The Sounds of Spring

Related:

• The Sounds of Summer

The Sound of a Harp

The flowers and their scent alone don't quite cut it in Eduard Mörikes famous poem Er ist’s (It's him) – it takes a sound to definitively identify the coming of spring:

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy may have had a similar association on the 1st of June 1842, while composing “Ein Frühlings-Lied ohne Wrote” (A Spring Song Without Words), with such emotive harp arpeggios in the accompaniment. Even though the title is mentioned on the cover of the manuscript, it does not appear in the 5th part of the published version of his Lieder ohne Worte op. 62.

Clara Schumann, to whom the work is dedicated, enjoyed this Allegretto grazioso very much. I am also very much taken by the interplay between the graceful melody and the airy ‘harp’ accompaniment.

Sunshine

The days begin to get longer in the spring, and the sun starts to appear from behind the clouds. Beatles guitarist George Harrison couldn't help but sing “Here Comes The Sun” in Eric Clapton's garden on an especially warm April day in 1969. The song would later be featured on the legendary Abbey Road album

Apart from the biographical background, the lyrics also show an uncompromising confidence that, even after a “long, cold, lonely winter” everything will get better, that even the metaphorical ice will slowly melt away and that joy will return to everyone's hearts. The music expresses this joy by exclusively using major chords.

Jacob Collier and Dodie’s cover version of the song really accentuates this. Here comes the sun – but even more so the music! While the beginning seems relatively tame, the middle part squarely focuses on the sheer joy of making music with all instruments available. The bridge of the Beatles original appears only at the end of Collier and Dodie’s version. Collier develops the Beatles’ surprising musical turn “Sun, sun, sun” even further with never-ending, always developing harmonies – that's when the sun really starts coming up for me!

Appeasement

Spring has a calming effect in Sergej Rachmaninov’s cantata Vesna Op. 20 (Spring), the first signs of spring save a man from murdering his wife for being unfaithful.

The original poem by Nikolai Nekrasov was almost destined to be set to music. It contains refrains (the herald of spring), a winter song (the darkened thoughts) and a spring song (the final forgiveness). The mere description of spring as “green noise” – to use the literal translation of the poem's title Zelenyy Shum – immediately evokes wonderful tone colours.

The change from winter into spring is also presented in the music: Just as the E-major of spring takes a while to unfold (passing through its minor counterpart on the way), the choir also develops, becoming gradually denser as it progresses, initially from unison scoring, eventually to full six part harmony at the end of spring.

Spring Sacrifice

A different kind of appeasement is the subject of one of the most famous ballets for orchestra: the offering to a spring god in pagan Russia. In Le sacre du printemps, Igor Stravinsky divides the spring ritual into two parts. In the first part, various tribes come together to compete. In the second part, the chosen virgin sacrifices herself by dancing to her death during the ceremony.

This archaic subject seems perfectly suited for a musical realization through polytonal and polyrhythmic settings, which were considered to be quite modern at the beginning of the 20th century.

Stravinsky talking about his third ballet: „In ‘Sacre du Printemps’ I wanted to depict the luminous reawakening of nature, which is brought to life again [...], the resurrection of the whole world.” Incidentally, one of the most important days in the Christian year, Easter Sunday, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, and takes place in spring.

Resurrection

Easter is linked inextricably to spring. To the first full moon of spring to be precise. Here, the association is clear: The resurrection of Christ goes hand in hand with the rebirth of nature. The choral “Christ ist erstanden” is the oldest surviving liturgical chant in the German language. It has been performed during Easter in churches throughout Germany for over 900 years! It is an age-old tradition to use chorales as the basis for new compositions. Therefore there are a wealth of arrangements available based on “Christ ist erstanden”. Let’s take a look at two modern examples for organ:

Firstly: “Meditation” by Dieter Blum, City Cantor in Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, is a devout composition for organ based on fragments of the chorale, intended to express inner joy:

Dieter Blums “Meditation to ‘Christ ist erstanden’” was published by Edition Stretta:

Orgelstücke zum Gottslob 4: Ostern

Secondly: The Sinfonische Toccata by Johannes Rauh, Regional Cantor in Ansbach, Middle Franconia, reharmonises the full melody in different variations that celebrate the triumph of the world saved.

With “I’ll Remember April”, we have already started moving towards summer. You can read all about the “The Sounds of Summer” in this editorial by Holger Slowik: