Jigsaw

     On the 8th of December, the whole music foundation went a women cloth shop -- Jigsaw to give a perform. Laysan, Michael,  and me all sang a song. Actually, Michael really surprised me, he can really sing that high and really not bad. I noticed that when Michael was singing a custom in the shop looked shocked.


     I really liked the part when everyone sit down and sang the christmas together. I don't know why but I felt like being in a warm big family. Although we just played as background music, but the sellers showed their biggest respect to us. Sometimes they would put aside their work and applause for performance.


    The funny part was that when the boys were carrying the piano. I know it's bad to make fun of that because the electrical keyboard is very heavy. But I just can't help laughing.


     The performance lasted for 3 hours. It quite long. I was exhausted when I got home. But I really enjoyed myself although I made some mistakes when I sang the song Warwick Avenue. And the by the way, I ate a lot of biscuits the shop provided.

House party 18/09/2010

                                      

It was the first performance I gave after arriving in UK.

Everthing went well, and it seemed that everyone had a good time that night.

                                                                                                                                       
                                        

 I sang a lullaby which was composed by Franz Schubert.

And Arion played piano accompaniment for me.

Thank you Arion.

Arion palyed Beethoven sonata op.13 mvt.2

Wow, Hyue looks like a rapper rather than a pianist!



I have to mention that the food the hotel offered was very very good. Especially the fried children.

In general, we had a very good time. And it really help to build friendship.

But I think sometimes the audience were too loud and busy with food,  not really paid attention what we were performing.

And I don't think it was good thing that let the pianists to play on electrical keyboard.



But I am sure the next concert will be awesome!


Kabi



Gig: Have You Heard 18/11/2010

     I went to a Jazz gig with Miss Kyna, Laysan and Hyuk on 18th of November. I have a conflicting feeling to Jazz. I love Jazz but at the same time I am afraid of playing it. Especially when it comes to the part of improvisation and irregular rhythm. But when I saw Mr.Bruce and his friends playing Jazz on stage was very cool.
    
     I really liked the atmosphere: relax and comfortable. After a whole day working or studying, it was the best place to release yourself. And it wasn't like other formal concerts, you can whisper with your friends  about the music with the wine on the hand. I guessed most of the audiences were the friends of performers. So during the interval, they came down from the stage and talked to the audience. It was more like a family or friends party. I  liked it.


     Every time when the performers finished a piece, one of the guitarist would say something funny and introduce to the following piece. I think "the humor" is quite important. It will keep the audience feeling interested and relaxed. It was really good gig. However, sometimes I felt the drum kit was too loud. In general, I had a good time.


Kabi
    
    

Musical: l "Les Miserable" 05/11/2010

     I went to Queen's Theatre to watch the musical Les Miserable with my aunt. It was the first that I watched a "live" musical. Les Miserable was based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name. It is the world's longest-running musical, now in its twenty-sixth year.

    
      What can I say? It was perfect and world-classed. Every single actor was awesome. I wish I can be like them one day. I don't think the stage was very big. But the stage effect was really nice and I don't know how they could put such a big boat on stage in a short time and removed it quickly.

    
     The "inspector Javert" impressed me a lot. The actor who played the role was a bass baritone. I liked him most not only because of his charming and powerful voice but also his clear pronunciation. I know it's silly but I used to think that the thicker the voice is, the less clear your pronunciation will be. And I always used it as an excuse and didn't try my best to improve my pronunciation. But now I know it was wrong. Maybe it's harder for thick voice to have clear pronunciation but it doesn't mean impossible. And you can see how great it is to have a powerful voice and clear pronunciation at the same time.

    
     I also noticed that Les miserable focused on singing rather than making balance between dancing and singing like the musical Cats. And I wonder why it has this difference.

    
     Overall, I really had a good time. And the next musical I am looking forward to watching is Mamma Mia. I guess I kind of get addicted to musical now.

Kabi

Concert: Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio 24/10/2010

     I went a concert played by Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio with Sanly, Brian, David and Hyuk. To be honest, it was the first time that I listened to a orchestra carefully and got overwhelmed by the amazing music.

