played by the BBC Orchestra
(Section B) leader Paul Beard
Conducted by Clarence Raybould
Overture on Russian themes
Rimsky-Korsakov
Ballet: The Seasons (1 Winter; 2
Spring ; 3 Summer ; 4 Autumn)
Glazunov
Glazunov's ballet The Seasons consists of four scenes, the first of which is a winter landscape. Amid swirling snowflakes Winter sits surrounded by his boon companions — Hoar Frost , Ice, Hail, and Snow. Two gnomes light a fire, and Winter, made uncomfortable by the heat, departs to make way for the new season.
Scene Two is a meadow full of flowers. There is a joyful dance in the sunlight ; Spring, Zephyr, birds, and flowers step their own individual dances.
Scene Three is ' a field of corn swayed by the hot breath of the wind'. The Spirit of Corn is the central figure round which dance in turn cornflowers and poppies, then Naiads, followed by Satyrs and Fauns playing pipes, and finally Zephyr who disperses the Satyrs and Fauns.
Scene Four is an autumnal landscape. Bacchantes dance with leaves faling on them. The seasons appear and each has its own solo dance until everything is obscured by the failing leaves, and ' against a sable sky, constellations of stars sparkle above the earth '