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Jason Croft: Good evening from Urbana and the University of Illinois, it's Prairie Performances. WILL's weekly show presenting classical and jazz from the heart of the prairie in central Illinois. Prairie Performances is made possible in part by funding from the John Frayne Graduate Student Classical Music Work Experience Endowment.

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Mel Miller: "Comes Autumn Time," composed by Leo Sowerby, a Midwesterner through and through and a great lover of autumn. You heard that performed today by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra as conducted by Paul Freeman, founder of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Good evening and welcome to Prairie Performances. I'm your host, Mel Miller. On tonight's episode, we're welcoming in the brisk air and bountiful harvests of the new season with music for autumn. Next up, two movements from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons." First, we have October's "Autumn Song," followed by November's "Troika," referring to a type of Russian horse-drawn sleigh. Those are both performed by Soviet American pianist Dmitri Paperno. After Tchaikovsky, you'll hear "Autumn Night" from William Grant Still's "Wood Notes," performed by the Fort Smith Symphony here on Prairie Performances.

"Autumn Night" from William Grant Still's "Wood Notes" as performed by the Fort Smith Symphony. Before that you heard Dmitri Paperno playing "Autumn Song" and "Troika" from Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons," a trio of autumnal works for tonight's episode of Prairie Performances titled Music for Autumn. I'm your host, Mel Miller.

So many composers have written works based on the fall season. The first one that probably comes to mind is Antonio Vivaldi's "Autumn" from "The Four Seasons." I have a special rendition of the Adagio molto and final Allegro to share with you tonight. It was recorded at the Gary Methodist Church in Wheaton, Illinois back in 2018 and performed by the Camerata Chicago with Amelia Piscitelli on violin. After that, a different take on the seasonal format comes in the form of David Ludwig's "Seasons Lost." The 4th movement titled "Fall" will be performed by Jennifer Koh and Jaime Laredo. That's coming up here on Prairie Performances.

Jennifer Koh and Jaime Laredo playing "Fall" from David Ludwig's "Seasons Lost." Before that, you heard the 2nd and 3rd movements of Vivaldi's "Autumn" from "The Four Seasons" as played by the Camerata Chicago with Amelia Piscitelli on violin. You're listening to Prairie Performances. I'm your host, Mel Miller.

Easily my favorite part of fall in Illinois is watching the colors change. There's a burning bush just outside one of my office windows and it's already starting to change for the season. I'm really looking forward to seeing it reach full vibrancy, but we're not there yet. So for now, I'll settle for a few classical pieces depicting the colors of fall. While not explicitly about autumn, Jennifer Higdon's piano trio captures two of my favorite autumn hues. The 1st and 2nd movements titled "Pale Yellow" and "Fiery Red" will be performed tonight by the Lincoln Trio of Chicago. After that, Jorge Federico Osorio plays Claude Debussy's "Feuilles mortes” or "Dead Leaves" from the second book of Preludes. That's up next here on Prairie Performances.

"Feuilles mortes” or "Dead Leaves," composed by Claude Debussy and performed here by Jorge Federico Osorio. Before that you heard the Lincoln Trio performing "Pale Yellow" and "Fiery Red" from the Jennifer Higdon Piano Trio.

We're reaching the end of this week's episode of Prairie Performances. Thank you so much for joining me. I've been your host, Mel Miller. I'll leave you tonight with two beautiful and melancholic pieces from one of my favorite composers to listen to during autumn. I hope you'll enjoy Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in C minor and his Fantasy in F minor, Opus 49, both performed tonight by pianist Ian Hobson. Thank you so much for listening with me this evening here on Prairie Performances. Prairie Performances is a production of Illinois Public Media. I'm your host, Mel Miller. I hope you'll join me next time.