Violins and Vivaldi

My love of violin music undoubtedly came from my  lovely mother, who is shown in this photo which was taken on Easter Sunday 1949, several months before her marriage to my Father.  At one time I had a copy of photo of her playing her violin while in college, where she was concert mistress of the school orchestra, but that photo was lost in a computer crash several computers ago.  I believe the original is still in my Mother's possession, and I need to re-scan it along with some others from her scrapbook so I can once again have them in my files.

I have mentioned previously that I don't listen to a lot of music during the typical day, but I do enjoy listening to piano and strings.  I believe that my love of the violin was instilled in me while just a young babe, listening to my mother practice.  Though she wasn't involved in an orchestra again after her college years that I am aware of, she was willing to play for special occasions such as weddings or parties or church meetings.  She did attempt to teach me to play the violin when I was a child, but I did not have the patience for the required practice required to stick with it for more than one or two lessons. 

When the children were young and I was a stay-at-home-mom of pre-schoolers and elementary schoolers, my DH bought us season tickets to the Symphony Orchestra, and several times a month I had the privilege of arranging for a babysitter and dressing up for an evening out with my honey.  Occasionally when the venue and music were appropriate, the oldest children would take turns having the chance to come along with us to a concert. 

We purchased the CD Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery by Classical Kids, which  intertwines stories about the composer with excerpts of his music and portrays Vivaldi as a real person shown from a child's point of view.  I think our kids enjoyed this CD along with the others in the series, and learned to appreciate classical music when they were young.  I know that I enjoyed this CD myself.  Three of my dear children have learned to play string instruments, and I have loved attending every single recital and concert that they have participated in, along with the band concerts and the choir concerts of the other children. 

I couldn't find the actual music from that CD to share with you, but for your listening enjoyment,  here is the complete 40 minute rendition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons from You Tube:

Don't you just love Vivaldi?