Oratorio in four parts Music by Haydn Libretto by BARON VAN SWIETEN adapted from the poem by JAMES THOMSON
(sung in English: records)
BBC CHORUS AND SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA conducted by COLIN DAVIS
8.40* The Perfect Year
It was only with reluctance that the ageing Haydn undertook an oratorio based on James Thomson 's poem ' The Seasons' but as the work progressed he found his interest captured.
Pat Rogers. Professor of English at University College of North Wales, Bangor, argues that it was Thomson's handling of the idea of the Seasons that presented it in stimulating form to the 18th-century imagination.
9.0* The Seasons Part 2