Théotime Langlois de Swarte: “It was The Four Seasons that drew me to the violin”

As he prepares to turn 30 this November, Théotime Langlois de Swarte is one of the most sought-after violinists of his generation. In January 2025, Harmonia Mundi released his recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with Le Consort. He also performed the Venetian composer’s masterpiece live during a North American tour with Les Arts Florissants in February and March of this year.

Baroque music has always been a part of your life: your parents are voice teachers, and you started playing the violin at the age of four. Do you remember discovering Vivaldi’s Four Seasons?

Théotime Langlois de Swarte: It was The Four Seasons that, when I was very young, drew me to the violin and to the Baroque repertoire.

When you play The Four Seasons, don’t you feel like you’re taking the easy way out, since it’s performed so often these days?

T. L. S. : Baroque music—the kind that fascinates, moves, and touches me—needs to be rediscovered. That means reviving composers who have been forgotten since the 17th or 18th century, and whose scores have been lost or overlooked—like when I was only the second violinist to record works by Jean-Baptiste Senaillé, for example. But Baroque music also needs standard-bearers—pieces from the core repertoire that must be interpreted through a historically informed, musicological approach, allowing us to play these works as close as possible to the context in which they were first heard by their own composers. So The Four Seasons must be embraced, even though it is performed very frequently, because it remains a powerful emotional vehicle that can also reach younger audiences. I tell myself that if it worked for me, it might work for others too.

As a performer, what is left to discover in The Four Seasons?

T. L. S.: It’s one of the great masterpieces of the 18th century, but in my opinion, it’s undervalued. Even though it’s played everywhere, all the time, it’s not necessarily for the right reasons… 

So, what are the right reasons, in your view?

T. L. S.: Intentionality is everything in interpretation. Intention is essential from the moment an object is created. Today, people make copies of Stradivarius violins, using the exact same materials and dimensions, yet those violins all sound different because of the maker’s intention. The will, the artistic ideal (even if they’re just ideas) completely change the result. The Four Seasons is deeply profound music that touches on many themes that are relevant today—living together, community, the climate crisis, our relationship with the living world… It’s an absolute work of art.

Passionate about early music and want to read this subscriber-only article?

If you are not a subscriber, join the international Total Baroque community. Subscribe here from 5.00€.

I subscribe

If you are already a subscriber, sign in.

I sign in