An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more specifically the first "killing frost". [1] [2] [3]
The late 19th-century lexicographer Albert Matthews made an exhaustive search of early American literature in an attempt to discover who coined the expression. [4] The earliest reference he found dated to 1851. He also found the phrase in a letter written in England in 1778, but discounted that as a coincidental use of the phrase.
Later research showed that the earliest known reference to Indian summer in its current sense occurs in an essay written in the United States around 1778 by J. Hector St. John de Crevecœur, describing the character of autumn and implying the common usage of the expression
Great rains at last replenish the springs, the brooks, the swamp and impregnate the earth. Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer. This is in general the invariable rule: winter is not said properly to begin until those few moderate days & the raising of the water has announced it to Man.
The essay was first published in French around 1788, but remained unavailable in the United States until the 1920s. [5]
Although the exact origins of the term are uncertain, [6] it was perhaps so-called because it was first noted in regions inhabited by Native Americans, or because the natives first described it to Europeans, [7] or it had been based on the warm and hazy conditions in autumn when Native Americans hunted. [6] John James Audubon wrote about "The Indian Summer that extraordinary phenomenon of North America" in his journal on November 20, 1820. He mentions the "constant Smoky atmosphere" and how the smoke irritates his eyes. Audubon suspects that the condition of the air was caused by "Indians, firing the Prairies of the West". Audubon also mentions in many other places in his writings the reliance Native Americans had on fire. At no point does Audubon relate an Indian summer to warm temperatures during the cold seasons.
Because the warm weather is not a permanent gift, a connection has been made to the pejorative term Indian giver. [8] Native-American legends mention the god or "Life-Giver" bestowing warm autumnal weather to various warriors or peoples, enabling them to survive after great misfortune, such as loss of crops. [9] [10]
Weather historian William R. Deedler wrote that "Indian summer" can be defined as "any spell of warm, quiet, hazy weather that may occur in October or November", though he noted that he "was surprised to read that Indian summers have been given credit for warm spells as late as December and January". Deedler also noted that some writers use Indian summer in reference to the weather in only New England, "while others have stated it happens over most of the United States, even along the Pacific coast". [3]
In literature and history, the term is sometimes used metaphorically. The title of Van Wyck Brooks' New England: Indian Summer (1940) suggests an era of inconsistency, infertility, and depleted capabilities, a period of seemingly robust strength that is only an imitation of an earlier season of actual strength. [11] William Dean Howells' 1886 novel Indian Summer uses the term to mean a time when one may recover some of the happiness of youth. The main character, jilted as a young man, leads a solitary life until he rediscovers romance in early middle age.
In British English, the term is used in the same way as in North America. In the UK it was first used in the early 19th century, there was an early example in The Guardian which ran an article explaining the phrase "Indian summer" to its readers in 1837, written by someone who had lived in the US but questioned whether Native Americans had influenced the origins. [12] The UK Met Office Meteorological Glossary published in 1916 defines an Indian summer "a warm, calm spell of weather occurring in autumn, especially in October and November", [12] while The Indian Summer of a Forsyte is the metaphorical title of the 1918 second volume of The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy. However, early 20th-century climatologists Gordon Manley and Hubert Lamb used it only when referring to the American phenomenon, and the expression did not gain wide currency in Great Britain until the 1950s. In former times, variations of "Saint Martin's summer" were widely used across Europe to describe warm weather surrounding autumn feast days of St. Martin and Saint Luke. [13] [14]
In the English translation of Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago , the term is used to describe the unseasonably warm weather leading up to the October Revolution. [15]
Similar weather conditions with local variations also exist. A warm period in autumn is called Altweibersommer ("old women's summer") in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lithuania, Hungary (Hungarian : vénasszonyok nyara), Estonia (Estonian : vananaistesuvi ), and in a number of Slavic-language countries—for example, in the Czech Republic, Ukraine, [16] Poland, Slovakia, Russia [17] and Slovenia, – it is known as "(old) women's summer" (Czech : babí léto, Ukrainian : бабине літо, Polish : babie lato, Slovak : babie leto, Russian:бабье лето,IPA: [ˈbabʲjəˈlʲetə] . In Bulgaria, it is known as "gypsy summer" or "poor man's summer", and in Serbia it is known as "Miholjsko leto" because Saint Michael or "Miholjdan" is celebrated on October 12. In Sweden, there's "Brittsommar" (out of "Birgitta" and "Britta", having their name days around the time, on October 7). In Finland, [18] the period is today called Finnish : intiaanikesä, a direct translation, but historically a warm period in autumn was named after Bartholomew, his saint day being in late August. In Irish, the phenomenon is called fómhar beag na ngéanna ("little autumn of the geese"). [19] In Spain is also known as el veranillo del membrillo ("little summer of the quince tree") or el sol del membrillo ("the sun of the quince tree").
