Our second annual Spring Is Here series will transport you to a place of renewal. Vivaldi's Spring, the first concerto of the Four Seasons, is describing its freshness and beauty. Spring is a solo concerto with 3 movements: quick, slow, quick. The first movement includes birdsong and a spring storm, the second, a shepherd who sleeps with his faithful dog by his side and the third is a lively spring dance. Arvo Part's Summa was initially written in 1977 as a choral work (a setting of the Credo), then later scored by Part for instruments. It has been described as "gently rocked muted harmonic simplicities back and forth". The concert continues with Haydn's "Lark" quartet of which Richard Wigmore in his valuable Pocket Guide to Haydn writes: “The first movement’s unforgettable, winged melody, high on the first violin’s E-string, is played as a soaring descant to the pawky, staccato march for the three lower instruments that had opened the proceedings.” The theme returns in several guises throughout the movement. The slow movement is a poignant meditation, while the wittily danceable minuet is interrupted by one of Haydn’s earthy trios. The finale is a splendidly light-fingered, hectic hubbub that has been likened to the British sailors' dance, the hornpipe.
The performance will conclude with a string quartet arrangement of "The Lark Ascending" by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Lark Ascending is a unique work, but often underrated possibly because its very simplicity is deceptive. It depicts a pastoral scene with the violin imitating the titular songbird and the orchestra representing the landscape beneath.