Bournemouth Symphony Chorus - Paul Carr: Four New Seasons & Saxophone Concerto (2022)

English composer Paul Carr has been inspired by Vivaldi’s iconic Concertos for Violin, The Four Seasons, since he studied it as a schoolboy, and has loved it ever since. There have been many incarnations of this work in various forms, but few using the original Vivaldi as a basis for a choral work. Having thought about a choral setting for many years, he finally took the plunge, taking twelve poems that suited the varying moods of the original Vivaldi (each Season being made up of three movements) and composed a set of Four New Seasons using Vivaldi’s original harmonic structure as a basis, and including some of his more recognisable thematic material within the orchestration. It’s an homage to Vivaldi, but it also sits very within Paul’s own soundworld. The Saxophone Concerto was originally written as an Oboe Concerto for Nicholas Daniel, which he both premiered and recorded. It was his suggestion that Paul might also remodel it for Soprano Saxophone for the brilliant young saxophonist, Rob Burton. It was originally composed on the island of Mallorca where he was living at the time. It is an expressive and lyrical work full of warmth and optimism, but with an emotionally powerful slow movement at its core, “The unusual quietness of snow”, an expression of love and deepest loss, as a late snow fell silently in the last few days of Winter.