Nature Inspired Art & Music Appreciation ~ April

I am a little late in sharing this post and already have started my May study, but better late than never, right?! 


Vincent Van Gogh ~ Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a Book

For the art this past month, I had chosen two paintings from a group by Vincent Van Gogh. In 1888, Van Gogh moved to the South of France and was quickly inspired by the beautiful colours of nature around him. He painted Almond Blossom in 1890 and Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a Book in 1888. The colours are so beautiful in both of these paintings. I hope to see one of these one day in real life! The Almond Blossom is at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I enjoyed reading more about these paintings at Wikipedia. I didn't have a whole lot of time this past month for this, but hopefully May will be a little slower! 


Vincent Van Gogh ~ Almond Blossom


In April, spring was very slowly coming to the island but I was optimistic and listened to Vivaldi's La Primavera (Spring) from his Four Seasons concerti. I have always enjoyed listening to each of these and spring is full of hope and joy! 

There are four sonnets that were written to go with the music. It is not known for certain who the author is, but some guess that it was Vivaldi since these were divided the same way as the concerto. Here is Spring, you can see the rest at this link. 

Allegro
Springtime is upon us.
The birds celebrate her return with festive song,
and murmuring streams are
softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar,
casting their dark mantle over heaven,
Then they die away to silence,
and the birds take up their charming songs once more.
Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches
rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps,
his faithful dog beside him.

Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes,
nymphs and shepherds lightly dance
beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.




You can see my past blog posts on nature inspired art & music appreciation: 
January
February 
March 

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