What’s your favorite season? And how would you describe it in words? And if you’re a composer, how would you describe it in music?
The most famous musical depiction is The Four Seasons, a set four violin concertos by Italian Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, but other composers have evoked the mood and sounds of the seasons. On today’s date in 2009, American composer Philip Glass tossed his hat into the ring with the Toronto Symphony premiere of a new work, The American Four Seasons.
Glass’ seasonal tone painting, like Vivaldi, is a set of four concertos, written for violinist Robert McDuffie, who also performed the premiere. But when McDuffie finally saw the finished score, he felt Glass’s view of some of the seasons did not quite match his own, so they came up with an unusual solution: In the published score, Glass did not provide titles for any of the four concertos, letting each listener (or performer) decide for him- or herself which concerto matched which season.
So, in this case of this Four Seasons, it’s all up to you.
Philip Glass (b. 1938) The American Four Seasons (Violin Concerto No. 2); Robert McDuffie, vn; London Philharmonic; Marin Alsop, cond. Orange Mountain CD 0072