# CRUK shortens Vivaldi’s Spring to highlight charitable gifts in Wills

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/04/05/cruk-shortens-vivaldis-spring-highlight-charitable-gifts-wills/
- Published: 2017-04-05T09:17:23+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Cancer Research UK has partnered with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to release
an unusual version of Antonio Vivaldi’s Spring (from ‘The Four Seasons’). The performance
is missing a third of the original notes.**

The recording is designed to highlight how vital gifts left in Wills are to Cancer
Research UK. One-third of the charity’s research is funded in this way. 

The piece’s opening will sound the same, but then notes will be withdrawn, resulting
in the familiar melodies developing in an unexpected way. While still recognisable,
the new arrangement clearly shows the impact that taking away a third of the notes
has on the tune.

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The new arrangement of Vivaldi’s Spring was created by London based composer Chris
Roe, who has previously been nominated for a British Composer Award for his orchestral
work, ‘In Search of Strategy’.

![Cancer Research working with composer Chris Roe and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,
to create a take on a well-known piece of classical music (Vivaldiís Spring), which
will remove a third of the notes.](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2017/04/
vivaldi-cancer-research-uk-one-third-notes-strings.jpg)

Composer Chris Roe and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Roe said:

> “Vivaldi’s original Spring is one of the most celebrated and famous pieces of 
> music – everyone knows it in one way or another. It is an uplifting and jovial
> piece of music and, as a composer, it went against my natural instincts to take
> away a third of the notes. We wanted to make the biggest impression as musically
> possible, and now the piece has been transformed to be tentative and uneasy. The
> impact is immediate and is a powerful illustration of the effect that a missing
> third of something can have.”

## How the music was changed

![Musicians play Vivaldi with one third of the notes missing](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2017/04/vivaldi-cancer-research-uk-one-third-notes-1.jpg)

Missing notes

The re-imagining of Vivaldi’s Spring was recorded at Angel Studios with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring violinist Clio Gould.

Chris Roe created the work by dividing the music into sections, and counting how
many notes each instrument played in each section. He decided that taking out small
groups of notes from different instruments at different times still allowed the 
music to flow, but with the sense that something was not quite right.

He then cut down the length of the piece, removing a third of the number of bars,
and muting the strings to dampen the sound, and plucking the strings in places instead
of bowing.

Sarah Squire, senior legacy manager, Cancer Research UK, commented:

> “Many people don’t realise that [gifts left in Wills](http://cruk.org/onethird)
> fund a third of Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work, making legacy giving vital
> for us… We hope our new arrangement of Vivaldi’s Spring will inspire supporters
> to continue funding that third of our work to enable us to keep up the pace of
> our research in the future.”

 

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