The New Winter Songbook: For High Voice and Piano

(Vocal Collection). A new collection of twenty-one art songs reflecting contemporary experiences of, and attitudes towards, the winter season from composers spanning a range of experiences and backgrounds. The New Winter Songbook album was commissioned by soprano Rebecca Lea and recorded with pianist Caroline Jaya-Ratnam on the Convivum label. Many, though not all, are settings of secular texts. While more traditional winter themes do recur within the songs those of cold, loss, stillness, grief and darkness those of belief, faith, and hope, offer an emotional counterbalance. Each individual composer approaches and explores these themes from their own perspective, lending their voice to a musical tapestry, expressing what it means to reflect upon and celebrate the season of winter today. CONTENTS: Jamie W. Hall: Dust of Snow * Errollyn Wallen: North * Judith Weir: On White Meadows * Ben Nobuto: Sundowning * Heloise Werner: Winter Spell * Adam Gorb: Frost Fair * Eoghan Desmond: The Darkest Midnight * Jessia Dannheisser: Winter Fragments * Cecilia McDowall: Christmas Eve at Sea * Helen Neeves: Cradle Song * James Weeks: Natural State * Martin Bussey: Twelfth Night * Cheryl Frances-Hoad: The Core of Time * Peter Foggitt: Villanelle: New Year's Eve * Electra Perivolaris: Lethe - Oblivion * Michael Betteridge: Snow Day * David McGregor: Ariadne * Michael Csanyi-Willis: Snowdrop * Sun Keting: The Nineteenth Night of December * Owain park: Winters Distant * Anita Datta: Seasonal Clothing