Self care Saturday, Nov 5: Seeing the original metalhead live

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is probably one of the more immediately recognizable pieces he ever wrote, with the Spring almost always garnering the “hey it’s that song!” response from anyone listening. But as we’ve mentioned before on this blag, my love of Vivaldi’s work stems from his metalhead pieces. While Spring is indeed beautiful and calming, I have the utmost admiration for Summer, which at its peak is played up to a blistering ~180 beats per minute with up to 4 notes per beat.

In fact, the song is so intense that when I went to see it live a week ago, the soloist shredded their fucking bow at the end of Summer’s final movement.

Vivaldi: Trashing his instruments before it was cool.

-Shiv

Good music to have stuck in your head: Vivaldi

Back when I was still receiving classical training for piano, I hit a crossroads that many musicians must cross: Which composer do I like the most?

I would assume many musicians, like me, don’t overthink it at first. We like certain songs, and more than one composer can usually deliver.

But then time progresses and you start to detect a “fingerprint” in the musical composition, and eventually, one develops a preference for the fingerprint itself. I plan to resume my musical training in the next few months (after I’ve got my finances straightened out and finish the probationary period at my new job), and high on my agenda is the cello part in this song:

Not only do I like the oboe (listening to it, not playing it–egads, those fucking reeds), but there’s something about the way the cello is organized in Vivaldi music that is aesthetically pleasing to me. This song was the most vivid example that came to mind.

-Shiv