The harmony is static, as if time stands still, and a formal framework is scarcely required. Travelling in wide, mesmeric sweeps, the slow progress to the dominant of the dominant (bar 73/154) is achieved with the same hanging inevitability as that of the skater’s impending accident. And so we should not be deceived by his depictions, but rather marvel at the timelessness of the atmosphere created ‘in notes with many a winding bout of linked sweetness long drawn out’. Because it is amusing, it also enabled Vivaldi to give freedom to his technique in an easily tolerated, self-effacing way: he too took a risk. But skating was brilliantly chosen, for it symbolizes people’s freedom when they live in harmony with nature, and when they are not afraid to take a risk.
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