Fall is here, and with it comes pumpkin spice *everything*, falling leaves, and cozy season. No matter what season it is, we often turn to music to enhance our surroundings. Here is an autumn classical music playlist to augment the warm, mellow feeling we seek in the fall.
A Classical Music Playlist for Autumn
Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons
The Seasons were originally written for solo piano but were later adapted for orchestra. Tchaikovsky wrote The Seasons as a commission: one short piano piece to publish in a magazine each month of the year 1876. Here are the autumn months:
“The Autumn Fairy” from Cinderella by Prokofiev
Written in the early 1940s, Prokofiev dedicated Cinderella, the second of his three long-format ballets (five earlier ballets were in short format), to Tchaikovsky. One of the more intense pieces in this playlist, Autumn Fairy is only a minute and a half long.
In Autumn by Edvard Grieg
The somewhat tumultuous In Autumn is an orchestral overture written in 1865. It ends with a bang! Does it sound “autumnal”? You be the judge!
A String Around Autumn by Toru Takemitsu
The most lauded Japanese composer of his time, Toru Takemitsu’s music is comfortably quiet. A String Around Autumn was his 1989 single-movement viola concerto. Pensive listening at its best.
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: Autumn
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is one of the most seasonally evocative classical works in existence. So much so that it has become a template for other seasonal works over the centuries!
Woodland Sketches: In Autumn by Edward MacDowell
Composed in 1896, MacDowell’s Woodland Sketches is a 10-piece series of short piano pieces. Here is In Autumn.
The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires: Autumn by Astor Piazzolla
It’s fall, but you want a little extra flair. Something spicy. Renowned Argentian tango composer Astor Piazzolla has you covered with “Autumn” from his Argentinian take on The Four Seasons.