Why movies and TV can’t quit Vivaldi

From Netflix to commercials to the multiplex, “The Four Seasons” is everywhere, 300 years after it was first published.

Daniel Hope and the New Century Chamber Orchestra perform “The Four Seasons” on John Mulaney’s Netflix show

Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” was composed between 1718 and 1720, and published in 1725, meaning the piece turns 300 years old this year.

But even though the piece is older than the United States, it seems like music supervisors in movies and TV can’t get enough of it.

Just in the last couple of months, “The Four Seasons” has been featured on the first episode of the second season of Poker Face, as well as throughout the run of the Netflix miniseries (naturally) The Four Seasons. That last show was adapted from the 1981 movie by Alan Alda, which also used the same music.

Also on Netflix, John Mulaney, on a recent episode of Everybody’s Live, had Daniel Hope and the New Century Chamber Orchestra on to perform the “recomposed” version of “The Four Seasons,” by Max Richter:

Jenna Ortega played “Winter” on Wednesday:

And it was in a memorable Bridgerton scene too:

If you’re a fan of The Leftovers, you probably recognize the Richter version from its use throughout the series.

Mulaney said he plays the music in the morning with his son, I’ve known to play the whole Richter/Hope version while working in the morning. I don’t claim much or any expertise on classical music, but I’ve been known to use “The Four Seasons” as writing music.

The piece has been in plenty of movies too- it was memorably used in Portrait of a Lady on Fire, as well as the third John Wick film, on top of numerous others over the years.

And the music has been in plenty of commercials too, for everything from cars to printers to perfume.

Why that particular piece of music?