Classical Music for the Seasons Music for the Seasons    

Lesson 1: The Four Seasons - Fall

by Antonio Vivaldi

Performer: European Archive

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Each day, listen to the musical selection.
• Practice reciting the title of the composition and the composer's name.
• Read the synopsis.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Cool, crisp days and brightly colored leaves characterize autumn in northern climates. The next four weeks focus on selections that embody the fall season. Go outside, play in the leaves, and enjoy the music. Antonio Vivaldi wrote 'The Four Seasons' in 1723. The four concertos celebrate the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Vivaldi published sonnets to accompany each season's concerto. He may have written these poems himself. The fall piece varies from brisk to slow and back to brisk, like a calm day between windy days.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Discuss fall weather changes in northern climates. For example:

• The air turns colder.
• Leaves change color and drop from the trees.
• The days become shorter. It stays dark longer in the morning and becomes dark earlier in the evening.
• Animals gather food for winter. Some begin to hibernate (go to sleep for the winter). Others migrate (seasonal travel) to warmer parts of the globe in preparation for winter.

Activity 2: Describe the Music

After listening to the music, describe and discuss what you heard.

Read the list of adjectives below. Select those that describe the music or think up additional adjectives.

• Happy
• Sad
• Quiet
• Loud
• Fast
• Slow
• Scary
• Dreamy
• Magical
• Rhythmic
• Dignified

Activity 3: Study the Painting

Examine the painting below while listening to the music.

• Narrate the scene shown in the painting aloud using your own words.
• Describe how the painting relates to the music.

Find the following items in the painting:

• Signs of Fall
• Houses
• Windows
• Fence
• Water
• Water Wheel
• Dog
• People
• Sky
• Clouds

Activity 4: Act Out the Music

• Act out the events of the music.
• Create fall leaves by cutting them out of brown, yellow, red, and/or orange construction paper.
• As the music plays, grab handfuls of the 'leaves.'
• Dance and pretend to be a tree dropping your fall leaves.
• Gather up the leaves and repeat losing your leaves as the music plays or while you are still having fun.
• Rake the leaves up with a broom or your hands and place them in a bowl or bag to keep for the next activity.

Activity 5: Create Fall Tree Collages

• As you listen to the music, use the leaves from Activity 4 to create fall tree collages.
• Sketch a tree trunk and some branches on a piece of paper.
• Glue the confetti leaves onto the branches, falling through the air, and on ground.
• Draw animals, clouds, grass, or anything else you wish on your fall tree artwork.

Activity 6: For each movement, listen to the movement, pause the playback, and read the associated lines of Vivaldi's autumn poem.

(0:00) Allegro Movement (Allegro means brisk tempo)

• The peasant celebrates with song and dance the harvest safely gathered in.
• The cup of Bacchus flows freely, and many find their relief in deep slumber.

(4:15) Adagio Molto Movement (Adagio means slow, molto means very)

• The singing and the dancing die away
• as cooling breezes fan the pleasant air,
• inviting all to sleep
• without a care.

(8:00) Allegro Movement (Allegro means brisk tempo)

• The hunters emerge at dawn,
• ready for the chase,
• with horns and dogs and cries.
• Their quarry flees while they give chase.
• Terrified and wounded, the prey struggles on,
• but, harried, dies.

Review

Question 1

What is the title of the music?

1 / 5

Answer 1

The title is 'The Four Seasons - Fall.'

1 / 5

Question 2

Who composed the music?

2 / 5

Answer 2

The composer is Antonio Vivaldi.

2 / 5

Question 3

What happens to the weather in northern climates during the fall season?

3 / 5

Answer 3

The weather turns colder. Depending on where you live, rain turns to snow.

3 / 5

Question 4

What happens to the trees in northern climates during the fall season?

4 / 5

Answer 4

The leaves on some of the trees change from green to red, brown, orange, and gold and eventually fall to the ground.

4 / 5

Question 5

What happens to the animals in northern climates during the fall season?

5 / 5

Answer 5

The animals gather food, go into hibernation, and/or migrate to warmer parts of the globe in preparation for winter.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. What is the title of the music? The title is 'The Four Seasons - Fall.'
2. Who composed the music? The composer is Antonio Vivaldi.
3. What happens to the weather in northern climates during the fall season? The weather turns colder. Depending on where you live, rain turns to snow.
4. What happens to the trees in northern climates during the fall season? The leaves on some of the trees change from green to red, brown, orange, and gold and eventually fall to the ground.
5. What happens to the animals in northern climates during the fall season? The animals gather food, go into hibernation, and/or migrate to warmer parts of the globe in preparation for winter.

References

'The Four Seasons (Vivaldi).' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'The Four Seasons Sonnets.' Wikisource. Wikisource.org. n.p.