AUTUMN

I've often described myself as having an autumnal soul. It probably seems like an obscure description by a shameless romantic. I can only justify it by saying that the intense beauty of autumn perfectly reflects the depths of my inner self.

I was cursed with a profoundly melancholic nature: moody, sensitive, sentimental, self-absorbed, tinged with an undefinable yearning and sadness that has haunted me since childhood. These feelings most often surface at the end of summer and are nurtured under the spell of the autumnal equinox.

Don't expect this to make sense. I'm babbling to myself.

Last night I made a video tribute to autumn. I had no trouble deciding what music to use. The Andante from the Second Piano Concerto by Dimitri Shostakovich is one of my all-time favorite pieces. Ironically, I was never a staunch fan of Shostakovich, but I think this Andante is one of the most superbly beautiful compositions ever written. 

Composer Dimitri Shostakovich with his cat

(all good musicians love cats)

 
Shostakovich wrote his Second Piano Concerto (in F major) in 1957 and dedicated it to his nineteen-year-old son Maxim. Maxim performed the premiere of the concerto at his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory.

Warning:
My video is 6 minutes long - which might seem an eternity if you don't like classical music. 
If you love autumn I think it's worth watching. Full-screen is definitely best.

available on my YouTube channel Jayveesonata