SEMO orchestra closes spring with Vivaldi, Mozart

The Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra performed for a nearly sold-out crowd in its final concert of the season.

The symphony performed two works, Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" and Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.

The evening began with "The Four Seasons," which has a movement for each season: "Spring," "Summer," "Autumn" and "Winter." Each season was accompanied by sonnets believed to have been written by Vivaldi himself to go with the music.

The sonnets, read by Paul Thompson, added to the understanding of what Vivaldi saw in his imagination as he wrote "The Four Seasons."

"Spring has come and joyfully the birds greet it with happy song," read Thompson, in what was one of three sonnets accompanying the first movement.

Cape Girardeau native Liesl Schoenberger was the featured violinist throughout "The Four Seasons."

"We used the 'Spring' movement in our wedding," said Jessica Clayton of Biehle, Mo. "To hear it performed here with the awesome soloist and with the poems is a really incredible experience.

"You can just close your eyes and picture everything, and the music seems to form it as well," she said.

Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" is commonly used for weddings as a processional or recessional, and the season used is typically timed with the wedding.

For more information on the Southeast Symphony, visit www.semo.edu/symphony/index.htm.

Pertinent address:

518 S. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, MO