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The vernal equinox reminds us of life’s continual cycle of change: renewal and death. It reminds us that we are renewed at various times in our lives too. We do well to be mindful of it and to use it to its best cathartic effect.
Real
Imaginary
Visual Arts
- Georgia O’Keeffe, Calla Lilies on Pink (1928)
- Pavel Filonov, Formula of Spring (1927-29)
- Georgia O’Keeffe, Pink Tulip (1926)
- David Burliuk, Spring in Countryside (1917)
- John William Waterhouse, A Song of Springtime (1913)
- Mikalojus Ciurlionas, Allegro (Sonata of the Spring) (1907)
- Isaac Levitan, Early Spring (1898)
- Arkhip Kuindzhi, Early Spring (1895)
- Paul Gauguin, Winter's End (1885)
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Spring (The Four Seasons) (1879)
- Konstantin Korovin, Early Spring (c. 1870)
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Spring (1563)
- Sandro Botticelli, Primavera (1478)
Music: songs and other short pieces
- The Beatles, Here Comes the Sun
- Peter Kater & Nawang Khechog, A Fresh Wind
- Suk, Jaro (Spring), Op. 22a
- Alfvén, Spring in Roslag
- Leroy Anderson, The First Day of Spring
- Respighi, Spring (La Primavera), from Three Botticelli Pictures P136 (1922)
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Compositions:
- Raga Bahar, a Hindustani classical raag for late evening or any time during spring, is about the beauty of spring (“Bahar” means “spring” in Hindu) (performances by Mukherjee, Bismillah Khan and Vilayat Khan).
- Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 38, "Spring"
- Copland, Appalachian Spring
- Britten, Spring Symphony for soloists, mixed choir, children's choir and orchestra, Op. 44 (1949)
- Bax, Spring Fire
- Delius, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
- Strauss, Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring)
- Rorem, Spring Music, for violin, cello & piano (1990): 1. Aubade; 2. Toccata; 3. Fantasia; 4. Bagatelle; 5. Presto.
- Bloch, Hiver-Printemps (Winter-Spring) for orchestra
- Paine, Symphony No. 2 in A Major, Op. 34, "In Spring" (1879)
- Mozart, String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K 387, "Spring" (1782)
- Moeran, Songs of Springtime, for mixed chorus (1934)
- Gade, Frühlings-Phantasie (Spring Fantasy), Op. 23 (1852)
- Herzogenberg, Die Geburt Christi (The Birth of Christ), op. 90 (1894): set to this music, the Christian nativity story is a metaphor for renewal.
- Franck, Les Eolides (The Breezes), M43 (1876)
- Langaard, Symphony No. 2, “Vãrbrud” (Awakening of Spring), BVN 53 (1912-1914)
- Goldmark, Overture: Im Frühling (In the Spring), Op. 36
- Guillermo Klein, “Solar Return Suite”
Albums:
- George Winston, “Winter into Spring”
- David Kikoski, “Phoenix Rising”
- Le Vent du Nord, “20 Printemps”
- Armen Donelian, “Fresh Start”
Poetry
After dark vapors have oppress'd our plains
For a long dreary season, comes a day
Born of the gentle South, and clears away
From the sick heavens all unseemly stains.
The anxious month, relieved of its pains,
Takes as a long-lost right the feel of May;
The eyelids with the passing coolness play
Like rose leaves with the drip of Summer rains.
The calmest thoughts came round us; as of leaves
Budding -- fruit ripening in stillness -- Autumn suns
Smiling at eve upon the quiet sheaves --
Sweet Sappho's cheek -- a smiling infant's breath --
The gradual sand that through an hour-glass runs --
A woodland rivulet -- a Poet's death.
[John Keats, Sonnet: “After Dark Vapors Have Oppress’d Our Plains”]
Other poems:
- Pablo Neruda, “March days return with their covert light”
- Seamus Heaney, “Rite of Spring”