    

     There were three pieces got performed. The first one was Symphonic Poem: The Wild Hunt of Thor was composed by Norwegian composer Ole Olsen (Ole Olsen 1850 - 1927) of Classical period. Symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem or story. Actually, I am wondering about the difference between symphonic poem and programmatic music. Personally, I don't really like this piece. But the orchestra did a very good job.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

      My favourite is Violin Concerto in D minor, Op 47. It was composed by Jean Sibelius who was a Finnish Composer of Later Romantic period. The reason why this piece impressed me most was the violin soloist. The 24 years old Russian girl was amazing. However, I thought when she played violin her movement was too big. She was awesome, especially her control of dynamic and her emotion to the piece. By the way, in the interval Sanly and Brian got a chance to take picture with her which made me jealous. Just kidding.

     The last one was another great piece: Symphony No.4 in F minor, Op36 composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This symphony has four movement and my favourite one is the third movement which strings play pizzicato throughout movement. Using pizzicato instead of other percussion instruments makes the symphony more interesting and colorful.

     In general, I really enjoyed this concert although we didn't have good seats --the first row and not in the central. The moment I liked most was after the concert we can talked about the concert together, exchanged thoughts which was very useful.

    (P.I Tchaikovsky)

   

Sky lab concert 22/10/2010

The sky lab concert began at 6.30pm.The theme was about Halloween.

So we tried our best to look scary.

Laysan wore a pair of crazy blue lashes which,

I thought, was too heavy that she could hardly open her eyes. However it was cool.

David looked like the great painter--Van Gogh when he put the band around his head.

Brian and Arion were  like two miserable brothers-- one got a terrible skin disease and the other got punched on the face.

Sanly also wore an amazing make-up, just likes a charming witch.

Cindy looked very pretty in red jumper and really like a shepherd.

And Micheal, I really don't know what happened to him.

He wore my tights and high heels and Cindy's dress home! It seemed like he really enjoyed being a woman. He called himself Michele when he was in dress.

Actually Michele was quite pretty.

I have to admitted that Hyuk was so cute when Miss Kyna made him an apple head.



I tried to be scary but ended up like wearing a mask.

At first, I was quite concerned about the number of audience. Maybe just three or four people shown up.

However, thanks to our womanizer---Arion, our sky lab ended up with full of people. Some even needed to stand up during the concert.

Just before the concert, for some reason, David's violin was totally out of tune which never happened when we rehearsed. But we fixed it in a short time. At least, we learned a lesson, everything can happen in the concert and we need to calm down and deal with it.

I sang the song "cry me a river" with the accompany of Hyuk, David, and Micheal. Thank you guys.

I really enjoy the moment when we make music as a team. It's the coolest thing ever! 

Actually, at the beginning, I felt quite relax and  not nervous at all. But the moment I found myself shaking was when I saw our teacher show up one by one: Miss Vivian, Mr.Bruce and Mr.Bill. But I felt supportive at the same time as well .             

I think every one of us did a very good job in this performance.  And I can tell from the atmosphere, the audience also had a good time like we did.

I am looking forward the next coming concert.     

Kabi

Classical

In Baroque era, the initial musical ideas or moods maintained throughout the movement which is called the The doctrine of the affections, also known as the doctrine of affects, or by the German term Affektenlehre .
The doctrine fell out of use in the Classical era, because composers began to find it excessively mechanical and unnatural.


Classical era:


Classical era is between Baroque and Romantic era. It's about 1750-1820. Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwing van Beethoven and Franz Schubert are some very famous composer who were from Classical era.


There are some styles of music in Classical era:

• Galant style: a kind of style that is pleasing and not difficult usually free and homophonic
• Emfindsamerstil or Empfindsamer Stil:) is a style of musical composition, intended to express "true and natural" feelings, and featuring sudden contrasts of mood. It was contrast to the Baroque Affektenlehre (The Doctrine of Affections) which the initial musical ideas or mood maintained throughout the movements.
• Sturm und Drang: which means storm and stress. It is a name of movement in German music which contained extreme emotions.

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Sonata form

Sonata form is a musical form that has been widely used since early Classical period. Sometimes it is called first movement form, often used in the first movements in sonatas, symphonies, chamber music, string quartet etc.

The sections of Sonata form:

• Introduction: The introduction section is optional or sometimes be reduced to a minimum.
• Exposition: The main thematic material for the movement shows in exposition. And it also includes:  

               The first subject group  (consists one or more themes and normally in tonic key.)
               Transition  (In this section, composers modulate from the key of the first subject.)                   
               The second subject  (One or more themes in relative keys of the first subject.)
               Codetta (In the Classical period, most expostitons are repeated and end in perfect cadence.)

