After a weeks-long stretch of winter without sun, that unfamiliar golden orb has finally emerged.

It’s weird to see people blinking and shielding their eyes from something other than snow and sleet.

Also, it’s wonderful to see shadows again.

I wonder if weather ever played a part in Haydn’s musical output? Did he get the winter blahs like everyone else and, accordingly, write blah – or less peppy – music? Did his spirits soar when the sun came out and it warmed up a bit? Did his music reflect that?

I think it would make for an interesting study – perhaps a Ph.D. dissertation – regarding the effects of weather or seasons on Haydn’s music. It wouldn’t be hard to determine that. Just look at the times of year he composed music, chart the kind of music it was (opera? string quartet? piano concerto? folk music? symphony?), observe the keys in which they were written (major? minor?), perhaps the tempo (fast? slow?), etc. Then see if there’s a correlation.

Why do this? Because I think we often revere these great composers so much that we forget that they were human beings, just as we are. As such, they were likely affected by the same kinds of things we are – weather being just one of them. Births, deaths, illnesses, different locales are other factors to take into account.

By allowing people like Haydn to be human, we can then truly understand how great they really were.

That’s why I try to Continue reading →