On being "largely undisturbed by the time of the year" and Vivaldi's Four Seasons

 

In Waiting for the Weekend, Witold Rybczynski contrasts how people in the 18th century experience time as compared to how we moderns experience time.  

During the eighteenth century, the change of seasons had a considerable influence on everyday life, and for most of Vivaldi's original audience, The Four Seasons vividly described a reality that was immediately recognizable.   At different times of the year one ate different foods, wore different clothes, indulged in different recreations, performed different agricultural tasks, even inhabited different parts of the house -- in Italian country villas, for instance, the rooms on the sunny south side were used in the winter, those on the north side during the hot months.  The varying length of the summer and winter day in a city such as Venice affected human behavior.  Summers were for sitting on the terrace in front of the Caffe Florian; early winter dusk hurried people indoors.  Last, and not least, domestic comfort varied according to the season; the cold, damp winters in poorly heated stone apartments made spring all the more welcome.

He contrasts that with modern life -- comfort that's "largely undisturbed by the time of the year."

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Interesting note:  Vivaldi conceived of his Four Seasons as programmatic music.  For "Autumn," here's the program.

Concerto No.3 in F Major, RV 293, "AUTUMN"
Allegro (Peasant Dance and Song) / Adagio molto (Sleeping Drunkards) / Allegro (The Hunt)

Vivaldi went beyond this and wrote sonnets for each of the "seasons."  Here is a translation for his sonnet for Autumn:

Autumn – Concerto in F Major

Allegro
The peasant celebrates with song and dance the harvest safely gathered in.
The cup of Bacchus flows freely, and many find their relief in deep slumber.

Adagio molto
The singing and the dancing die away
as cooling breezes fan the pleasant air,
inviting all to sleep
without a care.

Allegro
The hunters emerge at dawn,
ready for the chase,
with horns and dogs and cries.
Their quarry flees while they give chase.
Terrified and wounded, the prey struggles on,
but, harried, dies.

Rybczynski wrote an article called Waiting for the Weekend in the Atlantic in 1992. link