• Development: Generally, the development starts in the same key as the exposition ends. And before the development ends it will move around other keys.
• Recapitulation: It is a altered repeated of exposittion, includes:

             The First subject group (Usually is the highlight part of a recapitulation and normally in same             
                                                 key and form as in the exposition.)
               Transition (A kind of brief additional development.)
               The second subject group (Usually the same form as exposition but in tonic key.)
               Coda (Usually the same as the one in exposition. This ends the whole sonata.)

• Coda: After the final cadence of the recapitulation the movement may continue with a coda which contains the material which has shown earlier in the movement. And the length of the coda varies, some is long but some is short. The coda, in the end, will ends in perfect cadence in the tonic key.

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String quartet "The joke", movement 4 (Franz Joseph Haydn)
     


Haydn spent a lot of being a director of music to the Hungarian Prince Esterhazy at a palace where he composed lots of music from chamber music,  operas to orchestral works.

      He made the string quartet(two violins, one viola and one cello) the most successful form in chamber music and tried to make four instruments as important as one another. He also settled a four-movement format: fast-slow-minuet-finale. The last movement-finale usually is the fastest movement in the form of rondo(ABAC..A) .

String quartet "The joke", movement 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDkWBzH6dkE (music)

     This movement is the finale of the second quartet of the set. And its form is rondo. The 1st refrain is in tonic key of E flat major and it is in rounded binary form. It is repeated. The 1st episode passed some related keys : A flat major, F minor then backed in E flat major.
     Then the 2nd refrain came back but this time without repetition. The 2nd episode is a modified repeat of the 1st episode but this time it stayed in the tonic key of E flat major and some parts(bar114-bar116) are more intensive than the 1st episode .
     The final refrain is very short.It started with a repeat of the beginning and followed by a Adagio surprisingly. Then the beginning came back again but it chopped up into two bars phrases by silences. In bar 166, there is a perfect cadence and it seems like the end, but after few bars silence the repeat of beginning started again. Before the audience want to figure out what happen the movement already ended in perfect cadence.
     The texture of the movement is melody-dominated homophony.


Through this movement we can "hear" the Haydn's humor, for example:

• A dominant pedal in cello part remained 13 bars.
• The final refrain chopped up into two bar-phrases by silences.
• In the final refrain, Haydn added a Adagio surprisingly.
• In the last few bars, when people think the movement had ended, however the refrain started again.

Related knowledge:

Chamber music (in small group):

1. Solo (piano)
2. Duo (violin & piano/cello & piano)
3. Trio
4. Quartet
5. Quintet
6. Sextet
7. Septet
8. Octet
9. Nonet
10. Dectet

Double stopping: Playing two notes (on different strings) at the same time on a string instrument.
Periodic phrasing: pairs of equal-length phrases sounding like questions and answers.
Harmonic rhythm: Harmonic rhythm is also known harmonic tempo is the rate at which the chord change.
G.P.: General pause.




Work cited page:
the picture of Haydn http://www.ebaomonthly.com/ebao/readebao.php?eID=e00620




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 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
                           
     Mozart was a composer of the Classical era. He was a very great composer who composed over 600 works contains symphonic, chamber music, opera and choral music, etc. Mozart was a child prodigy who wrote the first opera and symphony No. 1 in E flat at the age of eight. His father's name was Leopeld and his mother's name was Maria Anna. In Mozart's childhood, his father wanted to make money over him so he took Mozart and his sister who also was a child prodigy and good at playing piano on trip all over the Austria.
     
     Mozart once fell in love with a opera singer named Aloysia Webber. But his father didn't live her, he thought being an opera singer wasn't a appropriate job. So he managed to let his son break up with Aloysia. When Mozart found out his love betrayed him, he was so angry and married Aloysia's sister who was the only woman really loved him in his life. And the he wrote the opera Cosi Fan Tuttti meaning all the women are the same.
     
     Mozart also composed the requiem -- Lacrimosa. But only the first nine bars of the Lacrimosa was composed by Mozart himself. The rest of it was finished by his student -- Sussmayr.
     
