Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Seasons” in the Reinterpretation of British Minimalist Composer Max Richter

Abstract

Starting from the second half of the 20th century the interest in Western European Baroque music on the part of composers and performers has acquired the character of a sign phenomenon. Besides reinterpreting masterpieces by "other composers," contemporary composers have widely applied the method of reconstructing Baroque musical text models. Of special interest are the musical compositions based on generally familiar musical masterpieces. The article examines an original reinterpretation of Antonio Vivaldi's instrumental cycle "The Seasons" composed by British composer Max Richter in 2012. The conception of the composition is built on the inspiration to adapt the musical masterpiece to new existent conditions, without resorting to apply the traditional genre of transcription. The phenomenon for reevaluation is presented by the model of the baroque instrumental concerto, which unifies in itself the principles of the concerto grosso with those of the solo instrumental concerto. Richter also achieves identification with the primary musical source by his reliance on contrapuntal regular laws, the preservation of the foundation of the instrumental ensemble, the instrumental cycle's overall formal structure and the figurative qualities. The factors cementing together the reinterpreted version with the primary musical material are the textual structures of the tutti - solo and continuo - solo dialogues which have been established during the Baroque period. In the intertext of the reinterpreted cycle "The Seasons" models of the past epoch are unified with the characteristic principles of contemporary culture: open form, unpredictable dramaturgy, and electronic sounds. The lexical content of the invariant models are also subjugated by Richter to the logic of minimalism, proving the close proximity between the principles of intonational unfolding of Baroque and minimalist musical works.