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Haydn - The Seasons

£18.35

Usually available for despatch within 3-5 working days

Label: Alia Vox

Cat No: AVSA9964

Barcode: 8435408099646

Format: Hybrid SACD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Vocal/Choral

Release Date: 22nd August 2025

Works

Haydn, Franz Joseph

The Seasons (Die Jahreszeiten), Hob.XXI:3

Artists

Lina Johnson (soprano)
Tilman Lichdi (tenor)
Matthias Winckhler (bass-baritone)
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya
Le Concert des Nations

Conductor

Jordi Savall

Works

Haydn, Franz Joseph

The Seasons (Die Jahreszeiten), Hob.XXI:3

Artists

Lina Johnson (soprano)
Tilman Lichdi (tenor)
Matthias Winckhler (bass-baritone)
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya
Le Concert des Nations

Conductor

Jordi Savall

About

In his new album, Jordi Savall, undisputed master of early music, reveals a new interpretation of Haydn’s Seasons. With an approach that respects tradition while injecting his own unique signature, Savall breathes new life into this masterpiece. His use of period instruments and his acute sense of detail offer a freshness and emotional depth never heard before. At once timeless and innovative, this album immerses the listener in the very essence of nature and the seasons, capturing the beauty and richness of Haydn’s work with a rare intensity. An experience not to be missed.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 1. Einleitung – Seht, wie der strenge Winter flieht!
2

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 2. Komm, holder Lenz!
3

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 3a. Vom Widder strahlet jetzt
4

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 3b. Schon eilet froh der Akkermann
5

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 4a. Der Landmann hat sein Werk vollbracht
6

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 4b. Sei uns gnädig, milder Himmel!
7

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 5a. Erhört ist unser Flehn!
8

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 5b. O wie lieblich ist der Anblick
9

1. Teil (Der Frühling): 5c. Ewiger, mächtiger, gütiger Gott
10

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 6a. Einleitung – In grauem Schleier rückt heran
11

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 6b. Der munt’re Hirt versammelt nun
12

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 7. Sie steigt herauf, die Sonne
13

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 8a. Nun regt und bewegt sich alles umher
14

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 8b. Die Mittagssonne brennet jetzt
15

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 8c. Dem Druck erliegt die Natur
16

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 9. Willkommen jetzt, o dunkler Hain
17

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 10a. Oh seht! Es steiget in der schwülen Luft
18

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 10b. Ach! das Ungewitter naht
19

2. Teil (Der Sommer): 10c. Die düst’ren Wolken trennen sich
20

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 11a. Einleitung – Was durch seine Blüte der Lenz
21

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 11b. Den reichen Vorrat führt er nun
22

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 12. So Lohnet die Natur den Fleiß
23

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 13a. Seht, wie zum Haselbusche dort
24

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 13b. Ihr Schönen aus der Stadt, kommt her!
25

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 14a. Nun zeiget das entblößte Feld
26

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 14b. Seht auf die breiten Wiesen hin!
27

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 15a. Hier treibt ein dichter Kreis
28

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 15b. Hört! hört das laute Getön
29

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 16a. Am Rebenstocke blinket jetzt
30

