For many people, this is a difficult month. The holidays are over, the parties have ended, and all of a sudden, we are left alone with a long, cold winter ahead of us.

People who are immune from these feelings often dislike Franz Schubert‘s great song cycle, Winterreise. To me, it brings great comfort, even validation, that others also struggle during this time of the year; we aren’t alone, and Spring will come again. I play it every year during the winter; and if you also suffer during the Winter, I hope it will bring you some peace, knowing another of the many marvelous and beautiful things that humans have created.

I came as a stranger, I leave as a stranger.
May, with its beautiful flowers, was wonderful.
She and I spoke of love, even of marriage.
But now the world is dead and bare, and the path is covered with snow.

Though not my choice, I must leave now,
and struggle to find my way in the dark.
The shadow of the moon is my only companion,
as I make my way through the cold white fields.

It’s better to leave now on my own accord, rather than be driven out later.
Let the dogs howl at me.
God has made Love fickle – she loves to wander from one to the next.
Good night, my love!

I won’t wake you; continue in your dreams.
You won’t hear a noise from me as I leave.
As I leave, I’ll write “Good Night” on the gate,
So you’ll know I continue to think of you.

Thanks to elementary-school music classes and “Row, row, row your boat”, canon is a musical term that is pretty well known. Even if you didn’t pay attention in music class, you probably recognize the term from going to, basically, any and every wedding ever.

You can find canons throughout all of music history. To this day, student composers write canons as part of their training. Canons range from being super simple to outrageously complex.

Cesar Franck wrote canon into many of his works – this was a bit odd for the romantic era, which tended to favor emotion and drama over form and structure. Franck’s canons, however, perfectly fit the aesthetic of the romantic era, and never sound forced or out of place. His Sonata for Violin and Piano is a stunning work and favorite of violinists & pianists (and flutists, who also lay claim to this work.)

Interestingly, Franck’s most famous composition, also with a canon, can be heard alongside Pachelbel’s, at “any and every wedding ever.”

This magical piece for piano by Claude Debussy should give you some good shivers as we approach the shortest day of the year and prepare for the deep winter season. Once you’ve read the title “The Snow is Dancing”, it’s nearly impossible not to hear the gentle flakes falling from the sky, layering on top of one another until your vision is obscured into a sea of white. If this makes you shiver, your heart will warm when you learn that the composer wrote this and other pieces in a set called Children’s Corner, which he dedicated to his infant daughter.