Spring has sprung! Few words bring more happiness and optimism. The simple changing of one season to another has inspired some of the most famous classical music of all-time - Antonio Vivaldi?s set of four concertos, The Four Seasons.

iTromboni alumnus, Kenneth Pearce, has masterfully arranged the 1st movement of Spring (La Primavera) for trombone quintet complete with all the sparkle of the original. As each of The Four Seasons concertos originally came with a short sonnet, Ken has included some of these word cues in the score and parts so you too can celebrate while playing along to the bird?s song, the murmuring stream, and the crashing thunderstorm.

This 3 ½ minute Italian gem is sure to delight listeners and is suitable for advanced performers.

This arrangement of Spring (La Primavera) can be heard below as a sample and in its entirety on iTromboni?s debut album: ?there goes the neighbourhood?.

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.

Arrangement of the famous concert of Vivaldi ?The Four Seasons?. This movement belongs to ?Spring?. In this movement, Vivaldi expresses the arrival of Spring. After a long winter in which the snow covers the great landscape with white, spring emerges as an explosion of color. The flowers, the butterflies and the song of the birds begin with a hymn of joy with which this beautiful season is received.

Antonio Vivaldi?s Four Seasons need no introduction: it is the Italian composer?s best known and most loved work. Myriam and Maia Darme arranged this baroque masterpiece for flute and pedal harp.

This is the sheet music for the third movement of Spring, a joyous pastoral dance illustrating the following sonnet: "Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring."

The PDF file includes both the score and parts. Intermediate-advanced level. Performance time: ca. 3?40.

Note that the sound clip was digitally produced as a reference : the piece will sound much better on real instruments!

Here we have an abridged version of ?Spring? from Vivaldi?s famous ?The Four Seasons? suite, arranged for a clarinet quartet. A little challenging perhaps but instantly recognisable and enjoyable to play. Suitable for intermediate players and above - no fiendishly difficult bits - the main points to watch out for are the tempo changes at bar 28 (where the first clarinet slows the tempo before a slight accelerando) and bars 32 (rall.) and 34 (a new tempo, slightly down on the opening one, is established). These tempo markings are not obligatory and the piece can ebb and flow rubato fashion at these points, if you wish. Also, note the rallentando at the end.In a few places where long sixteenth-note passages occur, breath marks may be needed. These have been deliberately omitted to enable the players to work out what?s best for them.Enjoy yourselves!