#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalAutumn Week 4

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 fourth week of #ClassicAutumn

10/21/19 Toru Takemitsu - Ceremonial, An Autumn Ode

Takemitsu wrote this work in 1992 for orchestra with sho. This Japanese reed instrument has several pipes and dates from the early 700s.

10/22/19 Jules Massenet - Pensée, D'Automne

Massenet's "Thoughts of Autumn" was based on a poem by Armand Silvestre. The narrator in the poem looks back to a lost love.

10/23/19 Oliver Knussen: Autumnal, Op. 14

This work for violin and piano is dedicated to the memory of Benjamin Britten. It takes its name from Britten's "Nocturne."

10/24/19 Darius Milhaud - Concertino D'Automne, Op. 309

Milhaud completed this work in 1951. It's written for two pianos and eight instruments. It was the second of four concertinos he wrote based on the seasons.

10/25/19 Thea Musgrave - The Seasons, "Autumn"

Musgrave's "The Seasons" are impressions of various paintings at the Metropolitan Musem of Art. The Autumn movement, with its wild hunt, was inspired by Picasso's "End of the Road."