The Seasons in Western Classical Music

The earliest & most popular of this type of program music with extra-musical associations is Vivaldi's 4 Concerti, called the "The Four Seasons", composed in 1716 - 17. They were also accompanied by sonnets written by Vivaldi himself, describing flowing creeks, singing birds, a shepherd with his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, dancers, hunting parties, landscapes & winter parties.

Haydn composed a long secular oratorio in 1801 in the key of B major on the same subject. The libretto was written by his patron, Van Swieten. It also contained horn calls, wine celebrations, dancing peasants, thunderstorm & an ode to toil.

Tchaikovsky composed a Piano Suite (1875) called "The Seasons" with 12 sections, each describing a month. Sometimes, a piece for a single month is played by itself as an encore to a piano recital, especially Troika (November) & Barcarolle (June).

Glazunov composed a ballet for "The Seasons" in 1899. Starting with 4 variations for winter, onset of spring, waltz of the cornflowers & poppies in summer, bacchanalia in autumn & apotheosis in the finale.