- Allegro
- Adagio molto
- Allegro
Composed in 1723, Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” are the first four violin concertos of a set of twelve, published in 1725 as “The Contest between Harmony and Invention”.
Each of the “Seasons” is in three short movements, each depicting a different scene. “Autumn”, the third of the “Seasons”, portrays country folk singing, dancing and (most importantly) drinking, following a successful harvest. By the end of the first movement sleep has overtaken many of the revellers, a theme continued in the second movement. The final movement illustrates a hunt “with horns, guns and dogs”. The stag makes every effort to escape but, once wounded, finally succumbs to its fate.
