#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAutumn Week 2
By Ralph Graves
In 2019 the Classics a Day team has been making its way through the seasons. We’ve had Classical Winter (January), Classical Spring (April), and Classical Summer (August). For October, we complete the cycle with Classical Autumn.
I tried to steer clear of the really obvious choices (like Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”). In the process, I managed to discover a few pieces and a composer that was new to me. Which, for me, is part of the fun of participating in the #ClassicsaDay feed.
Here are my posts for the second week of #ClassicAutumn
10/7/19 Joachim Raff – Symphony No. 10 in F minor, Zur Herbstzeit Op.213
Subtitled “In Autumn Time,” this 1880 symphony was the last of four symphonies based on the seasons. Raff revised the work extensively years after its premiere.
10/8/19 Alexander Glazunov – Autumn from “The Seasons,” Op. 67
Glazunov’s “The Seasons” was written for an 1899 Russian ballet. The ballet represents an allegorical journey through the months of the year.
10/9/19 Roxanna Panufnik – Autumn in Albania from “Four World Seasons”
Each movement of Panufnik’s work represents a season in a different part of the world. The autumn movement is her most personal, written in tribute to her father, Polish composer Andrej Panufnik, who loved the season.
10/10/18 Einojuhani Rautavaara – Autumn Gardens
Rautavaara characterized this 1999 work as, in part, being “a sarabande in honor of the dying splendor of summer.”
10/11/19 Christopher Simpson – The Monthes – October
Simpson was a 17th Century viola da gamba player. He published a set of 12 fantasias for the instruments, “The Monthes.”
