Springtime

In honor of spring, I created a YouTube playlist of the most famous classical works that are inspired by the season. There are three very different pieces:

First, a violin concerto in E Major, by Antonio Vivaldi - "Spring" from the Four Seasons. There are four sonnets, supposedly written by Vivaldi that accompany each season. Here is the one for spring: 

Allegro
Springtime is upon us. 
The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven,
Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.

Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.

Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.

Second on our playlist is a sonata for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, known as the "Spring" sonata. This is the 5th of Beethoven's 10 violin sonatas, and it shows traits of both the Classical and Romantic styles of music.

Finally, for a complete change of pace, we have Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," which was ballet music written in the early 20th century. This is a style known as "primitivism," and the music is intended to be harsher, rougher, and much less refined. In the ballet, a prehistoric tribe performs a sacrificial rite every spring to ensure a good planting season and harvest. One young girl is selected to dance herself to death. A disturbing and morbid story, to be true, but incredible music to listen to.