Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons cover

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

Composer
Released

It’s a bit hard to say whether or not this was a good idea but it was a useful idea. Richter revised The Four Seasons, the wedding season’s ace in the hole, by taking out more than three-quarters of the music. Looping what was left and rearranging it, he essentially sent Vivaldi through Aphex Twin and Philip Glass and plonked him in the middle of the 21st century. That said, the results mostly work. What is most impressive is that he was able to keep the overall gestalt of this work—upbeat and clear—and retain it while reducing the music to a bright coil of motifs. Looping is possibly the most important development in the last fifty years, and making classical musicians play through its tendencies is an important step.

Sasha Frere-Jones

Recommended by

Suggestions
Chanzonetas: Gaspar Fernández, Alonso de Bonilla cover

Chanzonetas: Gaspar Fernández, Alonso de Bonilla

Capella Prolationum, Ensemble La Danserye
12 cover

12

Ryuichi Sakamoto
June Spill cover

June Spill

Kevin Drumm
Schnittke: Works for Violin and Piano cover

Schnittke: Works for Violin and Piano

Daniel Hope, Alexey Botvinov
The Suspended Harp of Babel cover

The Suspended Harp of Babel

Vox Clamantis, Cyrillus Kreek, Jaan-Eik Tulve
Blue 05 cover

Blue 05

Forest Drive West
Edition Staatskapelle Dresden, Vol. 51 cover

Edition Staatskapelle Dresden, Vol. 51

Philippe Herreweghe, Staatskapelle Dresden
The Gleam cover

The Gleam

Park Jiha