Haydn: The Seasons Andrew Foster-Williams, National Forum of Music Choir, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra & Paul McCreesh

• Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons), Hob.XXI:3 (Sung in English, ed. P. McCreesh):
• 1Spring: Introduction and Recitative: See Winter, stern and gloomy, flees (Simon, Lukas, Hanne)05:58
• 2Spring: Come, gentle Spring! (Chorus)03:21
• 3Spring: Recitative: From Aries shines the bright'ning sun (Simon)00:32
• 4Spring: Aria: With eagerness the countryman sets forth (Simon)03:18
• 5Spring: Recitative: The countryman has paid his dues (Lucas)00:34
• 6Spring: Trio and Chorus: Heav'n be gracious, Heav'n be bounteous (Hanne, Lukas, Simon, Chorus)05:38
• 7Spring: Recitative: Our fervent pray'rs are heard (Hannah)00:58
• 8Spring: Duet and Chorus: O what charming sights delight us (Hannah, Lucas, Simon, Chorus)10:29
• 9Summer: Introduction and Recitative: In darkness shrouded (Lucas, Simon)03:55
• 10Summer: Aria and Recitative: The wakeful herdsman (Simon, Hannah)02:52
• 11Summer: Behold the Sun! (Hannah, Lucas, Simon, Chorus)04:52
• 12Summer: Recitative: The village lads and lasses (Simon, Lucas)01:52
• 13Summer: Cavatina: Exhausted Nature, fainting, sinks (Lucas)05:09
• 14Summer: Recitative: How welcome now, ye shady groves! (Hannah)03:59
• 15Summer: Aria: How refreshing to the senses (Hannah)04:16
• 16Summer: Recitative: Behold, arising through the sultry air (Simon, Lucas, Hannah)02:08
• 17Summer: Ah! The storm approaches near! (Lucas, Hannah, Simon, Chorus)07:48
• 18Autumn: Introduction and Recitative: That which Spring has promis'd (Hannah, Lucas, Simon)02:23
• 19Autumn: Trio and Chorus: Thus Nature rewards our toil! (Simon, Hannah, Lucas, Chorus)05:34
• 20Autumn: Recitative: See how a bunch of eager lads (Hannah, Simon, Lucas)01:11
• 21Autumn: Duet: Fine ladies of the town (Lucas, Hannah)07:43
• 22Autumn: Recitative: On ravag'd hills (Simon)00:56
• 23Autumn: Aria: See lo on yonder open field (Simon)03:05
• 24Autumn: Recitative: A tight'ning circle of hunters (Lucas)00:37
• 25Autumn: Hark, hear the sounds of the chase (Chorus)04:05
• 26Autumn: Recitative: On vines, the grapes are glistening (Hannah, Simon, Lucas)01:01
• 27Autumn: Drink up, drink up, the wine is here! (Chorus)06:34
• 28Winter: Introduction and Recitative: The jaded year now fades away (Simon, Hannah)05:28
• 29Winter: Cavatina: Light and life are enfeebl'd (Hannah)02:04
• 30Winter: Recitative: The lake lies lock'd in frosty grip (Lucas)02:01
• 31Winter: Aria: The wand'rer stands perplex'd (Lucas)03:51
• 32Winter: Recitative: And drawing near the welcome sight (Lucas, Hannah, Simon)01:07
• 33Winter: Aria and Chorus: Whirring, whirring, whirring! (Chorus, Hannah)02:46
• 34Winter: Recitative: Now the flax has all been spun (Lucas)00:23
• 35Winter: Aria and Chorus: A noble squire, of great renown (Hannah, Chorus)03:44
• 36Winter: Recitative: And from the east there blows an icy blast (Simon)00:53
• 37Winter: Aria and Recitative: Consider then, misguided man (Simon)04:44
• 38Winter: Trio and Double Chorus: Then dawns that morn so glorious (Simon, Lucas, Hannah, Chorus)05:13
• Total Runtime02:13:02

Info for Haydn: The Seasons

The Gabrieli Consort continue their series of award-winning collaborations with the National Forum of Music, Wroclaw, Poland with a new version of Haydn’s great oratorio 'The Seasons'. Using a new performing edition by Paul McCreesh this recording is the first to feature the large orchestral forces that Haydn called for, including a string section of 60, 8 horns and a choir of 70. As well as the combined forces of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra and National Forum of Music Choir, the recording features solo performances from British singers Carolyn Sampson, Jeremy Ovenden and Andrew Foster-Williams.

“McCreesh’s new translation is a triumph, and will surely have an illustrious career beyond this recording...One of the great joys of this set is the huge dynamic and emotional range afforded by the expanded forces – the introspective recitatives are, in their way, as spine-tingling as the 70-strong chorus belting out their lusty paeans to wine, women and weather.” (Katherine Cooper, Presto Classical)

“The opening thunderous wallop on the timpani will warn you that this is a recording of some drama and punch...If you are not familiar with The Seasons, this is the recording to go for. Paul McCreesh's English translation is excellent, the singing and orchestral playing is outstanding.” (Early Music Review)

"... So excellent are this recording’s virtues that it jumps to the top if you want an English language performance." (Simon Thompson, MusicWeb-International)

Gabrieli Consort & Players
National Forum of Music Choir
Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra
Paul McCreesh, conductor

Paul McCreesh
is the founder and Artistic Director of Gabrieli which he established in 1982 and with whom he has toured world-wide and made many award-winning recordings. McCreesh is well-known for the energy and passion that he brings to his music-making, and is especially enthusiastic about working with young musicians and broadening access to classical music; he works regularly with youth orchestras and choirs and is active in building new educational initiatives whenever possible.

McCreesh has guest conducted many of the major orchestras and choirs across the globe, including most recently the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Verbier Festival orchestras, and Berlin Konzerthausorchester, whom he returns to this season to conduct Berlioz Grande Messe des Morts. McCreesh also enjoys regular and ongoing collaborations with Saint Paul and Basel Chamber Orchestras, conducting choral projects with both orchestras in 2016/17, the latter at Menuhin Festival Gstaad.

From 2013-2016 he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Lisbon) with whom he conducted a wide range of music from the classical period through to the nineteenth and twentieth century, focusing in particular on symphonic repertoire, oratorio and opera in concert, working closely with the world- renowned Gulbenkian Choir. In 2016/17, McCreesh returns to the orchestra twice to conduct Elgar The Dream of Gerontius and a programme of Satie, Saint-Saëns and Beethoven featuring Gautier Capuçon.

McCreesh has established a strong reputation in the opera house and has conducted productions at the Teatro Real Madrid, Royal Danish Opera, Opera Comique, Vlaamse Opera and at the Verbier Festival. In 2015/16 he conducted Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bergen Opera, and returned to Vlaamse Opera for a production of Idomeneo.

In 2011 McCreesh launched his own record label, Winged Lion, in collaboration with the Gabrieli Consort & Players, Signum Classics and the Wratislavia Cantans Festival, where he was Artistic Director between 2006 and 2012. To date they have made seven recordings, most recently Handel L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, released in 2015. Other highlights include Britten War Requiem (BBC Music Magazine Award 2014), Mendelssohn Elijah (Diapason d’Or Award 2013), Berlioz’s gargantuan Grande Messe des Morts (BBC Award 2012), and a reworking of his earlier Gabrieli disc, A New Venetian Coronation 1595 (Gramophone Award 2013). The Winged Lion recordings build on his large catalogue of recordings with Deutsche Grammophon, which includes the Gramophone Award-winning Haydn Creation.

Booklet for Haydn: The Seasons