#ClassicsaDay #FunintheSun Week 2

We couldn't let the season go by without having some kind of summer-related theme. The Classics a Day team chose to catch some rays this August. And to find out how many classical composers did so with their music. 

Of course, any summer-related topic is fair game, too. Here are my posts for the second week of #FunintheSun.

08/08/22 Jean Baptiste Lully - Overture to "Phaeton"

Lully wrote this 1683 lyric tragedy for Louis XIV, the Sun King. It tells the story of Phaeton, son of the Sun God who takes dad's chariot out for a spin.

08/09/22 David Matthews - The Music of Dawn

This 1990 work was inspired by its namesake, a painting by Cecil Collins.

08/10/22 Camille Saint-Saens - Phaeton, Op. 39

Saint-Saens wrote this tone poem in 1873. It illustrates the disastrous ride of Phaeton, son of Helios. Helios reluctantly agrees to let his son ride the Sun chariot across the sky. Phaeton loses control, and Zeus is forced to destroy him before the sun burns the earth. It's all there in Saint-Saens' score!

08/11/22 Christopher Rouse - Phaeton

Rouse completed his score in 1986. It's one of several orchestral works he wrote inspired by Greek mythology. "Phaeton" was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

08/12/22 Mark O'Connor - Summer from "The American Seasons"

O'Connor's inspiration for his season-themed orchestral was Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons." This 1999 work is based on folk idioms, particularly those of Appalachia.