Antonio Vivaldi — The Four Seasons

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on 4 March 1678, an ordained priest nicknamed il Prete Rosso — 'the Red Priest' — for his flame-coloured hair. A violin virtuoso and prolific inventor of the solo concerto, he taught at the Ospedale della Pietà, a Venetian orphanage whose girls' ensemble became one of Europe's marvels.

His Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni, published 1725) is Baroque music at its most cinematic: birdsong, summer storms, hunters' horns and skaters slipping on ice, all painted in sound. It is bright, restless, and full of Venetian light bouncing off water.

The palette runs from spring green and lagoon turquoise to the flushed scarlet of the Red Priest himself and the amber of autumn. Where to look: chase seasonal colour and reflected light — a green shoot, a red door, water throwing sky back at you. Fast, vivid, high-contrast frames match the music's darting energy.