Spring and Autumn Symphonic Sketches, Op. 14 (1910)
(Frühling und Herbst)

Leopold van der Pals’s compositional approach in the symphonic poems "Frühling und Herbst" op. 14 (Spring and Autumn) and "Wieland der Schmied" op. 23 (Wieland the Smith) is similar. He finds a theme, at first not grasped in the initial glimpse of the subject, and portrays the metamorphoses in nature or the torments of Wieland´s soul. He began composing "Frühling" in April 1910 during the preparations for the premiere of his first symphony. These preparations for the performance of an orchestral piece quite probably were his source of inspiration here. A concert experience also motivated him to begin work on "Herbst".

"Then we travelled to Munich and were very much impressed by the mystery dramas and the lecture cycle. It was at this time that the premiere of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, which made a big impression, and the French music festival occurred. Around this time I began to compose my "Herbst". Back in Berlin, I continued this work and instrumented "Herbst" (LvdP, journal, 4 July 1911).

The idea to include all four seasons occurred to the composer, but he did not carry out this plan. Considering the composer’s strong attraction to the element of metamorphosis in nature, the explosion of life in the spring and slow decay into icy rigidity in the autumn, one can understand his decision to limit the work to two movements. Both movements are slow, but each movement is borne by a clear sense of development.

After Heinrich Schulz had premiered the two "Symphonic Sketches" in Rostock in March 1911 and the same two works had been performed under Vasily Safonov in St. Petersburg on 14 April, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under its recently appointed principal conductor Josef Stránský presented their American premiere on 17 December 1911. For the New York premiere van der Pals sent over two poems, also titled "Frühling" and "Herbst". "Frühling" unfortunately has been lost, but a text from the New York press continues to be extant: Frühling: "A gentle trembling, like a loving caress from unseen hands. A breath which, wafted through the land, brought new life to benumbed nature."

"Herbst": "Slowly nature dies. Without a sound a misty shroud, a grey veil, sinks down from heaven, spreading over woods and fields like a breath from the grave. A dead leaf loosens itself from a barren branch and falls fluttering to the ground. The world is in mourning. Through the fog Melancholy chants her song of lamentation. But behold! The sky begins to glow with the red of sunset, the sun’s rays break through the clouds."

Tobias van der Pals, 2018