Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester

The start of spring has traditionally held special significance in many cultures, marking the beginning of a time of year when life becomes easier, as well as signifying renewal and new beginnings. In the first concerto of Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’, the orchestra and solo violin celebrate spring with innocent charm, delighting themselves and the audience with birdsong, storm music and a dance of nymphs and shepherds.

Romantic verve and blossoming melodies characterise Robert Schumann’s First Symphony. It is said that the opening was inspired by a poem that ends with the words: “O turn, turn your course, spring is blossoming in the valley!” Thus, Schumann's First Symphony quite rightly bears the nickname 'Spring Symphony'.

Similarly, Igor Stravinsky sought to depict the 'radiant resurrection of nature, brought back to life', and indeed 'the resurrection of the whole world' in his ballet music 'Sacre du printemps', or 'The Rite of Spring'. The rites of spring festivals also included sacrificial customs as an archaic collective experience of societies closely connected to nature. Thus, the 'Worship of the Earth' in the first part leads to the 'Sacrifice' in the second. Over fifty years after Robert Schumann, Stravinsky's reverence for nature was no longer perceived as romantically innocent, and the premiere of 'The Rite' became one of the most infamous events in musical history. Today, 'The Rite' is regarded as a key work of modernism.
(Frankfurter Museums-Gesellschaft e.V.)