This past week has been so wonderful - it has been pretty rainy here, and the temperatures have cooled down a bit. My family and I are just giddy with this weather! We have not experienced a true Autumn for four years now (in San Antonio the leaves don't change colors, they don't fall down until after the new year, and it doesn't really get cool outside.) With temperatures in the low 60's or high 50's, us Texans are breaking out our sweats, drinking hot chocolate and leaving the windows open to enjoy the cool breeze. We are in heaven!
Autumn is my favorite time of year! I love it so much. In honor of this beautiful season that is upon us, I decided to do a little research and find some great classical piano pieces about Autumn. I found some really great pieces. These would make a great Autumn recital program, or is a wonderful list of beautiful pieces to play or listen to to get in the mood for chilly days. I hope you enjoy!
4 Sketches, Op.15 (Amy Beach) I. In Autumn
6 Études de concert, Op.35 (Cécile Chaminade) II. Automne. Lento (D♭ major)
In Autumn, H.162 (Frank Bridge)
10 Woodland Sketches, Op.51 (Edward MacDowell) IV. In Autumn
8 Characteristic Pieces, Op.36 (Moritz Moszkowski) En Automne
I love this one and just keep listening to it over and over! You can just hear the Autumn leaves falling and swirling through the air. Beautiful!
Feuilles mortes: Lent et mélancolique (Dead Leaves) (Claude Debussy)
3 Tone-Pictures, Op. 5 No. 3: The Night Winds (Charles Griffes)
I love Charles Griffes. I thought this was a nice one for Autumn.
Yellowed Leaves, Op.31 (Seven Bagatelles) (Nikolay Myaskovsky) sheet music
Now I believe the title "Yellowed Leaves" may be referring to yellowed pages, but I still love this set of pieces. I have never heard of Myaskovsky before and this was a fun little find!
The Seasons, Op.67 (Glazunov, Aleksandr), IV. L'Automne, transcription for piano solo
sheet music
Ten Pieces from Cinderella, Op. 97 (Sergei Prokofiev), Autumn Fairy
I love these short fairy pieces! Each one is so beautiful and perfectly evokes the mood of each season.
(Autumn Fairy begins at 5:19 in the video)
Fluttering Leaves, Op. 147 No. 3 (Carl Kolling)
This is a piece I played in junior high school, and is a great little piece for intermediate students. The quick runs sound just like fluttering leaves. It actually is kind of a joke in my family: whenever I would practice this song, after each fast run on the last note of the phrase my family would bang cupboards or slam things in time with the music. One day my grandma was visiting and when my family slammed things in time with the music, my grandma got such a kick out of it that she was crying with laughter. Isn't it wonderful when piano practice becomes a fun family memory? ;)
Other Piano Pieces About Autumn:
An Autumn Ride (Rawlings, Charles Arthur) sheet music
Autumn Sketches, Op.103 (Smith, Wilson) sheet music
Autumn Song, Op.88 (Sudds, William F.) sheet music
Autumn, Op.15 (Sherwood, William H.) sheet music
Autumn Leaflet (Geibel, Adam) sheet music
Trembling Leaves, Op.17 (Wehli, James M.) sheet music
When the Autumn Leaves are Falling, Op.495 (Grobe, Charles) sheet music
Autumn Leaves, Op.40 (Gimbel Junior, Charles) sheet music
Autumn (Saroni, Herrman S.) sheet musicLabels: Autumn, Repertoire
