The Similarities of The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and Shake it off by Taylor Swift
The composition, “The Four Seasons,” by Antonio Vivaldi is a well-known composition in the 1700s. Today, the pop song, “Shake it off,” by Taylor Swift is a well-known song in the current generation. These two opposing styles of music conflict in this current time period because the music from back then has evolved into more modern music. The classical music style elements are altered into today’s style and thus loses its originality. People are beginning to forget what true classical music sounds like because they are content with the modern music. But the music of old is coming back in strength for some people in this generation are becoming immersed in the original classical style. More people are suddenly becoming bored with the music of today and long for simpler times. “The Four Seasons,” by Antonio Vivaldi and “Shake it off,” by Taylor Swift are two vastly difference pieces of music but have similar musical roots.
Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer. He was born in Venice in 1678 and composed many concertos for violin and other instruments. Antonio was born just at the end of the Baroque period of music. Vivaldi started out learning how to play the violin and was taught by his father, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi. Antonio Vivaldi’s “violin practice flourished, a chronic shortness of breath barred him from master wind instruments”. He became ordained as a priest and his reddish hair granted him a playful nickname as the II Prete Rosso. However, it was short-lived for previous health issues made him abandon his priesthood and focus on his violin talents. The composition, “The Four Seasons,” was one of Vivaldi’s most important works. He wrote many of his compositions at Ospedale della Pieta, an home for orphaned children where girls were trained in music and boys in trades. He worked there as the master of violin for over three decades. Vivaldi had some financial trouble and after meeting with the Emperor Charles VI, moved to Vienna, hoping for financial support. Unfortunately, the Emperor died before giving Vivaldi the financial support he needed and then Vivaldi later died with nothing in his name. However, Vivaldi did not die without leaving the world with a masterpiece.
“The Four Seasons,” was published in around 1725 and is one of Vivaldi’s most well-known work. The composition is a group of four different violin concerts and each concert gives its interpretation to a season of the year. “Each concerto is more like a solo concerto in that the principal violinist is given a virtuoso part to place” Hoffer pg 140). The concertos have the structure of three movements, organized fast-slow-fast tempos. Each season has a different type of movements. “Spring’s movements are: Allegro, Largo e pianissimo Sempre, Allegro pastorale. Summer’s movements are: Allegro non molto, Adagio e paino,-presto e forte, presto. Autumn’s movements are: Allegro, Adagio molto, Allegro. Lastly, Winter’s movements are: Allegro non molto, Largo, Allegro”. Overall, the whole concerti is around forty to forty-three minutes but it doesn’t feel long because people get so immersed in the art of Vivaldi’s work. Vivaldi’s composition is very lively and invigorating to people but it also captures the beauty of the instruments working together to create such a masterpiece. Vivaldi’s composition is beautiful to listen to but the length might be a little long for someone who is not used to listening to classical music to enjoy fully. However, the composition is a beautiful piece of music and it is inspiring. People can feel the emotions Vivaldi was as he was writing the pieces with the intention in describing the four different types of seasons. Spring has more slow melody, describing how when new things emerge from the ground after winter or new beginnings. Winter on the other hand, has a sharp melody because it’s describing the harshness of the cold and how everything is buckled down, waiting for spring. Overall, Vivaldi’s piece is pleasant to listen to but today’s generation would rather listen to music that is contemporary. People of today don’t really know who Antonio Vivaldi or Niccolo Paganini is but they know artists such as Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift was born in December 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania. When she was only 14, she made the decision to move to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue her passion for music and that changed her life forever. She started her journey signing with Big Machine Records and then moved on to become the youngest person to sign with Sony Music Publishing House. She then grew with success as her albums and singles grew in popularity. Over the years, Taylor has won many awards for her music and the devotion of many fans as she dominated the music genre. Today, Taylor Swift is known as one of the best-selling music artists ever. All her albums have broken records in the selling part of her career, and she is loved by many people around the world. But even though she is one of the most influential people in the world, her songs have lost the touch and roots of the classical style, turning more towards the modern style.
The song. “Shake it off,” by Taylor Swift is in her fifth album, 1989 and is her leading single in that particular album. While there isn’t too much information on the creation of this certain song, there are some elements of the classical style hidden deeply in the song. The song is only about four minutes and there is lots of repetition of verses and words throughout the song. The tempo is around one hundred and sixty beats per minute, putting it in the fast tempo category. The mood of the song is very upbeat and makes people want to get up and dance around the room. Though the song has a couple uses of rough language, it is still a very popular song with the current generation. This song is the turning point in Taylor’s career from a country singer to a pop singer, which was more audience appealing to the world. This particular song doesn’t really have movements like the classical compositions but it does have a basic structure of modern songs such as: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, and ending with a chorus or an instrumental outro. This specific song doesn’t speak musically to an individual as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons because of its lack of actual instruments but sometimes people connect with lyrics. This is one of the main reasons people would choose a modern song rather and a classical one. Today, people tend to enjoy musical pieces that describe their own situations instead of pieces that describe something that doesn’t have anything to do with them.
Between the two songs, “The Four Seasons,” and “Shake it off,” I’m going to pick “Shake it off,” to listen rather than “The Four Seasons.” The reason why I choose the pop song rather than the classical is because that’s the type of music I grew up listening to. I entered into the musical world with songs filled with modern twists and lyrics that I relate to. I didn’t grow up during the time when music was purely notes coming from instruments and not soundboards. If I was born during the time for classical music, I probably would’ve chosen, “The Four Seasons,” because that was the “popular” type of music back then. The music today has lost most of its classical roots as songs that are coming out are sounding the same and not unique. Song writers use guitars and soundboards rather than violins and trumpets to create their pieces. Granted, there are people who prefer the classical music to the modern music but that’s because they didn’t connect with the modern style and preferred the classical. Some people grew up with the classical music and prefer the classical style more than the modern style. One style isn’t better than the other but each style has different aspects that make it appealing to different audiences. . So, overall, the reasons behind choosing the modern over the classical is how and when someone was brought up in the musical area of life
In conclusion, there are many differences between the two songs chosen but each have the same classical roots. While “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi was written during the 1700s, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t popular during that time. That’s the only type of music that was created and that’s all that people listened to. In contrast, “Shake it off,” by Taylor Swift was written in 2014 and it appealed more to the younger generation because that’s what they grew up listening to. People began to forget the origin of the musical roots that the modern style came from. When faced with a choice between music people are familiar with because of this generation and music people listened to hundreds of years ago, the modern style will most likely win. But just because this battle wasn’t won doesn’t mean the war will lose. Classical music is rising through talented young musicians and people are beginning to flock towards the music of old. People are becoming tired of the modern take on life and desire for the simpler life. They enjoy listening to classical music because it gives them a taste of what it was like back then. There shouldn’t be conflicts between the two styles of music because overall, it’s a way to escape from the world, a way for someone to express themselves and it’s an art and not everyone is going to connect the same way.
Works Cited
- “Antonio Vivaldi.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 13 July 2019, www.biography.com/musician/antonio-vivaldi.
- Hoffer, Charles R., and Darrell Bailey. Music Listening Today. Cengage Learning, 2016.
- Lumen Learning. “Music Appreciation.” Lumen, Lumen Learning, courses.lumenlearning.com/musicapp_historical/chapter/1-7-1-vivaldi-four-seasons/.
