# Pieces with a winter theme



## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

BBC Radio Three has been asking for pieces with a winter theme for its breakfast programme. So far there's been been Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus and Tchaikovsky's Winter Daydreams symphony (I forget which number that one is). The only other one I can think of is November Woods by Bax, but it isn't November now and November isn't technically a winter month.

Any ideas?


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

RVW's Arctic Symphony? :<



> (I forget which number that one is).


No. 1


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

Schubert's _Winterreise_.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I suppose _The Nutcracker_ is more Christmas than winter, but it still makes me think of winter 

Of course, there's always the plethora of compositions titled _The Seasons_ - Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky spring to mind...


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Polednice said:


> Of course, there's always the plethora of compositions titled _The Seasons_ - Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky spring to mind...


und Haydn, don't forget him and his seasons for many reasons.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Debussy - "Snowflakes Dancing" (or however you want to translate it). I can't remember if this is from Children's Corner or the Preludes.


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## Il Seraglio (Sep 14, 2009)

Mozart's 25th... very icy


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## xuantu (Jul 23, 2009)

Argus said:


> Schubert's _Winterreise_.


A song program with winter themes would be nice. I know another song cycle (sort of) by Benjamin Britten called _Winter Words_. It consists of eight Thomas Hardy settings (in English, of course). Again, the opening song has "November" in its name (_At Day-close in November_), but it produces an unmistakable winter feel, icy and desolate. The tone of the cycle has thus been correctly set: these are winter scenes about aging, loss, numbness and cruelty; they are as dark as anything that Britten has put into music (therefore caution must be taken when these pieces are played during breakfast). Florid though the vocal writing might be as in numbers like _Proud Songster_, the overall style of the cycle is sharp and succinct. The closing song _Before Life And After_ questions the merit of consciousness in a "winter" context and asks when nescience will be restored. It never fails to give me goose bumps.

This cycle can be programed along with other winter songs that have some joy in them. For example, Schubert has a very sweet _Der Winterabend_ (D.938) if you don't mind listening to a nocturne in the morning.


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

Il Seraglio said:


> Mozart's 25th... very icy


Is it because it was played at the beginning of the snowy Amadeus?


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

Polednice said:


> Of course, there's always the plethora of compositions titled _The Seasons_ - Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky spring to mind...


And Glazunov's. Vivaldi's Winter doesn't sound very wintry to me, but that's probably because he lived in Italy.


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Winter by Vivaldi.


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## bongos (Nov 27, 2008)

Aramis said:


> RVW's Arctic Symphony? :<
> 
> No. 1


symphony no 7 sinfonia antartica


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## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Did I mention Winter by Vivaldi? HEL-LOOOOOO!


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