‘Seasons’ Song Cycle Concert

Hannah Sherry

St John’s College Music Society and the Cambridge Language Collective came together on 15 April for the world premiere of composer Jonathan Whiting’s song cycle, ‘Seasons’. The four-part composition features poetry set to music from across the Romance Languages and was a passion project between the composer and fellow linguist and musician, countertenor Richard Decker.

The two worked together to set these four poems to music, Jonathan endeavouring at every turn to amplify in the music each one’s individual character and charm. Richard’s task then was to bring these words to life in his own artistic and musical style. As the first musician to perform this song cycle, the talented countertenor, accompanied by the phenomenal Paul Greally on piano, enjoyed the opportunity to deliver something which he had collaborated on and which was composed specifically for him. This collaborative effort of picking apart the words and meanings of each poem, with Jonathan deftly adapting and transposing them into music was a moment of escape from the confines of artistic precedents and allowed Decker to ‘act how he wants to and sing how he wants to’.

This privilege is very singular to the collaborative and personal process of such a project and the composer also notes the challenges faced when setting music to works in different languages. Working with Richard as a linguist and musician to deliver the words in a way which encapsulates the individual qualities of each poem and the technical aspects of each language, the composer has crafted a cycle of beautiful and evocative snapshots into the different seasons across Europe in space, language and time.

SJCMS artistic director Scarlett Clemmow speaks to Jonathan and Richard in a pre-concert interview to discuss the process behind the composition and performance and each song can be viewed at the timestamps marked. The CLC would like to thank the SJCMS for their collaboration on this project and hope that our readers will enjoy listening to this exciting and moving song cycle in Italian, Romanian, Spanish and French.

Primavera (Spring) È primavera, Giuseppe Villaroel: 08:34
Vară (Summer) Zi de vară, George Topârceanu: 11:46
Otoño (Autumn) Otoño, Mario Benedetti: 16:01
Hiver (Winter) La Blanche Neige, Guillaume Apollinaire: 17:35

Richard Decker

Richard (22) is a countertenor hailing from Sidcup, Kent, and is currently in his final year studying Italian and French with Linguistics at St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he is also a choral scholar and a member of the Gentlemen of St. John’s. He spent his year abroad in Florence last year, working as choir director at St. Mark’s English Church, as well as giving several solo recitals as both a singer and oboist. Richard made his professional debut at the age of 13 when he was crowned BBC Chorister of the Year 2011, leading to a year of radio and television appearances from various UK cathedrals and concert venues. More recent operatic roles include The Sorcerer (Dido and Aeneas), Bruschino Figlio (Il Signor Bruschino) and Dame Hannah (Ruddigore). Richard was also cast as Goffredo in TCMS’ production of Rinaldo and has twice reached the semi-final stages of the Clare College Song Competition. This year, he has qualified to take part in a masterclass with Marc LeBrocq in May.

Richard is also a diploma-level pianist and oboist, and has dabbled in composition: his setting of the traditional carol Adam Lay Ybounden, partially translated into Italian, was premièred at the Advent Carol Service in St. Mark’s in 2019. He also has a small Youtube channel, featuring virtual choir videos made during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Jonathan Whiting

Jonathan is currently studying for an MPhil. in Composition at St. John’s College. He graduated from King’s College London with a First Class degree in Music where he was taught composition under Dr Edward Nesbitt. As an academic, he specialised in musical theatre, particularly the analytical approach to the music of Stephen Sondheim. Jonathan has received commissions and performances from the Modern Music Society of King’s College London and Guy’s Chapel Choir and has two publications with Queen’s Temple Publications. He also works as editor and typesetter for world-renowned musical pedagogue and composer, Paul Harris, and assists in the running of the annual International Malcolm Arnold Festival. Upcoming projects include the premiere of his operatic scene, ‘The Porter’ as part of Green Opera’s Isolated Incidents project and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (Cambridge Footlights)

Paul Greally

Paul Greally, organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, was made Fellow of the Royal College of Organists as a teenager, winning a total of seven prizes in the RCO organ diplomas. Before reading music at Cambridge, he was organ scholar at Pinner Parish Church and joint first study composer and organist at the Junior Royal Academy of Music. His several composition accolades include the BBC Proms Inspire competition (his works were performed by the BBC Singers and Aurora Orchestra, broadcast on BBC Radio 3) and publication by Editions Musica Ferrum. Paul is also an accomplished pianist (ARSM distinction), drummer (Grade 8 distinction) and jazz pianist.