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Vivaldi - L'Autunno (Autumn) - I Allegro
José Rodríguez Alvira
The first movement Allegro, uses the ritornello form. In this form the main musical idea - the ritornello - is presented with variations by the full orchestra (tutti or ripieno), alternating with soloist sections (concertino).
Follows the structure of this movement (click on the sections to examine them):
Section
Measures
Key
Text
1 - 13
F major
Celebrates the peasant, with songs and dances, The pleasure of a bountiful harvest.
The first ritornello describes the celebration of the grape harvest with dancing and singing.
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
14 - 27
F major
First solo section. Principal violin and first cello repeat the ritornello with minimal variation:
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
27 - 32
F major
The ritornello returns. This time with a duration of only 5 bars:
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
32 - 57
F major, C major, A minor, D minor and G minor
THE DRUNKARD And fired up by Bacchus' liquor,
It's the soloists' turn again. This section is the longest of the movement:
We begin in F major. The soloists are briefly interrupted by the tutti in measures 39 and 40.
At 41, Vivaldi adds the indication UBRUIACHI, which in English translates as drunk. Abrupt key changes and unexpectedly resolving dominant chords describe the drunkenness (And fired up by Bacchus' liquor).
In measure 42, a G major chord does not resolve to the expected C. It leads to an F major chord that seems to belong to C major because of the B natural.
The F major chord is followed by the dominant ninth of A minor in measure 43 and afterward converted to a diminished seventh of A minor.
The chord is followed by the dominant of D minor in measure 46.
In measure 48, the D dominant chord does not resolve, leading to a G minor dominant ninth.
The passage will end in G minor to set up the next ritornello.
We find two Neapolitan sixths and an augmented sixth in measures 54 to 56.
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
57 - 67
G minor, D minor
The ritornello returns. It starts in G minor, and modulates to D minor.
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
67 - 77
D minor, F major and C major
DRUNKARD
The soloists return representing the drunkard.
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
77 - 87
C major, F major
This ritornello begins in C major. Vivaldi makes more use of syncopations. An ascending harmonic march brings us back to F major.
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
67 - 77
F major and F minor
SLEEPING DRUNKARD many end their revelry in sleep.
The soloists now describe the drunkard's sleep with a slow tempo and the key of F minor (many end their revelry in sleep).
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
106 - 115
F major
Final ritornello. Almost exact repetition of the first ritornello.
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
John Harrison, violín, Robert Turizziani, director. Wichita State University Chamber Players. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. José Rodríguez Alvira. Published by teoria.com
