Seasons is a song cycle for countertenor and piano,
each of its four movements represents one of the four seasons.
Each text is a setting of a poem in four different romance languages

1. Primavera (Spring) - 'Con le Dita d'oro' - Guiseppe Villaroel
2. Vară (Summer) - 'Zi di Vară' - George Toparceanu
3. Otoño (Autumn) - Otoño - Mario Benedetti
4. Hiver (Winter)- La Blanche Neige - Guillaume Apollinaire

Recorded April 2021 
Countertenor - Richard Decker
Accompanist - Paul Greally

No. 1 Spring

Seasons is a song cycle for countertenor and piano,
each of its four movements represents one of the four seasons.
Each text is a setting of a poem in four different romance languages

1. Primavera (Spring) - 'Con le Dita d'oro' - Guiseppe Villaroel
2. Vară (Summer) - 'Zi di Vară' - George Toparceanu
3. Otoño (Autumn) - Otoño - Mario Benedetti
4. Hiver (Winter)- La Blanche Neige - Guillaume Apollinaire

Recorded April 2021 
Countenor - Richard Decker
Accompanist - Paul Greally

No. 2 Summer

No. 3 Autumn

No. 4 Winter

Written for a production of Shakespeare's As You Like It performed in the grounds of The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in June 2021 by students of the University of Cambridge.

Orlando played by Zachary Green

4 Entr'acte + Orlando's Speech

Written for a production of Shakespeare's As You Like It performed in the grounds of The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in June 2021 by students of the University of Cambridge.

Sung by Jonathan Whiting

3 Song - Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind

2 Song - Under The Greenwood Tree

Written for a production of Shakespeare's As You Like It performed in the grounds of The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in June 2021 by students of the University of Cambridge.

1 Overture

Scene 6 - 'Heretic'

Scene 5 -  'Coronation'

My teacher's teacher's teacher was the great nineteenth century clarinet virtuoso / composer Henry Lazarus. Four 'generations' spanning over a century is explained by the fact that Lazarus and his pupil George Anderson both lived into their nineties and taught right through their long and illustrious lives.

I'm not altogether sure exactly what the legacy handed down by these great players and teachers is; but it is nevertheless very inspiring to feel that one's link with the traditions of the past is so tangible. In Swiftly, I've tried to exploit both the robust (almost demonic in this case!) and lyrical sides of the clarinet's personality and there is also a certain French flavour (I'm a real devotee of Les Six!) colouring the music from time to time. Henry Lazarus mostly wrote studies or long sets of variations (often with copious numbers of notes) based on popular tunes of the day (the National Anthem for example) Swiftly, maintaining the tradition, is a bit of a tour de force in keeping with the Lazarus legacy, but in contrast, is certainly quite playable!

Swiftly

Creator of Simultaneous Learning, teacher, writer, clarinettist and composer.

Swiftly

Paul Harris