Classical music has charms to soothe the savage S/E

---

RATING: * * * *

---

by Bernie Yoo

---

This CD includes the four concertos for the four seasons, with each one preceded by an explanation of what each piece of music represents. When you're discussing a piece of classical music such as The Four Seasons with your friends, you have to know a little bit about the composer. Without an insightful remark about the composer, you really don't know much about the music.

Appropriately, Shaham begins with a brief biographical sketch of Vivaldi. He starts with the banal declaration, "Vivaldi is probably one of the most interesting characters in the history of music," but quickly adds several useful remarks, such as, "[Vivaldi] was this zany, crazy, red-haired priest." Shaham's description of Vivaldi is just the right mix of fact and commentary. If you simply repeat what he says, you will instantly become the expert of any discussion on Vivaldi. It is also important to include a comment on why people like The Four Seasons .

Again, Shaham provides just the right bit of commentary, explaining why The Four Seasons , is "intrinsically appealing." The music for The Four Seasons is based on four poems by Vivaldi, all of which are conveniently written on the back of the CD booklet.

When I first listened to The Four Seasons , I thought of it as just another great piece of classical music. Shaham's narrative brings a whole new dimension to the music. He explains what each piece of the music represents. Starting with the Spring Concerto, Shaham paints a picture of the scenery and action with both words and music. In the first movement, there is a celebration by villagers with birds singing in the background.

This explanation is followed by a short performance on the violin demonstrating what this sounds like in the concerto. The birds are represented by three sets of three violins, each set representing a different type of bird singing its own unique song. As the concerto continues, a spring shower "puts a damper on things," which is expressed in the music by dropping the key to the relative minor.

Because each sound is taken out of the concerto and explained separately from the rest of the concerto, it is very easy to visualize how the music becomes superimposed onto the poetry. After gaining an understanding of each individual sound, it becomes much easier to visualize the whole story while listening to the full concerto.

The narration of each concerto is followed by an uninterrupted performance of the entire concerto. When you read the poetry that the music is based on and hear Shaham's explanation of the different components of the music and what they represent, you will agree with Shaham that "it's as if the music were a soundtrack to go along with these poems."

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the September 22, 1995 issue.

Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights Reserved.
This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of:
The Rice Thresher, Rice University, 6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA.