The Seasons was commissioned by the South Bend Chamber Singers, Nancy Menk, conductor, and first performed on March 3, 2013 by the South Bend Chamber Singers with the Euclid Quartet in a concert devoted to music about the weather. The texts for this work were selected by the composer, and they represent three different time periods, the 17th, 19th and early 20th centuries, to show that writers have long been fascinated by the seasons and by the distinct weather conditions that each season brings. Although certain types of weather, such as wind or rain, may occur in any of the seasons, the descriptions of weather in these four poems present specific weather conditions which commonly occur in each of the four seasons: a still, hot, sultry day interrupted by the movement of a light breeze from the hills (summer); the cooling morning mists and light frost which signal the coming of winter (autumn); the bitter iciness of fierce winds and frozen air—in this poem, further compared with man’s ingratitude (winter); the warm rains and southerly winds that melt the ice and bring about new life (spring).
Throughout this piece various musical devices are employed to underscore or even “interpret” the words. These devices include text painting, contrapuntal structures (double canon and fugue), and dramatically shifting harmonic colors as each season unfolds. The contrasting performing forces of mixed choir and string quartet are particularly well-suited for presenting, very colorfully, the various musical depictions of the weather conditions and characteristics of each of the seasons. -Frank Ferko
Duration: 17:10