3. Teil (Der Herbst): 16b. Juhhe, juhhe! Der Wein ist da
31

4. Teil (Der Winter): 17a. Einleitung – Nun senket sich das blasse Jahr
32

4. Teil (Der Winter): 17b. Licht und Leben sind geschwächet
33

4. Teil (Der Winter): 18a. Gefesselt steht der breite See
34

4. Teil (Der Winter): 18b. Hier steht der Wand’rer nun
35

4. Teil (Der Winter): 19a. Sowie er naht, schallt in sein Ohr
36

4. Teil (Der Winter): 19b. Knurre, schnurre, knurre!
37

4. Teil (Der Winter): 20a. Abgesponnen ist der Flachs
38

4. Teil (Der Winter): 20b. Ein Mädchen, das auf Ehre hielt
39

4. Teil (Der Winter): 21a. Von dürrem Osten dringt
40

4. Teil (Der Winter): 21b. Erblicke hier, betörter Mensch
41

4. Teil (Der Winter): 22. Dann bricht der große Morgen an

Europadisc Review

Composed over two years spanning the very dawn of the 19th century, Haydn’s four-part oratorio The Seasons (Die Jahreszeiten) was designed to capitalise on the huge popularity of The Creation. Once again, Haydn’s collaborator was the diplomat, librarian and librettist, Baron Gottfried van Swieten. As with The Creation, the libretto was based on an English-language source, in this case the sprawling, diffuse but highly influential poem The Seasons (1726–1730) by the Scotsman John Thomson (whose other claim to fame is the lyrics of ‘Rule, Britannia!’). In condensing Thomson’s vast work to more manageable proportions, van Swieten drew on other sources as well as his own invention, to create a work in which three soloists – the peasant farmer Simon (bass), his daughter Hanne (soprano) and the village youth Lukas (tenor) – are channels for various musings and scenarios on the character of the four seasons as seen through the perspective of rural life. They interact with the (largely four-part) chorus, and the forces are similar to those of The Creation (the same soloists sang both works).

Even in Haydn’s last years, The Seasons was overshadowed by The Creation, yet in many ways the two works are complementary – the earlier work proceeding from God alone amid chaos to the creation of Man, while The Seasons proceeds from vivid depictions of rural life to a philosophical consideration of Man as he confronts God in the twilight of Winter. (Both Haydn and his close contemporary van Swieten were indeed approaching their final years.) The quality of the libretto has been criticised ever since the work’s first performances, but thanks to Haydn’s music the work achieves a remarkable equilibrium between the popular (including rousing hunting and drinking choruses) and the philosophical, culminating in a great hymn of praise to God for soloists and double chorus.

Like The Creation, The Seasons has been well served on disc, particularly since the advent of historically-informed performances where period instruments add an extra bucolic edginess and fervour to the vigorous music of Haydn’s old age. Gardiner, Jacobs and McCreesh have all made fine recordings, and now Jordi Savall joins their ranks, four years after his splendid account of The Creation. Once again, his performance benefits from the warm, generous acoustic of the Collegiate Church of Sant Vicenç at the Castle of Cardona. The tenor and bass soloists – Tilman Lichdi and Matthias Winckhler – return, this time with the pure-toned soprano Lina Johnson. The choir of the Capella Nacional de Catalunya is just 21 voices strong, yet they lack nothing in presence, and combine vivid projection and clarity of line with a palpable sense of involvement, well-balanced against the instrumentalists of Le Concert des Nations.

The solo vocal work is excellent, Lichdi making a characterful youth, his more reflective passages beautifully shaped and paced, while Winckhler is a benign presence, perhaps less characterful than some, but ideally suited for the ripe wisdom of adulthood. Johnson combines heartfelt human emotion with angelic tones, and her exquisite aria in Summer, ‘Welche Labung für die Sinne’, is one of the performance’s many highlights.

As the work moves via the vibrant pictorialism of Summer and Autumn via the Spinning Song and praise of toil in Winter to the more philosophical elements of the final pages, the strengths of Savall’s performance – just as vivid in its way as René Jacobs’ 2003 on Harmonia Mundi, but with a crucial degree more warmth and expressiveness – become ever more apparent. Aided by some splendidly characterful solo playing, from the thunderous opening timpani thwacks to the clucking of the oboe, ardent solo horn passages, and the raucous sound of the offstage hunt, this account combines pictorial immediacy with a rounded, mature vision of the whole.

At a time when the traditional seasons themselves are in turmoil from the challenges of climate change, the gentle humour and sagacity of Haydn’s late style, anticipating the Romantic Philosophy of Nature, is a welcome tonic, and a timely reminder of a way of life that may be gone forever. No-one who has already heard Savall’s wonderful recording of The Creation will want to be without these Seasons. Unhesitatingly recommended!

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Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Haydn - The Seasons

Usually available for despatch within 3-5 working days

Despatch Information

Contents

Works

Artists

Conductor

Works

Artists

Conductor

About

Sound/Video

Paused

Europadisc Review

Also Available

£34.91

£14.26

£14.26

£14.26

£14.67

Condition Information

Condition Information