In temperate parts of South America—such as southernmost Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay—the phenomenon is known as "Veranico", "Veranito" or "Veranillo" (literally, "little summer"), and usually occurs in early autumn, between late April and mid-May, when it is known as "Veranico de Maio" ("May's little summer") or as "Veranito de San Juan" ("Saint John's little summer"). Its onset and duration are directly associated with the occurrence of El Niño.
In other countries, it is associated with autumnal name days or saint days, such as Teresa of Ávila (Portugal, Spain and France), St. Martin's Summer (Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Malta), St. Michael's summer (Veranillo de San Miguel in Spain, Miholjsko leto, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina), St. Martin's Day (Netherlands and Italy), St. Demetrius (Greece and Cyprus), Bridget of Sweden in Sweden, and Saint Michael the Archangel in Wales (Welsh : haf bach Mihangel). In Turkey, it is called pastırma yazı, meaning "pastrami summer", since the month of November was considered to be the best time to make pastırma (the meat that, though slightly different, pastrami originated from). [20]
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) also notes that a similar phenomenon may be referred to poetically as halcyon days, a term that originated in Greek mythology. Halcyon days in Greece take place in winter, usually 16–31 of January and last around 4–7 days with extremely warm and sunny days. [1] [21] "All-hallown summer" or "All Saints' summer" is also referenced in English folklore and by Shakespeare, but its use appears to have died out. [1] [22]
 |
In 1875 Józef Chełmoński painted a picture Indian Summer with a wide landscape panorama.
In 1922 Willard Leroy Metcalf painted Indian Summer, Vermont
Victor August Herbert was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I. He was also prominent among the Tin Pan Alley composers and was later a founder of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). A prolific composer, Herbert produced two operas, a cantata, 43 operettas, incidental music to 10 plays, 31 compositions for orchestra, nine band compositions, nine cello compositions, five violin compositions with piano or orchestra, 22 piano compositions and numerous songs, choral compositions and orchestrations of works by other composers, among other music.
Harry Warren was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe". He wrote the music for the first blockbuster film musical, 42nd Street, choreographed by Busby Berkeley, with whom he would collaborate on many musical films.
"Danny Boy" is a traditional song, with lyrics written by English lawyer Frederic Weatherly in 1910, and set to the traditional Irish melody of "Londonderry Air" in 1913.
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a 1933 hit song with lyrics by Al Dubin and music by Harry Warren. Deane Janis with Hal Kemp's Orchestra recorded the original version on October 31, 1933, in Chicago, which was issued by Brunswick Records. In 1934, a rendition sung by Constance Bennett appeared in the film Moulin Rouge, but was unreleased on record.
"The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers is a 1959 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, recorded with a studio Orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol.
Francis A. & Edward K. is an album by Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington and his big band.
"What'll I Do" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1923. It was introduced by singers Grace Moore and John Steel late in the run of Berlin's third Music Box Revue and was also included in the following year's edition.
"Imagination" is a popular song with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen and the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was first published in 1940. The two best-selling versions were recorded by the orchestras of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey in 1940.
"Getting to Know You" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I. It was first sung by Gertrude Lawrence in the original Broadway production and later by Marni Nixon who dubbed for Deborah Kerr in the 1956 film adaptation. In the show, Anna, a British schoolteacher who has been hired as a governess, sings the song as she strikes up a warm and affectionate relationship with the children and the wives of the King of Siam.
Four Seasons is a jazz album recorded by the Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio in 1990 and released on the Nippon Crown record label. It is not to be confused with the 1996 Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra (BMG) recording, Four Seasons of Morita Village.
Indian Summer may refer to:
"Nobody's Sweetheart", also known as "Nobody's Sweetheart Now" and "You're Nobody's Sweetheart Now", is a popular song, written in 1924, with music by Billy Meyers and Elmer Schoebel, and lyrics by Gus Kahn and Ernie Erdman. The song is a jazz and pop standard.
Humoresques, Op. 101, is a piano cycle by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, written during the summer of 1894. Music critic David Hurwitz says "the seventh Humoresque is probably the most famous small piano work ever written after Beethoven's Für Elise."
Seasons is an album by David Murray, released on the Pow Wow label. It was released in 1999 and contains performances by Murray and a veteran quartet of pianist Roland Hanna, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Victor Lewis.
"Indian Summer" is an American standard originally written as a piano piece by the prolific composer Victor Herbert. Al Dubin wrote lyrics for the tune in 1939, twenty years after Herbert wrote the tune.
Virtuoso No. 4 is an album by jazz guitarist Joe Pass that was recorded in 1973 and released in 1983.
"About a Quarter to Nine" is a popular song written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren and published in 1935 by M. Witmark & Son, New York.
"Among My Souvenirs" is a 1927 song with words by Edgar Leslie and music by Horatio Nicholls.
"Night of the Hunter" is a song by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, featured on their third studio album This Is War. Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto, the song was released as the fifth and final single from the album in 2011. The track was produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and 30 Seconds to Mars, and was inspired by Jared and his brother Shannon's youth in Louisiana.
he launched his own label Sweat It Out Records, which signed the likes of Indian Summer, Loot & Plunder and Yolanda Be Cool
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity