The Music of Vivaldi

Years ago when I was shopping for a music CD for my canaries and budgies, the young salesperson recommended Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Eversince, this Vivaldi music has been a featured listening for the birds in the house.

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4, 1678. A barber's son, his father taught him the violin.

The Four Seasons is a series of four violin concerti and is his best-known work and a highly popular Baroque piece.

" In them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties (both from the hunter's and the prey's point of view), frozen landscapes, children ice-skating, and burning fires. Each concerto was associated with a sonnet of Vivaldi's hand, describing the scenes depicted in the music. "

When the violins of the Four Seasons are magically floating in the air, from the balcony, through the living room and into the bedroom, you can almost hear the breathing of the budgies - they are sitting pensively in their cage, while the canaries create the low murmurs - perhaps, sinking the notes into their consciousness, so that long after they've been serenaded by the Baroque virtuoso, they can launch their own rhapsody and harmonious blending of voices, this time to captivate their own pensive owner, who lovingly tends to their needs.

The birds - the bird lover - they co-exist to please each other, to caress each other's wounds or longings.