17 Bit Software 1: Collection A

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THE FOUR SEASONS by Antonio Vivaldi (1675-1741) Rob's READ-ME file! **************************************************************************** * * * IMPORTANT... * * * * The collection of music presented here on these two disks is PUBLIC * * DOMAIN and can therefore be freely distributed - PROVIDED that all the * * files hereon are present and unaltered, and both disks are passed on * * as a set. * * * * The arrangements remain copyright (c) Rob Baxter, 1991. * * * **************************************************************************** That's the really heavy stuff out of the way, sorry about that but one can't be too careful these days! Now, please read on.... -------------------------- This is a two disk set and is only at its best when used on an Amiga with two disk drives. Disk One (volume Vivaldi1) is the boot disk and should be inserted into drive DF0: and Disk Two (volume Vivaldi2) should be inserted into drive DF1:, when you have done this, reboot your Amiga (CTRL AMIGA AMIGA - the ol' Vulcan nerve pinch!), and follow the on screen menu from which everything will happen automatically (silly me saying this really, if you're already reading this you've probably sussed all this out anyway!!!). Amiga users who only have one disk drive can still listen to these disks though. At the end of disk one you will be prompted to insert disk two (...Please insert volume Vivaldi2...) - yes, the standard AmigaDOS requestor! I'm not enough of a "Techie" to avoid that. The big downer here is that the requestor leaves a white menu bar at the top of the screen which while not interfering with the music is still a bit of an eyesore! If you only have a single drive system and want to avoid the dreaded requestor, simply swap disks while the final part of Summer (the Third movement) is still playing and everything will be just fine. Two drives are strongly recommended however! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Average loading time for each movement is about a minute, some a bit less, others a bit more. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- One final very important thing to note is that if you make copies of these disks the Volume names MUST be preserved. Disk One should be named VIVALDI1 and Disk Two should be named VIVALDI2 or else the whole show falls to pieces! *************************** ...And Now, ABOUT THE MUSIC... It is astonishing to think that in 1929 the well known musicologist and critic Sydney Grew wrote: "Vivaldi is only a name, except for organists, and even they know little more than the appearance of those works of his which Bach arranged for the organ."... Today, Vivaldi is more popular and more widely known and listened to than at any time since his death, which makes the above statement strange reading indeed! His current popularity is due in no small part to a remarkable series of violin concertos known as THE FOUR SEASONS. The Four Seasons that we know today is actually the first four of a series of twelve concertos known collectively as "Il Cimento dell' Armonia e dell' Inventione" (The Contest between Harmony and Invention - Vivaldi's Opus 8). The remaining eight concertos are not often performed. The date of composition remains unknown but they were first published in 1730. They were dedicated to Count Venceslao Marzin, who was familiar with these concertos some time before the publication date. The Four Seasons is scored for solo violin, strings and continuo so in my version, string-like tonalities predominate. I have however taken certain liberties with this scoring so the listener will encounter some decidedly "un-stringlike" sounds along the way, especially in the solos! To establish the flavour of each of the Four Seasons, I have added a brief sound introduction to each concerto, using synthesised environmental and imaginary sounds. SPRING is opened by the happy sound of birds, singing to greet the new season. There is a cuckoo there too although Vivaldi didn't depict this bird until Summer - it just seemed more appropriate for Spring! The SUMMER that Vivaldi knew in Italy was an altogether more oppressive season than the one we know in more northerly lattitudes. This was made worse for him by the fact that he suffered from asthma throughout his life. SUMMER in this collection begins with the sounds of buzzing insects and of bullfrogs languishing in the steamy heat of a swamp. To introduce AUTUMN, you first hear the soft chirping of cicadas along with the sound of cowbells as the herds are brought down from the pastures. The distant sounds of the hunting horn is briefly heard as the hunt gets under way (the third movement of Autumn represents a hunt). WINTER is freezing winds and ice, the eerie sound of wolves calling to each other can also be heard... ************************ Vivaldi wrote a short poem to accompany each of the four concertos and I have reproduced these at the end of the file if you want to read them. ************************ ...ABOUT THE COMPOSER... Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1675, the son of Giovanni Battista Vivaldi, a violinist in the orchestra of St. Mark's Cathedral. By the age of 10, young Antonio was proficient enough on the violin to play with his father in the orchestra and soon gained a reputation as a virtuoso as well as a composer. At the age of 15 he entered the priesthood and was ordained in 1703. He soon became known as "il prete rosso" (the red priest) on account of his bright red hair! He did not pursue his priestly duties for long (much to the continued annoyance of the church authorities) as, later in 1703, he was appointed to the musical staff of the Conservatorio dell' Ospedale della Pieta, a famous Venetian institute for orphaned and illigitimate girls where they were trained in music. Vivaldi stayed at the Pieta for the next 36 years and it was there that he wrote most of his 40 odd operas and 400 or so concertos. Despite his prodigious compositional output Vivaldi never lost his flair for writing imaginative, lively and inovative music. The great J. S. Bach became a staunch admirer and transcribed several of Vivaldi's concertos for other instruments such as the harpsichord and organ. Vivaldi did not invent the concerto form but he certainly greatly advanced it in the form we are familiar with, i.e., a slow movement sandwiched between two faster outer movements. In 1737, Vivaldi was preparing to go to Ferrara to produce an opera but the ecclesiastical authorities (who wielded tremendous power) forbade the trip on the grounds that he was a priest who would not say Mass, and also because of an alleged association with Anna Giraud, a singer (after all, as an ordained priest he was supposed to be celibate!). This ban led to a decline in Vivaldi's popularity and in 1740, upset by this unaccustomed neglect, he left Venice for Vienna - never to return. In Vienna, Vivaldi's health went into steep decline and he died there in poverty in 1741. ************************** The music on these disks was created and edited using SONIX and every sound and instrument was synthesised using SYNTHIA PROFESSIONAL and the original SYNTHIA 1. When you boot this collection the Amiga's audio filter is disabled to allow a wider frequency range through. Some listeners may wish to re-enable the filter and this can be done from the main menu. The result is like a sort of "super Dolby", the slight aliasing is removed but so is most of the music! I personally recommend that the filter be left off. I hope you enjoy this version of The Four Seasons. All the best.... ROB BAXTER The Desktop Music Workshop. (Somewhere in Manchester...) MAY 1991 Special thanks as always to PSW. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOOK OUT FOR THESE OTHER GREAT CLASSICAL MUSIC DISKS BY ROB BAXTER - CLASSIX1. J.S.Bach. The original Amiga classical music disk. CLASSIX2. More Bach, plus Handel and Pachelbel. (CLASSIX2 was reviewed in issue one of Amiga Shopper) PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION. Two disk set of Mussorgsky's masterpiece. AMIGADEUS. The music of Mozart, featuring Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. DIGITAL DEBUSSY VOL. 1. Four haunting tone poems by Claude Debussy. DIGITAL DEBUSSY VOL. 2. Two more beautiful sound tapestries by Debussy. Broaden your Amiga's musical horizons at a PD library near you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE POEMS As I mentioned earlier, Vivaldi wrote a poem to preface each of the concertos in which various episodes are related to the music by key letters at the side which are repeated at the appropriate places in the score. Here below are these poems in a loose translation by Christopher Hatch. I found these poems useful in my own transcription of the Four Seasons... SPRING Spring has come and the birds greet it with happy songs, and at the same time the streams run softly murmuring to the breathing of the gentle breezes. Then, the sky being cloaked in black, thunder and lightning come and have their say. After the storm has passed the little birds turn again to their harmonious song. Here is a pleasant flowery meadow, the leaves sweetly rustling, the goatherd sleeps, his faithful dog at his side. Nymphs and shepherds dance to the festive sound of the pastoral musette under the bright sky that they love. SUMMER In the season made harsh by the burning sun the men and the herds languish, even the evergreens are hot. The cuckoo unlocks his voice and soon the songs of the turtledove and the goldfinch are heard. Soft breezes breath, but unexpectedly the north wind from its quarter seeks out a quarrel, and the shepherd weeps because he is overwhelmed by fear of the gusts and of his fate. Fear of the flashing lightning and of the fierce thunder denies his tired body any rest while his furious troop is on the move. How justifiable is his fear? The sky lights up, the awe-inspiring thunder brings down the fruit and the proud grain. AUTUMN With songs and dances the peasants celebrate the happiness of a fine harvest, and after being kindled by bacchic spirits, their rejoicing ends with sleep. Thus everyone quits both his singing and his dancing. The air is pleasant and moderate, and the season invites everyone to the agreeableness of a sweet sleep. At the break of day the hunter goes to the hunt with guns, dogs and horns, he puts the wild beast to flight and tracks him down. Tired and terrified by the loud noise of the guns and dogs, the beast, now in danger of being wounded, longs for escape, but is overcome and dies. WINTER To tremble frozen in the icy snow; to be buffeted by the wild winds; to stamp one's frozen feet; to have excessive cold set one's teeth to chattering. To pass to a fireside of quiet and contentment, while outside the downpour bathes all; to walk carefully on ice, going slowly for fear of falling. To slip and fall sharply to the ground, start out again on the ice, and run until the ice breaks apart. To hear the south wind, the north wind, and all the other winds unloosed in battle; such is winter, these are the joys it brings.