This music piece was composed by Antonio Vivaldi during the Baroque era. After hearing the first note of this piece, it immediately provided a relieving and refreshing state of emotions because the majority of this piece was played on a major scale (Mood). This part of the piece provided peaceful imagery of harmony with sunny weather, birds chirping, and gentle wind blowing across our faces. However, there was a contrasting portion of this piece because there was a dramatic upward zigzag swing of pitches moments later. When that happened, the piece made a shift in scale to play that portion in minor to provide the imagery of clouds, shadows, and thunderstorms. Shortly after, while the piece was still playing in the minor scale, the melody shifted back to the melodies at the very beginning. This part of the piece symbolized that the clouds were fading away while the birds and butterflies were slowly chanting, signifying the end of the chaotic thunderstorm and the return of the pleasant scenery (Imagery).

This type of music style was fairly common during the Baroque period because, during this period, there was a strong emphasis for the composer to integrate heavy uses of unexpected twists, turns, and fluctuations between the higher and the lower pitches of notes (Page 79). Although being born to that period played a significant role in Vivaldi’s composing career, it is also imperative to look into his past experiences (Culture). Unlike other musicians during this period, such as Bach, Vivaldi faced a lot of backlash and turbulence during his composing career. His music was widely regarded as being too “wild and irregular” (Page 94). His style of music was undeniably apparent with that heavy and frequent use of sharp incline and decline of pitches. Therefore, he was not very widely accepted and recognized for his own composing, but rather for his expertise and talent with the string instruments, specifically the Violin (Biography)(Page 94).

It is important to note that his extensive knowledge and experience with the violin have likely contributed immensely to this piece, as evident for his inclusion of two melody layers, a soloist playing the first violin, also known as the primary melody. While the few additional violinists played the second melody, also known as the counter melody. Although the violin is the main focus for this entire piece, it is also important to note that there are also other musical layers. Such basses and cellos played the bassline layer, lute acted as the rhythm layer, and violas and harpsichord posed as the harmony layer. Perhaps, these musical layers are another reason why Vivaldi’s experience with the stringed instruments may have likely benefited him on this piece, as evidenced by the number of stringed instruments mentioned above (Musical Elements).

This music piece is also perhaps one of the most notable mentions of program music. That is because there were always vocalists that sang since the Medieval period. Although, it mainly was blended into the melodies. In addition, during the Renaissance period, having a vocalist singing the melodies became more popular because it stressed individualism rather than secularism. Moving forward towards the Baroque period, and specifically into Vivaldi’s composing career, it seems he has taken a turn back to the Medieval period of music to combine words and melody back to one piece. However, the only difference is that the music piece was not secular music and that there was no vocalist at all. Instead, the storytelling is being blended into the instruments themselves (Meaning) (Page 96). This shift in style was also likely a byproduct of his inability to do public speaking due to his chronic health condition of shortness of breath (Biography)(Page 94).

It is genuinely impressive to know just how much Vivaldi’s compositions changed the music of that time and how it influenced the later generations and centuries of music compositions. The likes of which that is compositions made during the enlightenment period because it further embodied the best of individualism while also rooting out the bureaucracies and imprisonment of thoughts. This genre of music has been passed down from generation to generation and eventually to the modern-day world because we still have concerto styles of classical music performance today. That is, of course, an orchestra of collaborative instruments playing in support of a soloist instrument (Genre) (Page 96).