical in that location of the form. But even here Vivaldi repeats the cadence twice in order to heighten expectation of what is to come. In the finale Vivaldi’s use of triple rhythm introduces a touch of grace and hint of a dance. The vibrant mood posits a “happy ending” to the storm, in much the same way Beethoven’s return to F major clears the sky after the storm scene in his “Pastoral” Symphony (1808).

(c) Jason Stell