WINGATE: SYMPHONY NO. 6
“Erdenfeiertage (Die Jahreszeiten)” - [ “Earth Holidays (The Seasons)” ]

(THIS PROJECT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS)

Movements:
I. Frühjahrstagundnachtgleiche (Vernal Equinox)
II. Sommersonnenwende (Estival Solstice)
III. Herbsttagundnachtgleiche (Autumnal Equinox)
IV. Wintersonnenwende (Hibernal Solstice)

Notes:
Wingate’s impending Sixth Symphony is, at first glance, the composer’s personal response to the ubiquitous ‘four seasons’ trope in world art, but this symphony’s gigantic scale and German titles make it a bit more Wagner than Vivaldi. It is also an homage to the idea of Science as a quasi-religious belief system in which the earth holidays — the solstices and equinoxes — are both the precursors and appropriate alternatives to humankind’s wayward traditional holidays, as well as a reminder of the incomprehensible grandeur of the cosmos and our humblingly tiny place in it. An ambitious work of serious character suitable for performance at any time of year, the Earth Holidays Symphony may also be broken into its four movements and performed seasonally (or even on the corresponding Northern or Southern Hemisphere solstices and equinoxes themselves) as a year-long musical program celebrating our species’ sublime earthly predicament.

Score cover images are from an anonymous engraving of the anthropomorphized four seasons in the style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, ca. 1580-1620