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In Autumn
In Autumn, Op. 11, is a concert overture written by Edvard Grieg in 1865. HistoryOn a visit to Copenhagen, Grieg showed his overture to Niels Gade, who told him: "This is trash, Grieg; go home and write something better." So he arranged it as a piano duet and sent it to a competition at the Swedish Academy, judged by Gade and others. This form won first prize and was published in Stockholm. InstrumentationThe overture is scored for one piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, one bass tuba, three timpani, one bass drum, two cymbals, one triangle and one string section. AnalysisThe opening Andante in D major starts with chords played by the orchestra contrasting with a sunny woodwind theme. The tension slowly builds to a D minor Allegro section in sonata form. The orchestra takes up the main theme in D minor taken from a song entitled "Autumn Storm." After the main theme, we hear a secondary theme in F major. The development brings the return of previous themes through a series of restless modulations. After a slower section for horn and strings, the recapitulation brings the return of the main themes. The overture concludes with a triumphant reprise of the opening woodwind theme. Recordings
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