Activity 1: Discuss spring weather changes. For example:
- The air turns warmer.
- The trees and bushes grow fuzzy buds which will bloom into leaves and flowers.
- The days become longer. It gets light earlier in the morning and stays light later in the day.
- Animals awaken from hibernation or migrate in preparation for summer.
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: Act Out the Music
- Act out the events of the music.
- As the music plays, make a burrow or a den out of blankets and a table or couch.
- Pretend to hibernate in the burrow until spring comes and you awaken.
Activity 4: 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:
- Flowers
- Basket
- Glove
- Hat
- Tree
- Grass
- Path
- Parasol
- Buildings
- Awnings (Canvas coverings over doors or windows)
- Crowd
- Blue Sky
Activity 5: For each movement, listen to the movement, pause the playback, and read the associated lines of Vivaldi's poem
(0:00) Allegro Movement (Allegro means brisk tempo)
- Springtime is upon us.
- The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
- and murmuring streams are
- softly caressed by the breezes.
- Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar,
- casting their dark mantle over heaven,
- Then they die away to silence,
- and the birds take up their charming songs once more.
(3:45) Largo Movement (Largo means slow tempo and dignified)
- On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches
- rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps,
- his faithful dog beside him.
(6:24) Allegro Movement (Allegro means brisk tempo)
- Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes,
- nymphs and shepherds lightly dance
- beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.