In 2026, it will be three hundred years since The Four Seasons was first published, a work that is firmly etched in the collective memory. It is no coincidence that it continues to rank among the top ten most popular classical works year after year. The four violin concertos take you on a musical journey through spring, summer, autumn and winter. Singing birds, flowing streams, barking dogs, a passing thunderstorm and an almost tangible cold: Vivaldi captured it all with boundless imagination in vivid, evocative music. It is, in many ways, film music before its time.

Combattimento pairs these four iconic violin concertos with its own reconstruction of an ‘alternative’ version created by Vivaldi’s contemporary Francesco Durante. In addition, the programme features works for oboe by Vivaldi and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Program

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
The Four Seasons: Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8 – Spring
Concerto in C major La Pastorella for oboe, strings and basso continuo
The Four Seasons: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8 – Summer

Francesco Durante (1684–1755)
The Four Seasons of the Year (reconstruction by Pieter Dirksen)

—pause—

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
The Four Seasons: Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8 – Autumn

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
Rondo Pastorale for oboe and strings

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
The Four Seasons: Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8 – Winter