Quite frankly, nobody can even come near Shakespeare in his mastery of language. He is to English what Bach was to counterpoint, Tchaikovsky to melody, or Mozart to form and balance.

Anyone who sings in a choir knows the name John Rutter. He might be considered one of those “crossover composers” – writing music that is hard to place as purely “classical” or “popular”. Naturally, this has made him disliked by many elitist musicians who seek reasons to turn their noses up at composers who are actually successful during their lifetimes. But once you get over that bit of nonsense, you’ll find that he is a master composer with impeccable technique (solid & interesting vocal writing) who knows how to please his performers and audiences with honest, unpretentious music.

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind” is a song found in Shakespeare’s “As you Like It“. I am particularly fond of this text, and find comfort in it when I’m having a bad day. Rutter’s setting is perfect. It flows like a popular song, has a sweeping melody (with a couple fantastic 9-8 suspensions!) and some harmonic twists that give it a bite – like a winter wind: not so unkind as man’s ingratitude.

It’s only natural that humans compare their lives to the world around them – the birth (or rebirth) of life at spring, the fruits of summer, the autumnal decline, the unforgiving winter.

Composer Thomas Morley lived during England’s Elizabethan golden age and is best known for the secular Madrigals – choral pieces related to the polyphonic sacred music of the time, but with texts about love, death, and everything in between. Morley was probably friends with Shakespeare, and is one of only two composers whose music was used in Shakespeare‘s productions while the great poet was alive.

His short madrigal, “April is in my Mistress’ Face” compares his lover to … er … certain months of the year.

Ouch.

… I wonders where the flowers is?

The change of seasons is a magical time. We humans are completely obsessed with it, and love to draw comparisons between the earth’s seasons and the seasons of our own lives. It should be no surprise, then, that there are tons of musical compositions celebrating Spring – way more than good old Vivaldi.

Here is a short movement from “The Seasons”, a ballet by Russian composer Alexander Glazunov. Born into a wealthy family in imperial times, Glazunov’s politics and style of music went out of fashion after the 1917 revolution. Glazunov loved his country, though, and stayed in Russia for another decade, to ensure that the St. Petersburg Conservatory (arguably the most important music school in Russia) didn’t collapse amid the turmoil. He eventually settled in Paris.

The video ends abruptly. The music wasn’t written to be segmented – if you listen to the whole ballet, Spring flows seamlessly into Summer.