Classical music for winter
November 28, 2010 1:15 AM   Subscribe

What classical music works are most reminiscent of winter?

My partner has a classical music show on local radio, and we've just had our first snow of the year here. He would like to dedicate his show to winter tonight, but is struggling to come up with what to play (he's already played Vivaldi's 4 seasons twice this year). Any suggestions? Many thanks.
posted by hazyjane to Media & Arts (25 answers total) 35 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love the chilly atmosphere of Sibelius' Tapiola.
posted by misteraitch at 1:41 AM on November 28, 2010


To pick some low-hanging fruit: Tchaikovsky No. 1. And Joachim Raff also did a series on the four seasons - No. 11 is "Der Winter" (the first movement is actually entitled "The First Snow").
posted by milkrate at 1:42 AM on November 28, 2010


Mussorgsky's A Night on Bare/Bald Mountain has a wild stormy thing going on.
posted by Abiezer at 2:17 AM on November 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


Of course, there's always classical versions of songs such as Carol of the Bells (also known as Ukrainian Bell Carol) and Good King Wenceslas. Also others not many think of like

In The Bleak Midwinter

The Coventry Carol - which if you can find an instrumental version, might be just as pretty.

The Holly and The Ivy
posted by DisreputableDog at 2:32 AM on November 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


Schubert's Winterreise. If sung by a good singer, you'll hear how cold it is.
posted by ijsbrand at 2:41 AM on November 28, 2010 [3 favorites]


More!

Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen (Lo', How a Rose E'er Blooming)

Sussex Carol

Wexford Carol

You could also, I'm sure, find almost any song that one thinks of as a Christmas or holiday song and find an instrumental version of it. Unless classical in this case means "old".

You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch (Again, I'm sure a nicer version of this could be found)
posted by DisreputableDog at 2:55 AM on November 28, 2010




Shostakovich's orchestration of Mussorgky's Songs And Dances Of Death (one piece)

Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia Antarctica

Sibelius' Swan of Tuonela
posted by the duck by the oboe at 3:21 AM on November 28, 2010




Tchaikovsky, second movement of the Violin Concerto.
Tchaikovsky, second movement of the 4th Symphony.
Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 32/10
posted by Namlit at 3:56 AM on November 28, 2010


I always get in a wintery mood when I hear baroque masses or other religious works. I think it's the vaguely Christmassy feeling without actual Christmas. E.g. Vivaldi's Magnificat.
posted by ClarissaWAM at 4:47 AM on November 28, 2010


If you want wintery as opposed to Christmassy then some requiem music might fit. For example Arvo Pärt's - Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.
posted by rongorongo at 5:28 AM on November 28, 2010


The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang, which won the Pulitzer for music in 2008, is an amazing, gorgeous piece for four voices and small percussion. Not the most cheerful thing, obviously, but definitely wintry.
posted by neroli at 6:28 AM on November 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


Seconding baroque and chorale for winter. Handel's Messiah. (IANChristian and I still love this music.)

Chopin's Nocturnes.
posted by Siena at 6:40 AM on November 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


2nding Schubert's Winterreisse ("Winter's Journey"). Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore recorded it a few times; try the 1962 version.
posted by mediareport at 7:24 AM on November 28, 2010


Anne Dudley's Ancient & Modern, though a mix of familiar and new works, is flat out hiemal.
posted by scruss at 7:27 AM on November 28, 2010


i don't know if this would qualify as "classical music", but george winston's "December" is spare and beautiful and reflective and a piece or two from this record might serve as a good segue...December

Faure: Requiem
This disc is gorgeous, dark, and angelic, much like winter.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 7:39 AM on November 28, 2010


The Frost Scene from Purcell's King Arthur. (Sung here by Andreas Scholl, and here in a more camped-up performance by Klaus Nomi.)
posted by verstegan at 8:30 AM on November 28, 2010 [2 favorites]


This is really subjective — just based on how they sound to me, rather than any theme intended by the composer...

Sibelius's 1st and 6th Symphonies.

Brahms's German Requiem.

Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" Quartet (#14).

Someone recommended Chopin's Nocturnes; how about some Mazurkas?
posted by John Cohen at 9:05 AM on November 28, 2010


Rheinberger: "Abendlied"
posted by sleepingcbw at 9:22 AM on November 28, 2010


Talvemustrid / Winter Patterns by Finnish composer Veljo Tormis. Choral works, and the Northern Lights is amazing--I feel cold yet exhilarated when I hear it.

Also

Northern Lights by Pekka Kostiainen
posted by Ideefixe at 9:46 AM on November 28, 2010


but george winston's "December" is spare and beautiful and reflective and a piece or two from this record might serve as a good segue

Ditto December. I can't hear that album without getting supremely nostalgic for past winters with friends and lovers. Same goes for Winston's Forest (which had several covers of tracks from Richard Blake songs featured in the 1982 cartoon The Snowman). Another achingly debilitating bit of winter nostalgia.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:44 AM on November 28, 2010


Chopin's "Winter Wind" etude (Op. 25, No. 11)!
posted by No-sword at 3:33 PM on November 28, 2010


This might be an association I've made all on my own, but I've always felt that Ravel's Piano Trio in A Minor sounded like winter all the way through.
posted by invitapriore at 4:01 PM on November 28, 2010


Rhapsody in Blue always reminds me of falling snow.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 9:26 AM on November 29, 2010


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