Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 09/09/2009, uploaded on 12/29/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Invierno (Winter) Porteño               Astor Piazzolla (arr. Leonid Desyatnikov)

When music lovers world-wide hear the phrase "The Four Seasons," they immediately associate it with Antonio Vivaldi's memorable work.  Composers ever since have referenced his masterpiece; and Astor Piazzolla was to join their ranks when he composed his own Cuatro estaciones porteñas.

Piazzolla was a marvelous composer with a distinctive musical sound that combined jazz and the Argentinian tango with classical.  He was, without question, Argentina's greatest cultural export, as composer and as virtuoso on the bandoneon.

The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires is an extraordinarily interesting work.  Not only does it share with Vivaldi the general concept of depicting four seasons in music; it also presents a solo violin featured within an orchestral texture in highly virtuosic style. Yet initially, this work was written for a folk ensemble, not at all for virtuoso violin.                                                                                                        © Dr. Beth Fleming