Opera: 

• Cosi Fan Tutti

Characterises:


The old man -- Don Alfonso 
Soldiers -- Guglielmo and Ferrando
Soldiers' girl friends -- Fiordiligi and Derabella
Servant -- Despina

• Abduction of the Seraglio
• Le Nozze di Figaro (The marriage of Figaro)
• Don Giovanni (1787)

Characterises:
Don Giovanni -- a womanizer
Donna Anna -- the servant
Leporello -- D.G 's servant
Elvira -- D.G's father.When Mozart composed the opera, his father just died.

• Die Zamberiflotte (Magic Flute)

Kabi

Baroque (Essay, Dance suite, Fugue, Sarabande and Gigue, The four Seasons )

Baroque 1600-1750 (Essay)

        

          Baroque Music

     The Baroque period in music dates from approximately 1600 to 1750, and applies to most European compositions of that era. Baroque was a shift from the previous Renaissance Period, which included Masses and Madrigals. The music from Baroque era  is definitely one of the most gorgeous and astonishing music in the music history and it is associated with some great composer such as Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Fameau and Henry Purcell.

    

     Baroque music is famous for its doctrine of mood, for example, what is happen will be happy throughout and what is sad will be continued to the end as well in most of the pieces. Late baroque music is often  polyphonic in texture and major/minor keys replaced modes. Many different forms of music were also used in the period such as Binary, fugue , opera, sonata, oratorio, suite, concerto. Baroque music also introduced a very new trend that would be continued to later forms: the solo voice. Before this period, most vocal music would have been performed in choral arrangements. Though choral arrangements still existed, for the first time, music was written specifically for soloists.

    

     Baroque music retained a stylistic influence on later music. In 19^th, lots of  composers aspired to compose music using Bach’s fugue style.In contemporary music, many pieces have been termed  as neo-Baroque for a focus on imitative polyphony. Jazz and Baroque music have something in common as well. “Baroque music is similar to a jazz quartet in that pieces used a variety of  improvisation on the performers part with the most similar aspect improvisation of the lead instrument.”—The Baroque music influence on later music.

Work cited page:

The Baroque Era < http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/history/history-bar.htm>

Characteristic of Baroque Music <http://library.thinkquest.org/27927/Baroque_Characteristics.htm

Baroque music (1600 to 1750)  http://www.rpfuller.com/gcse/music/baroque.html

Baroque music <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-baroque-music.htm>

http://cnx.org/content/m14737/latest/

The Baroque influence on later music http://www.syncrat.com/articles/baroque-period

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The Baroque Dance Suite:

The Baroque dance suite usually begins with a Prelude/Overture/Sinfonia(type of introductory movement). It is followed by dance movements, characterised by their distinct metres and tempi.

There are four main movements:

 Allemande (Fr) : a stately dance in a quadruple metre of German origin, usually with an upbeat.

Courante (Fr)/ Corrente (It) : a lively dance of French orgin usually in a triple metre (3/2, 3/4)

Sarabande (Fr) : is a slow triple metre(usually 3/4 or 3/2), usually with an emphasis on the 2nd beat(iambic).

Gigue (Fr)/ Giga(It) : its origin is the British jig. It has in a lively compound metre (6/8, 6/16, 6/4, 9/8).

Between the Sarabande and Gigue would often be an additional two to four movements, known as Intermezzi (It) or galanteries (Fr).Th following dancers (all terms in Fr) are some examples:

Minuet/Menuet : in3/4 time, often counted in two bar unites (6 beats total).

Gavotte : lively 2/2 or 4/4 time, with upbeat of 2 crotchets.

Bourree :lively 2/2 or 4/4, but with upbeat of one crotchet only.

Passepied : quick3/8 or 6/8, often with quaver upbeat.

Rigaudon : lively duple time.

Polonaise : tirple time.

Loure/gigue lente: slow gigue in 6/8, 3/4, 6/4.

General points:

• These dance suites could be written for solo instruments or ensembles. Composers of Baroque dance suites include Bach, Handel, Couperin, Rameau, Telemann.
• In all these works, number and order of movements may vary.
• Most movements written for dance would have regular phrase structure.
• Purely instrumental music can sometimes take on dance characteristics, and likewise, dance movements can sometimes be meant not for dancing, but for listening only.

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The art of Fugue:

Fugue is a contrapuntal composition in two or more voices built on a subject (theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and appears throughout the composition.

