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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