I get it I'd do the same for any of my own children.
There, she finds all the pieces of Lemminki's body, sews them back together, and then entreats the father-god Ukko to bring her son back to life with a drop of heavenly honey. There is an eventual happy ending, however Lemminki's mother descends to the underworld. In the great Finnish saga Kalevala, in an effort to win a wife from the evil queen Louhi, the great hero Lemminki is supposed to kill a sacred swan who floats serenely down a river in Tuonela, the realm of the dead. Jean Sibelius - The Swan of Tuonela (1895) It really gets going a couple of minutes in, first with an ominous chime, and then with the trombones playing the 13th century dirge " Dies Irae." Chilling! When I was 13, I somehow got a recording of this piece and was transfixed, playing it over and over until the vinyl wore out. Hector Berlioz - " Dream of a Witches' Sabbath" from Symphonie Fantastique (1830) Such genius and pathos expressed in four short minutes. I love the rhythms suggesting the galloping horse as well as the key shifts that increase the tension throughout. The father reassures the son while urging his horse on faster, but by the time they reach home, the boy is dead. In it, a boy carried on horseback warns his father that the dread Erl-King is trying to steal him away. He then revised it a couple of times and published it as his Opus no. Schubert first set Goethe's poem to music when he was 17 years old.
I love the entire thing, but the Aria (on which all the variations are based) is the most melancholy part of it. Here's something else written for harpsichord that I vastly prefer on piano, especially when performed by Glenn Gould. Johann Sebastian Bach - " Aria," Goldberg Variations (1741) Here's a great essay on its hypnotic power. It was of course composed for the harpsichord, but I find the piano more soulful in general. This is one of my "desert island" pieces of music. Arianna sings (in translation), "Leave me to die, and who do you think can comfort me in such a harsh state, in such great suffering? Leave me to die." Yep, it's bleak.įrançois Couperin - " Les Barricades Mystérieuses" (1717) This is the only surviving piece of the lost opera L'Arianna, which dramatized Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus on the isle of Naxos. Though it's intended to be sung in early spring, I find its mood perfectly suited to autumn.Ĭlaudio Monteverdi - " Lasciatemi morire" (1614) The text is from the book of Lamentations, written by the prophet Jeremiah (and source of the word " jeremiad"). John the Divine, and it was love at first hearing. I first heard Tallis's piece sung at a Tenebrae service at The Cathedral of St. The early part of Holy Week is a dark time, commemorated by services like Tenebrae. Thomas Tallis - The Lamentations of Jeremiah (1560) The great French Renaissance composer Josquin set it with keen sensitivity, perhaps to express grief over the execution of Savonarola. The text is based on Psalm 51, King David's confession of grave sin and entreaty for God's mercy. Josquin des Prez - " Miserere mei, Deus" (1503) Instead, in chronological order, here are 19 classical pieces that for me, are perfectly Octoberish. You will not find below any mention of famous pieces associated with the season, like Orff's Carmina Burana or Bach's "Toccata and Fugue," nor yet the soundtracks to films like Jaws or Psycho. The music I've chosen to highlight reflects that. It's also about a pleasurable melancholy a haunting evocation of times past dry leaves skittering along windswept streets murmurations of starlings in the gloaming raindrops sliding down the age-softened features of statues and afternoon light sifting through forgotten corridors. Octoberish doesn't just mean "spooky" to me, although I love a good shudder. I've been meaning to do a post on classical music for a few years, and today, I'm finally getting to it. I also did a couple of yearly updates here and here. Past Octoberish posts have focused on books, popular music, places, and movies. As longtime readers know, October is the beginning of the best part of the year for me.