October Playlist: Autumn Sounds

Issei Herr

“From Tchaikovsky to Björk, Arca to Schumann, this eclectic sonic journey takes us through the emotional colors of autumn.”

Autumn is a time of introspection and reflection, the changing colors and shifting temperatures forcing us to draw within and confront the inevitability of passing time. From Tchaikovsky to Björk, Arca to Schumann, this eclectic sonic journey takes us through the emotional colors of autumn.

We open with the autumnal sorrows of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, conveying the melancholy of changing seasons and inescapable time. From the misty sonic landscape evoked by Janáček in his exploratory piano work “In The Mists”, we travel to the “Fog” of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s captivatingly sensual voice. The fog clears to reveal Björk’s elfin “Moon”, the moonshine of which leads us to Schumann’s “Bird As Prophet”, which foretells of a foreboding future through an inquisitive piano line.

Arca’s pulsing contemporary anthem “Time” leads us into the exploratory glissandi of Kurtág’s “Forever Moving” from the composer’s series of “Games” for piano. We then take a turn into the grooves of Piazzolla’s late night world of Argentinian tango, in his autumnal adaptation of Vivaldi’s magnum opus. The sultry sounds of D’Angelo follow, the strains of “Really Love” playing into “4:00 A.M.”, Taeko Ohnuki’s iconic city pop anthem. We take a breather in the sonic lounge of the Bill Evans Trio, before plunging into Rachmaninoff’s symphonic epic.

Find the full playlist on our Spotify page.