Label: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH (Germany), 486 6050
Style: Classical, Romantic, Piano Suite
Country: Votkinsk, Russia (7 May 1840 - 6 November 1893)
Time: 54:07
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 193 Mb
In
1875, Nikolay Matveyevich Bernard, the editor of the St. Petersburg
music magazine Nouvellist, commissioned Tchaikovsky to write 12 short
piano pieces, one for each month of the year. Bernard suggested a
subtitle for each month's piece. Tchaikovsky accepted the commission and
all of Bernard's subtitles, and in the December 1875 edition of the
magazine, readers were promised a new Tchaikovsky piece each month
throughout 1876. The January and February pieces were written in late
1875 and sent to Bernard in December, with a request for some feedback
as to whether they were suitable, and if not, Tchaikovsky would rewrite
February and ensure the remainder were in the style Bernard was after.
March, April and May appear to have been composed separately; however
the remaining seven pieces were all composed at the same time and
written in the same copybook, and evidence suggests they were written
between 22 April and 27 May. The orchestration of Swan Lake was finished
by 22 April, leaving the composer free to focus on other music; and he
left for abroad at the end of May. This seems to put the lie to Nikolay
Kashkin's published version of events, which was that each month the
composer would sit down to write a single piece, but only after being
reminded to do so by his valet.
Tchaikovsky did not devote his most
serious compositional efforts to these pieces; they were composed to
order, and they were a way of supplementing his income. He saw the
writing of music to a commission as just as valid as writing music from
his own inner inspiration; however, for the former he needed a definite
plot or text, a time limit, and the promise of payment at the end. Most
of the pieces were in simple ABA form.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seasons_(Tchaikovsky))
01. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 1. January: At the Fireside (06:37)
02. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 2. February: Carnival (02:55)
03. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 3. March: Song of the Lark (02:55)
04. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 4. April: Snowdrop (02:40)
05. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 5. May: White Nights (04:39)
06. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 6. June: Barcarolle (05:29)
07. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 7. July: The Reaper's Song (01:59)
08. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 8. August: The Harvest (03:36)
09. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 9. September: The Hunt (02:58)
10. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 10. October: Autumn Song (05:46)
11. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 11. November: Troika (03:22)
12. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 12. December: Christmas (04:41)
13. Romance in F minor, Op.5 (06:25)
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