Friday, April 22nd, is Earth Day — and we’ve got all sorts of music to fete our home planet! 

In 1970, the first Earth Day celebration took place in the United States. It has since grown to include more than 1 billion people in over 190 countries. 

Throughout the day on Winnipeg’s Classic 107, we’ll be celebrating with music inspired by the outdoors, our planet, the animals that live here, and more. Every piece of music will tie into our planet in some way.

Beginning at 6:00am, music of from such composers as Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Vaughan Williams will be heard, exploring themes as the various seasons, and insects.

Highlights of the 7:00am and 8:00 am hours include portions of Haydn’s masterpiece “The Creation,” as well as the influence of nature on baroque composers such as Vivaldi, Jean Fery Rebel and others.

Nature is a very important part of Scandinavian culture, and in the morning hours, music from Grieg, Sibelius, Hugo Alven and more will be heard that basks in the glory of Scandinavian landscapes.

At 9:00am live the peasant life, drink some wine, and survive a blustery storm, with the music of Beethoven, as Simeon Rusnak presents a complete performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No 6, his “Pastoral Symphony.”

The fun continues in the 10:00am hour, as we pay tribute to such American locations as the mighty Grand Canyon, and the Appalachian Mountains, as Rusnak presents music about nature by American composers.

The climax of the morning’s music will consist of a trek up and down a mountain as we hear the musical depictions of sunrise, alpine pastures, icy glaciers, the emotional feeling of reaching a mountain summit, and as we descend the trepidation of living through a rain storm. Hear a performance of Richard Strauss’ miraculous tone poem, his Alpine Symphony.in the 11:00am hour.

Flowers and trees will be front and centre in the noon hour, with Chris Wolf presenting music of Respighi, Verdi, and Dvorak.

In the 1:00 hour, Chris Wolf will be continuing his survey of the symphonies of the nature lover and composer Joachim Raff. Hear Raff’s “Winter Symphony,” his symphony No 11.

The music of Handel, Vivaldi, and Telemann will be heard in the 2:00pm hour, exploring themes of water, and smaller creatures that call earth home.

A day rejoicing in life on our planet would not be complete without a performance of Camille Saint-Saens audience favorite “The Carnival of the Animals.”  Hear a full performance in the 3:00pm hour.

Music inspired by nature by composers such as Haydn, Beethoven and Schumann and others will be heard in the 4:00pm hour. We make our return to Scandinavia in the 5:00pm hour with music of Svendsen, Ola Gjeilo, and Sibelius, that is inspired by the sights and sounds of the northern part of Europe.

Spring is a long time coming this year here in Winnipeg, but delight in the season with Terry Klippenstein at 6:00pm, as he features music inspired by the season from composers such as Debussy, Gabriel Dupont, and E.J. Moeran.

Take as enchanted stroll through the forest in the 7:00pm hour with music by Geminiani, Eduard MacDowell, as Klippenstein plays music of baroque and American composers in the 7:00pm hour.

To top off the classical part of the day, listeners will stay in the forest in the 8:00pm hour as a full performance of Schumann’s piano cycle, his "Forest Scenes" will be heard as well a music of Wagner.

It should be an absolutely wonderful day of celebration! 

Happy Earth Day!