This month we are
looking at seasonal music on Clef Notes and this week brings us to the dark,
cold months of wintertime. But perhaps winter could be a little less bleak if
accompanied by the sounds of seasonally appropriate music such as Morten
Lauridsen’s Mid-Winter Songs.
Morten Lauridsen
is known for his choral music works that move the soul. Distinguished Professor
of Composition at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of
Music, Lauridsen was commissioned to write a piece for the school’s centenary
in 1980. Mid-Winter Songs was the
result, originally composed for choir and piano. He later wrote a version for
orchestra and chorus.
Students in
Lauridsen’s classes enjoy beginning each class with poetry read out loud by
their professor. Poetry inspires Lauridsen’s work and it was the work of poet
Robert Graves that provided the perfect winter imagery for the composer’s Mid-Winter Songs.
Peter
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #1 “Winter Dreams” is another wintery example that comes
to mind, although the piece is not exactly programmatic for the season. It’s
possible that when the composer gave it this nickname, he was symbolically referring
to his current season of life. The First Symphony took Tchaikovsky quite a
while to complete, causing him much stress, insomnia, and even a nervous
breakdown! He feared criticism from his former teachers and felt that composing
a symphony was quite an undertaking (and I would have to agree!)
Do you have a
favorite piece to accompany your hot cocoa on snowy, winter days? Let me know
by commenting below!
