The Seasons: October (Autumn Song)

Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Romantic · Piano

The most melancholy of the twelve months: an autumn song in D minor, in which two voices answer each other as in a duet. From The Seasons Op. 37a (1876), twelve pieces by Tchaikovsky, one for each month, published in a Saint Petersburg music magazine. D minor, 4/4, 56 bars (about 3 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Very singing and very legato; bring out the two voices in dialogue, the second slightly softer than the first. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Triplets and other tuplets must be perfectly even: count them aloud with the metronome. The left hand makes wide leaps: look at the landing note in advance and move early, without rushing the rhythm.

More pieces by Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski

• Swan Lake: Neapolitan Dance (piano arrangement)
• The Seasons: January (O 37,1)
• The Seasons: February (Carnival)
• The Seasons: August (Harvest)
• March of the Wooden Soldiers (Op. 39 No. 5)
• Morning Prayer (Op. 39 No. 1)
• Old French Song (Op. 39 No. 16)
• Swan Lake, swan theme

Source : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0