Alexander Glazunov was born on August 10, 1865. This year we are marking the 160^th birth anniversary of the prominent Russian composer and conductor Alexander Glazunov and 125 years since he created the famous ballet ‘The Four Seasons’ (Op. 67).

Similar to the precedent ballet by A. Glazunov ‘The Maid of Honour’, created the same year, ballet ‘The Seasons’, as envisioned by the Imperial Theatres director Ivan Vsevolozhsky, was to become a performance in the spirit of the French court ballets of the 16^th–17^th centuries. The glorified Russian choreographer of the late 19^th century, Marius Petipa, worked on the libretto of this ballet, already having 60 years of experience on theatrical stages in St. Petersburg. The script has no coherent plot, nor is there any connected dramatic action. This ballet is a kind of dance suite. The famous music critic and musicologist Boris Asafyev called the music of the ballet ‘The Seasons’ – a "symphonic poem-ballet".

But Glazunov had his own special concept for the work – he was captivated by the idea of embodying one of his favourite myths in a musical and choreographic performance – the story of the eternal resurrection of nature from its winter slumber, of the life-giving power of the sun. Through the use of various musical techniques, masterfully applied by Glazunov in this work, we can experience all the colours and diversity of the seasons, in which we hear the sound of hail, the flight of snowflakes, and the languor of a hot summer day... Nowadays, the ballet ‘The Seasons’ is often performed on academic stages by symphony orchestras.

"Petit Adagio from the ballet “The Seasons” created by the composer in 1900, is posted in the museum Sound Library to commemorate Alexander Glazunov birth jubilee. It was digitized on the player piano "Berdux Welte Piano", (Valentin Berdux Pianofortefabrik, M. Welte & Söhne G.m.b.H., 1912) from the Welte-Mignon paper music roll.