A fugue usually has three sections:

• An exposition (introduction opening theme)
•  A development
•  A recapitulation (but not all fugues have this section): contains the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key.

Parts of a fugue:

• Subject: main theme (each voice repeats in imitation).
• Countersubject: while the line of answer happens, this is the music which enters during the answer(Another subject but based on the "Subject").
• Answer: each subject that enters will be "answered", meaning a statement of the subject in the dominant key.

There are two types of answers:

• Real answer: transposition of the subject to the dominant key is literal (note by note).
• Tonal answer: transposition of the subject can have some minor changes and looks like it's still in the home key.
• Exposition: when all voices of the fugue subject has entered (exposition completed when last voice finished).
• Middle entries: must state the subject or answer at least once in its entirety, and may also be heard in combination with the countersubject(s) from the exposition, new countersubjects or any of these on combination.
• Episode: connecting passage based on previously heard subject, more entries of the subject in the related key will be heard. Episode and entries are alternated until the final entry.
• Final entry: final entry of the subject which the music returns to the opening key (tonic), often followed by coda.
• Coda: closing material (the end of the fugue).

Kabi
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Late-Baroque: Sarabande and Gigue from Partita in D (Bach)

One of the most popular types of keyboard composition in the late Baroque period was a set of dance movements known as a suite. These work were not intend for actual dancing, but to  be performed at home, usually on the harpsichord, which is the most common keyboard of the time.

These two dances--Sarabonde and Gigue are the fourth and seventh movements of such a suite, published by Bach in 1728 under the Italian title of Partita. Bach's composition received little attention until 19th century when some scholars rediscovered his works. In the present, Bach was appreciated as one of the greatest composers of the late-Baroque era.

Sarabande:

a slow stately dance in triple time, often with a stressed or long note on the second beat of the bar.

                                                                                                 (Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750)

The Sarabande is in D major and it is a rounded binary form  (movements that are rounded off with the material from the opening section) with each section repeated. The first section is shorter than the second section. The first section ending in perfect cadence in A major while the second passing through some related keys before ending in tonic of D major. The texture is mainly homophonic with melodic interest in the right hand and a supportive bass in the left hand.

Gigue:

a lively dance in compound time.

This Gigue is in D major and it is a binary form with each section repeated. The first part ending in perfect cadence in A major. The second part, which has the same length as the first part, ending in tonic of D major.

As in most Baroque gigue, the first 21 bars is fugal texture. The opening melody is a fugal subject in the right hand and followed by a fugal answer (the same tune as the fugal subject, but transposed down 4th) in the left hand, above which the right hand part is a countersubject (a second or subsidiary subject especially accompanying with the subject or its answer). The subject was stated again from bar 16- bar 21 in the right hand part after some free counterpoint (the art of combining melodies each of which is independent though forming part of a homogeneous texture).

There is a new fugal subject in the beginning of the second part in the left hand part from bar 49 to bar 55. And there is a new fugal answer from bar 55 to bar 61, below which it is a restatement of first fugal subject.

Unlike the Sarabande, the first and the second part of the Gigue have the same length.

Related knowledge:

• Performance directions are rare in the music of Baroque period and earlier. And the performers from that time would add some dynamics or articulation by experience.
• In the Baroque period, the initial musical idea or mood maintained throughout each movement.
• In the Baroque period, most dance suites are in the same key. For example, the Sarabande and Gigue as mentioned above are all in D major.
• Form = Structure
• A fugal texture is a polyphonic texture that starts with subject and answers in dominant. But it is not a fugue.
• Performers at that time would add their own ornaments in the music especially when it was repeated.
• mor·dent / ˈmôrdnt/  n. Mus. an ornament consisting of one rapid alternation of a written note with the note immediately below or above it in the scale (sometimes further distinguished as lower mordent and upper mordent). The term inverted mordent usually refers to the upper mordent.

  work cited: "mordent." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 7 Nov. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com/>.
• Appoggiatura: a leaning note. A grace note which delays the next note of the melody, taking half or more of its written time value.

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The Four Seasons

Antonio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678 – July 28, 1741) was a Italian composer. Vivaldi's father was a violinist before becoming a barber. He realized that his son had a potential in playing violin so he decided to train him to become a violinist. And also Vivaldi had asthma so he couldn't do sports or take activities as many other boy did at that time which insure him to have lots of time practice playing violin.At the age of 15, Vivaldi began studying to become a priest. Then at the age of  25 he was ordained. Soon he got the nickname il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest" because of his red hair. He was really a religious person and he believed himself was a person of God.

