Music about nature seems to written only slightly less frequently than music about love or religion. Within this genre, springtime might be the most popular topic. It’s not surprising that many composers have written pieces on it. What is surprising, though, are the variety of ways they’ve found to express this season and the accompanying emotions. Here are nine famous composers who gave us their unique renditions.
Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’ Concerto
Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” is probably the most famous work of music representing the natural world. Of all these, his “Spring” concerto is the most popular and recognizable. The opening of the first “Allegro” movement indicates spring’s arrival. Trilling violins represent singing birds.
A portrait of Antonio Vivaldi, circa 1723. Public Domain
Each of Vivaldi’s four concertos are accompanied by a sonnet that describes what’s happening in the music. The three lines of the “Spring” sonnet representing the second slow, “Largo” movement have been translated into English as: “On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goatherd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.”
Vivaldi depicts this scene brilliantly through instrumentation. A solo violin represents the sleeping goatherd, while the other violins imitate rustling leaves and the violas stand in for the barking dog, playing “molto forte e strappato,” very loud and rough in Italian.
Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony No. 6
Ludwig van Beethoven was directly inspired by spring when he wrote one of his most memorable piece of music, the “Pastoral” Symphony No. 6.His friend Anton Schindler left people an account of this symphony’s creation. While walking near the town of Heiligenstadt, Austria, Beethoven sat near a murmuring brook. He leaned against an elm and said, “Here I composed the ‘Scene by the Brook’ and the yellowhammers up there, the quails, nightingales and cuckoos round about, composed with me.”
An illustration of a common nightingale, 1907, by Arthur G. Butler. Public Domain
“Scene by the Brook” is the title of the symphony’s second movement. Beethoven uses a flute to portray the nightingale, an oboe for the quail, and clarinets for the cuckoo. When Schindler asked why Beethoven didn’t write a part for the yellowhammer, too, Beethoven said that he'd imitated that bird sound through a two-octave arpeggio rhythm “written down in Andante.”
Later critics have suggested that Beethoven was just playing a joke on his friend by telling him this, since the yellowhammer doesn’t sing in arpeggio.
Delius’s ‘On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring’
While Beethoven used only the clarinet to represent the cuckoo, the English composer Frederick Delius went for a more complex description. He used a combination of clarinet, oboe, and strings.
The cuckoo notes in this tone poem are embedded within a Norwegian folk song and can be difficult to hear in the middle of the piece. Delius’s portrayal accurately evokes the English countryside, where the sounds of nature intermingle in the listener’s ear.
Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’
This is probably the most famous piece associated with spring ever written by an American composer. The cover images of most recordings feature the Appalachian Mountains during this time of year.Interestingly, though, Aaron Copland himself named the piece only after he wrote it. That hasn’t changed the fact that listeners everywhere now forever associate his music with this time and place.
A view of Hot Springs, N.C., from Lovers Leap on the Appalachian Trail. Jennifer Stanford/Shutterstock
Vaughan Williams’s ‘The Lark Ascending’
George Meredith’s poem “The Lark Ascending” opens with the lines:He rises and begins to round, He drops the silver chain of sound Of many links without a break, In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake …
All the great composers of springtime have their own unique way of evoking birdsong. Ralph Vaughan Williams, adapting Meredith’s poem in his own “pastoral romance,” is no exception.Williams used the magic of the violin to capture Meredith’s words. The solo violin chirrups, whistles, slurs, and shakes in imitation of the lark’s song. But the violin also represents the bird in flight as well.
Johann Strauss II’s ‘Voices of Spring’
One of Strauss’s most recognizable waltzes beautifully captures the essence of springtime with its elegant, light melodies, evoking the renewal and blossoming of life. Strauss wrote three versions of this piece: the orchestral version we know today, a waltz for orchestra and solo soprano, and a piano arrangement.
A sandy beach along the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene at springtime in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Kirk Fisher/Shutterstock
Although the piece begins and ends joyfully, Strauss adds emotional depth with a melancholy third section in a minor key, evoking a rainstorm.
Brahms’s ‘Spring’ String Quartet No. 1
Like Copland, it’s questionable how much Brahms had a seasonal theme in mind when he composed this piece in the spring of 1882. He didn’t title it “Spring”; it was given this informal description later. Still, as in the case of “Appalachian Spring,” the description fits well. It has a warmth and an energy that makes one think Brahms may have been looking out the window for inspiration while writing it.Grieg’s ‘Last Spring’
Nearly all the pieces here that were consciously identified with spring are about evoking the season as a natural phenomenon. Edvard Grieg’s “Last Spring” is different. The music of this piece evokes the gratitude of witnessing spring’s arrival one final time before dying. It’s about tasting the joys of sunbeams and butterflies before the viewer fades forever. Though spring is part of the theme, the music is really a reflection on aging and loneliness.
A statue of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in Troldhaugen in Bergen, Norway. Dmitry Chulov/Shutterstock
As in the case of Strauss’s “Voices of Spring,” Grieg’s piece was originally meant to be sung. It was only later adapted into an orchestral version. In this case, the text was a poem by Norwegian poet Aasmund Olavsson Vinje (1818–1870).
Schumann’s ‘Spring’ Symphony No. 1
Robert Schumann made springtime the theme of his first symphony. He had just married Clara the year before and was experiencing the happiest period of his life. He wrote this symphony’s four movements in just four days of 1841. It opens majestically with “Spring’s Awakening” and ends with the joyful energy of “Full Springtime” in the final movement.
Robert and Clara Schumann, 1847, by Eduard Kaiser. Public Domain
Schumann believed that the spring was an inherent feature of every musical composition, since the composer is always creating something new. To the extent that that is true, the entire Western tradition can be seen as a long and varied series of re-awakenings.
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