Spring

Before I joined the Knoxville Symphony in 2001, I had lived my entire life in the Chicago area. I had a difficult transition to life in the south. I was incredibly homesick. One thing I did appreciate right away was the weather. It gets cold here, but nothing like the bone-chilling, freeze-your-eyelids-shut cold that I grew up with. I don't miss slogging through several feet of snow or digging my car out daily. I enjoy not owning a snow shovel. The snowstorm we had a few weeks back was just enough for me. It covered the ground, but it was gone a few days later. Perfect. As cold and snowy as winter was up north, I much preferred it to early spring. The end of March is my least favorite time of year in Chicago. It's cold, gray, and muddy. East Tennessee weather is about a month and a half ahead of Chicago weather as far as average highs, so it makes sense that mid-February is my least favorite time of year here. It's cold, gray, and muddy, but we've also had days of beautiful sun and unusual warmth. It's playing with my emotions and I don't like it. I'm ready for spring to be here in full-force. To try to influence the weather, I have put together a play list of classical pieces that have to do with spring. I hope you enjoy, even if it does nothing to speed the warm weather.

Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland
Spring from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky
Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring) by Johann Strauss
Symphony #6 (Pastoral) by Beethoven
O, Joy at the Dawn of Spring by Alan Hovhaness
Incidental Music from Peer Gynt by Grieg
Kentucky Spring by Roy Harris
Sonata for piano and violin #5 in F major (“Spring”) by Beethoven
Little Symphony, for chamber orchestra No. 1, "Le Printemps", Op. 43 by Darius Milhaud
Symphony #1 in B flat, “Spring” by Schumann
Printemps, symphonic suite for chorus, piano & orchestra by Debussy
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff