The Four Seasons: Summer

Vivaldi structured the *Summer* concerto around a specific dramatic progression: the oppressive heat of midday, the gathering of a summer storm, and the storm's violent arrival. Where the other three seasons are celebratory or reflective, *Summer* is urgent and hostile from its opening bars. The violins establish a restless, unsettled tremolo that refuses to settle, the solo violin pushing against the ensemble in short, parched phrases — Vivaldi's *sonnetto* attached to the score specifically describes a shepherd fearful of the coming storm. The second movement offers momentary relief, but the slow melody is shadowed by dark middle-string figures representing the rumbling of distant thunder. The final *Presto* is one of the most kinetically exciting movements in Baroque repertoire: sixteen-note runs in the solo violin against driving rain figures in the orchestra, everything surging forward without pause until the storm breaks fully overhead. As program music it remains remarkably visceral three centuries after its composition.