Antonio Vivaldi (1676-1741) The Four Seasons Complete, Op. 8 No. 1-4
Contents:
SPRING
Spring from the Four Seasons (RV269; Op. 8, No. 1) Score: 23 pages. Duration ca. 10:42
I. Allegro - Spring has returned. Song of the Birds. All is gay, and the birds sing happily.
FLOWING FOUNTAINS: Fountains play in the breeze, constantly moving.

THUNDER: The skies are dark; lightning flashes and thunder roars.
SONG OF THE BIRDS: After the storm, the birds return with their song.
II. Largo - THE SLEEPING GOATHERD: On the flowered meadow, the goatherd and his dog roam among the blossoming trees. The Barking Dogs
III. Allegro - PASTORAL DANCE: Nymphs and shepherds dance to the bagpipes under the beautiful skies of spring.

SUMMER
Vivaldi: Summer from the Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 2 (RV315) Score: 31 pages, Duration: ca 10:00, 3 movements
I. Allegro non molto
LANGUISHING IN THE HEAT
Man and beast wilt in the burning sun; even the evergreens feel the heat.
THE CUCKOO
The Cuckoo sings loudly.
THE DOVE
And the songs of the turtledove and goldfinch are ardent.
THE GOLDFINCH
The gentle breezes sigh.
CHANGING WINDS.
but the north wind suddenly appears and starts to quarrel.
THE NORTH WIND
A frightened shepherd weeps in fear and bemoans his fate.
II. Adagio
The fierce lightning and terrible thunder makes the shepherd unable to rest his weary body.
BLUE-BOTTLE FLIES
III. Presto
TEMPESTUOUS SUMMERTIME
The shepherd is right to be afraid. The sky flashes and the thunder is awesome.
Grain and fruit are destroyed by the storm.

AUTUMN
Vivaldi: Autumn from the Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 3 (RV316) Score: 27 pages, Duration: 10:37, 3 movements.
I. Allegro. The peasants dance and sing, hailing the fruits of the harvest.
The drunkard drinks deeply from the cup of Bacchus.
The Drunks. A Drunk.
The drunkards fall into a deep slumber.
II. Adagio molto. The drunkards sleep soundly; the season is mild; peace and rest overtake all the joyous peasants.
III. Allegro. The Hunt.
As dawn breaks the hunter appears with his horn, hound, and gun.
The prey appears; the chase is on.
The prey is bewildered by the clamorous dogs and the noise of the guns.
Fatigued and wounded, the prey falls and dies.

WINTER
Vivaldi: Winter from The Four Seasons, Op. 8 (RV297) Score: 23 Pages, Duration: ca. 8:30, 3 movements.
I. Allegro non molto. We shiver in the snow and are pierced by the cruel winds.
We run and stamp our feet at every step.
Our teeth chatter with the cold.
II. Largo. We pass the day contented by the fireside; outside it is raining very hard.
III. Allegro. We carefully walk on the ice. We are afraid we may fall.
We Slip and fall. We get up and bravely try again.
The ice is breaking, the cracks are wide.
The shrieking winds are at war.
Such is winter, but it has its joys.

Euphonistic Dance is a short feature piece for euphonium with piano ? about 5 minutes. It is for recitals and includes some opportunities for improvisation. There is a written out option for those not wanting to improvise. It is at early intermediate level of difficulty for euphonium and piano with range up to Gb for the euphonium. It is often played by tubists who double on euphonium (I call them Bydlo level). Euphonistic Dance was premiered by myself (euphonium) with Michael Dewart (piano) at Mansfield State College in Pennsylvania March 19, 1983. It has been played by many times by high school and college players since.

There are two recordings - on Mark Records performed by Mary Ann Craig (youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xit7xBP9szM) and on Albany records by Ed Morse (youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMF0MayUgAo)