Piano Music for a Winter’s Day

Twentieth-century and contemporary composers are particularly adept at evoking wintry weather, from thick fogs to frozen landscapes, and many utilize the possibilities offered by the modern piano to create highly atmospheric piano music. Claude Debussy and Kenneth Leighton conjure up the fragile delicacy of snowflakes in ‘The Snow is Dancing‘ and ‘Snowflakes’, both works using soft yet focused repeated notes to suggest swirling “dancing” snow. Debussy’s piece in particular also depicts a certain mood on seeing the snow falling, and the main theme is rather melancholy, as if a child is watching the snow from indoors.

Debussy’s other “snow piece”, ‘Des pas sur la neige’ (Footsteps in the Snow), suggests a white landscape after the snow has settled, and the slow, “trudging” tempo and parallel harmonies create an almost hypnotic atmosphere. Contemporary Latvian composer Peteris Vasks creates a similar ambience in his minimalist piece ‘Balta ainava’ (White Scenery), whose two simple themes – undulating quavers and chords – suggest the austerity and stillness of a vast frozen landscape where everything is white and the tress are bare of leaves. The composer describes it as “a quiet meditation”. Peter Sculthorpe’s ‘Snow’ from ‘Night Pieces’ also recreates the stillness of a winter landscape through the careful placement of a limited selection of notes. Perhaps the most famous depiction of the cold and barren winter landscape, and the feelings of melancholy it evokes, is in Schubert’s song cycle ‘Winterreise’, which Liszt transcribed for piano solo.

Chopin and Liszt are more concerned with unsettled winter weather in the ‘Winter Wind’ Etude and ‘Chasse Neige’ respectively – works which conjure up visions of fierce winds and whipped-up snow through rapid swirling scales and arpeggios.

Taking refuge from winter winds and swirling snow, both Tchaikovsky and Debussy find warmth beside the fire, while Liszt’s suite ‘Weihnachtsbaum’ (Christmas Tree), which was first performed on Christmas Day in 1881, celebrates the festive season through carols, the excitement of children and the recollections of adults. In Messiaen’s ‘Vingt regards sur l’enfant Jesus’, which on one level is a meditation on the Christmas story, the movement entitled ‘Noel’ (Christmas) pours forth with joyful ecstasy, complete with chiming bells and exotic, jazzy rhythms.