     Later on, he said he could not fulfill the duty in church because of his bad knees but he still wanted to remain priest. So the church allowed him to be a teacher in a girls orphanage. That was when the Four Seasons got done and played.

Somethings else about Vivaldi:

• J.S Bach also looked up to Vivaldi.
• Vivaldi gave up the idea of fugue and stayed in more homophonic texture.

     The Four Seasons is a set of the first four violin concertos and is also Vivaldi's best-known work. And also is the first programmatic music. The Four Seasons contains four parts: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. The most amazing thing is that Vivaldi even wrote sonnets for each movement and each movement is matched with each sonnet perfectly. Here are the sonnets:

     Spring

1. Spring has come and joyfully the birds greet it with happy song, and the brooks, while the streams flow along with gentle murmur as the zephyrs blow. There come, shrouding the air with a black cloak, lighting and thunder chosen to herald (the storm); then, when these are silent, the little birds return to their melodious incantations.

2. And now, in the pleasant, flowery meadow, to the soft murmur of leaves and plants, the goatherd sleeps with his faithful dog at his side.
3. To the festive sound of a pastoral bagpipe, nymphs and shepherds dance under their beloved roof, greeting the glittering arrival of the spring.

     Notes: In the "Spring", Vivaldi used violin trill to represent birds' singing. And there is almost no other voice behind when the "birds are singing" in order not to mix up the texture. The two violin are about at the same level. And it brings interest to both violinists.

     Summer

1. In the harsh season scorched by the sun, man and flock languish, and the pine is on fire; the cuckoo begins to call and soon after, the turtledove and the goldfinch are heard singing. Zephyr (the west wind) gently blows, but Boreas(the north wind) suddenly enters into a contest with its neighbour, and the little shepherd weeps for he hears the awesome threatening storm and his fate.
2. To his tired limbs rest is denied by the fear of lighting, awesome thunder, and the furious swarm of  flies and hornets!
3. Alas, his fears are justified. The sky is filled with thunder and lightning and hail cuts down the proud grain.

Notes: In the "Summer", the mainly texture is homophonic. At most time the harmony parts especially the cello parts are not difficult but the harmony is quite complicated. And in some parts the melody is chromatic. Vivaldi also used the technique of pedal notes in bass line.

     Autumn

1. The peasant celebrates the pleasure of the happy harvest with dances and songs; and inflamed by the liquor of Bacchus, many end their rejoicing with sleep.
2. The mild pleasant air makes all abandon dance and song; this is the season that invites all to the sweet delights of peaceful sleep.
3. The hunters, at the break of dawn, set forth with horns, guns, and hounds. The animal flees, and they follow its tracks. Already frightened and tired by the great noise of guns and hounds, the wounded animal makes a weak attempt at fleeing, but is overcome and dies.

     Winter

1. Trembling with cold amidst the freezing snow, while a frightful wind harshly blows, running and stamping one's feet every minute, and feeling one's teeth chatter from the extreme cold;
2. Spending quiet contented days by the fire while the rain outside drenches people by the hundreds;
3. Walking on ice, and moving cautiously, with slow steps, for fear of falling, spinning around, slipping, falling down, again walking on ice and running fast until the ice cracks and splits; hearing Sirocco, Boreas, and all the winds at war burst forth from the bolted doors- this is winter, but it also brings joy!

Notes: When it comes to winter, most people think of sadness, frightening and death. While in this "Winter" Vivaldi showed us not only the coldness and frightening but mostly the warm and joy. And also, Vivaldi used the technique pizzicato to represent raindrops. Pizzicato is a playing technique that involes plucking the strings of a string instrument.

Relative knowledge:

• Programmatic music: a kind of music which represents stories or people.
• Concerto: A musical composition for a solo instrument or instruments accompanied by an orchestra, especially one conceived on a relatively large scale. And concertos normally have three parts: Allegro(fast), moderate(walking tempo), adagio(slow). And the first and the third part is normally in tonic while the second part is in dominant or related keys.

Work cited:

http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/baroqueperiod/ss/fourseasons.htm

Kabi