Alexander Glazunov’s allegorical one-act ballet, The Seasons, Op. 67, depicts nature’s cycle of demise and rebirth. The deep frigid sleep of winter offers strategy to the blossoms of youth and sunshine. The ballet concludes with the abundance of autumn. It’s a vibrant and celebratory bacchanale amid falling leaves.
A pupil of Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov (1865–1936) was a Romanticist who painted with shimmering tonal colours. His symphonic ballet scores continued within the custom of Tchaikovsky. Whereas composing The Seasons in 1899, Glazunov collaborated with choreographer Marius Petipa. The ballet was premiered on February 20, 1900 at St Petersburg’s Imperial Theatre of the Hermitage, Winter Palace.
Right here is the fourth and remaining Tableau of The Seasons. In a blinding flash of good colour, it erupts into the autumnal bacchanale, punctuated by the festive rattle of the tambourine. The violins play of their excessive highest register, giving us a way of untamed abandon and huge upward expanse. The Adagio pauses for a second of wistful introspection. Its theme is launched by the violas and grows into an announcement of passionate longing with echoes of Tchaikovsky. The finale skips ahead in a jubilant 6/8 time. The glistening Apotheosis leaves us with the vastness of the universe as constellations of stars sparkle above the earth.
I. Autumn: Bacchanale, Petit Adagio:
II. Variation:
III. Finale:
Recordings
- Glazunov: The Seasons, Op. 67, Yevgeni Svetlanov, Philharmonia Orchestra Amazon
Featured Picture: “Marie Petipa and Pavel Gerdt within the Bacchanale of the scene L’Automne. (St. Petersburg, 1900)”
