The Allmusic Blog » The falling notes….

The falling notes….

October 3rd, 2008 | 7:41 am est | Patsy Morita

At first glance, music with an autumn theme may not seem as diverse or even as abundant as music for any other season, but if you look a little more closely there is quite a variety to be found. Here’s some of what we’ve found, without even looking at music that depicts all the seasons or the year, such as Piazzolla’s Cuatro estaciones porteñas. As you might guess, a lot of it is wistful or bittersweet, with a longing for things that were or might have been, which comes from watching the leaves turn to brown and fall from the trees. However, there are a few pieces that marvel at the brilliant display of color that fall brings and celebrate the riches reaped at the end of the growing season.

Let’s start with the big, multi-movement works, those that try to capture more than one aspect of the season. There are several choices, ranging from the intimacy of a woodwind quintet to a full-scale symphony. Here are excerpts from a few of these.

Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 10 in F minor “In Autumn,” Op. 213 (1879)
Eindrücke und Empfindungen (Impressions and feelings)
Gespenster-Reigen (Ghost’s dance)
Elegie
Die Jagd der Menschen (The Hunt)

Rued Langaard - Symphony No. 4 “Leaf-Fall” (1916)
Fortvivlet skovbrus (Rustle in the forest)
Solstrejf (Glimpse of sun)
Torden (Thunderstorm)
Høstligt! (Autumnal)
Træt (Tired)
Fortvivlelse (Despair)
Søndag-morgen-klokkerne (Sunday morning bells)
Forbi! (At an end)

Alan Hovhaness - October Mountain, suite for percussion, Op. 135 (1942)
I
II
III
IV
V

Virgil Thomson - Autumn, concertino for harp, strings & percussion (1964)
Salute to the Wind
Dialogue
Love Scene
Promenade

Hans Werner Henze - L’autunno, for wind quintet (1977)
Moderato
Allegretto
Allegramente
Vivace
Quia respexit humilitatem ancilla suae

George Lloyd - Symphony No. 10 “November Journeys,” for brass (1981)
Allegro moderato
Calma
Andante grazioso - Presto - Andante
Energico

Thea Musgrave - Autumn Sonata, for bass clarinet & orchestra (1994)
Oscuro e misterioso
Svegliato
Alla marcia, con furore
Lamentoso
Oscuro e misterioso
Adagio sostenuto

Einojuhani Rautavaara - Syksyn puutarhat (Autumn Gardens), for orchestra (1999)
Poetico
Tranquillo
Giocoso e leggiero

Daniel Pinkham - October Music (3rd Duet Book for Young Pianists, 2006)
The maple tree shimmers in scarlet and gold
The birds contemplate their long flight south
The field promises a bountiful harvest
A gust chases a dry leaf on the porch

For those who enjoy keyboard music, there is a wealth of music, going back to the Renaissance.

Martin Peerson - The Fall of the Leaf, for virginal (ca. 1600)

Cecile Chaminade - Automne, a concert etude (ca. 1885)

Edward MacDowell - In Autumn, for piano (from “Woodland Sketches,” 1896)

Claude Debussy - Feuilles mortes, prelude for piano (1910)

Cecile Chaminade - Autumn Leaves, for piano, Op. 146 (ca. 1912)

Leo Sowerby - Comes Autumn Time, for organ (1916)

Joaquin Rodrigo - Berceuse de otoño, for piano (1923)

Frank Bridge - In Autumn, for piano (1924)
Retrospect
Through the eaves

Rued Langaard - In the Flickering Autumn Lamplight, for piano (1930-1933)

Arnold Bax - Red Autumn, for 2 pianos (1931)

Leo Sowerby - Pageant of Autumn, for organ (1931)

Alan Hovhaness - Bare November Day, for piano (1964)

For the East Asian perspective on the season, try some of these works from China and Japan.

Wei Li - Autumn Yearning Fantasia

Yu-Sheng Liu - Scenery with leaf falling

Wencheng Lü - Autumn Moon on a Calm Lake, for piano

Jing-ping Zhang - Celebrating at Harvest, for violin & piano

Minoru Miki - Autumn Fantasy, for shakuhachi & 20-string koto (1980)

Katsutoshi Nagasawa - Nishikigi ni yosete itsutsu no shohin (Five Sketches in Autumn Colors) (1973)
Rangyoku (Indigo Jewel)
Moegi (Pale Green)
Akanegumo (Crimson Clouds)
Ruri (Azure)
Kohaku (Amber)

Toru Takemitsu - November Steps, for shakuhachi, biwa & orchestra (1967)

Toru Takemitsu - In an Autumn Garden, for gagaku ensemble (1973)

Toru Takemitsu - Autumn (Aki), for biwa, skakuhachi & orchestra (1973)

Toru Takemitsu - From Far Beyond Chrysanthemums and November Fog, for violin & piano (1983)

Toru Takemitsu - A String around Autumn, for viola & orchestra (1989)

Autumn choral music is more about celebrating the season than other types of music. There are hymns of thanksgiving and songs about nature, but once and a while there are examples of the melancholy and even darker moods. (Solo songs about Autumn are so numerous that they require their own, separate survey.)

Sigismondo d’India - Ecco autunno (Behold Autumn), madrigal (1621) (instrumental version)

Friedrich Nietzsche (yes, that Nietzsche!) - Herbstlich sonnige Tage (Days of sunshine in autumn) (1867)

Johannes Brahms - Im Herbst (In Autumn) (1888)

Wilhelm Stenhammar - September (from “Tre körvisor,” 1890)

Gustav Holst - The autumn is old (1895)

Edward Elgar - Fear not, O Land (1914)

Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud (Autumn landscapes), song cycle for chorus (1964, rev. 2003)
On hilissuvi (Late Summer)
Üle taeva jooksevad pilved (Clouds Racing in the Sky)
Kahvatu valgus (Pale Light)
Valusalt punased lehed (Crimson Leaves Falling)
Tuul kõnnumaa kohal (Wind Along the Heath)
Külm sügisöö (Cold Autumn Night)
Kanarbik (Heather)