Firstly I’d like to say that theres no real reason why I chose this specific release of The Four Seasons aside from it being the one I own and the sheer hair of the star violinist on the cover. Like by god, look at his hair! It’s like young Keanu Reeves got cultured. Ok, gotta move past the hair, im not jealous or anything. I’m a girl, it would look weird on me, like im growing cat grass on my head…
Really this album can be subbed out for any classical album in my ranking of most important, I just have the most memories with this one. I love classical music, it was always playing in some form or another when I was a child. My grandparents always played it over satellite radio in their home, or in the car on long rides through costal pine forests to the big city. The Four Seasons stands out as my favorite for the memories I have with it. It was a go-to study album, or to relax, or contemplate the nature of life. There was one specific time that still sticks out.
I think I mentioned somewhere here that I used to be in marching band, all through high school but also as a freshman in college. We had to travel to Florida for a bowl game, a drive which took 14 hours when not stuck in traffic and 21 hours when stuck in traffic (which happened on the way down, not fun at all.) On the way back up after stopping for dinner someone in my section was handing out melatonin pills. I took 2 (never take 2, I was conked out for 36 hours) and put on the four seasons through noise cancelling earbuds. I proceeded to have some of the best sleep of my life. Good times.
In terms of the composition of the album, I’m not exactly an expert, but the movement from spring to summer to fall and winter is well reflected in the writing. I do prefer my classical to have more than just strings, some French horn is always appreciated, but I think I’ll survive. It goes without saying that you can find The Four Seasons anywhere you find music, this specific recording is available on Spotify if you search ‘Nigel Kennedy Four Seasons’ but be warned that for whatever reason the tempo is slightly upped here. I couldn’t tell you why, but it makes the violin runs in the first track especially a little iffy, they were hard enough to play when not sped up! Theres likely some context I'm missing.
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