Vivaldi's Four Seasons at Palau de la Música Catalana

A classical music programme featuring Las cuatro estaciones by Vivaldi, four violin concertos from the collection Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.

Las cuatro estaciones is a set of four concertos for violin and orchestra by Antonio Vivaldi, a figure of the Italian Baroque. Each concerto corresponds to a season of the year (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter) and forms part of the collection Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, op. 8, published in Amsterdam in 1725.

It is descriptive music: the movements translate specific episodes of the year into sound, such as birdsong in spring, the heat of summer or the storm of winter. It is one of Vivaldi's best-known works and forms part of the Baroque repertoire regularly featured in classical music programmes.

The Palau de la Música Catalana, a work by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and inaugurated in 1908, hosts concerts, exhibitions and cultural activities in Barcelona. The building was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997.