Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
$4USD or more
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of each these greeting cards contains the lyrics to their corresponding movements from Suresh Singaratnam’s four movement song cycle for a cappella choir: “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”.
1. Thaw & Bloom (Spring - 7”x5”)
2. Sunward Tilt (Summer - 5”x7”)
3. …To Name a Season (Autumn - 7”x5”)
4. A Winter’s Day (Winter - 5”x7”)
Each greeting card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recordings of "Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario" can be heard in lyric music videos featuring a time-lapse animations from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustrations on these greeting cards' covers were drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Your purchase of this booklet and set of four greeting cards also includes a digital download of the audio for all four movements of “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”:
Each greeting card is printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
The booklet is printed on 32lb bright white paper and includes full credits for the recording along with the lyrics for the full song cycle, but in larger print than what is printed inside the greeting cards.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 1 day
$20USD
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of these 5”x7” greeting cards contains the lyrics to “Thaw & Bloom”, one of the four movements from Suresh Singaratnam’s song cycle for a cappella choir: “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”.
Each card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recording of Sunward Tilt can be heard in a lyric music video featuring a time-lapse animation from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustration on this greeting card's cover was drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Your purchase of this greeting card also includes a digital download of the audio for all four movements of “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”:
Thaw & Bloom
Sunward Tilt
…To Name a Season
A Winter’s Day
Printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 1 day
$6USDor more
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of these 7”x5” greeting cards contains the lyrics to “Sunward Tilt”, one of the four movements from Suresh Singaratnam’s song cycle for a cappella choir: “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”.
Each card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recording of Sunward Tilt can be heard in a lyric music video featuring a time-lapse animation from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustration on this greeting card's cover was drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Your purchase of this greeting card also includes a digital download of the audio for all four movements of “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”:
Sunward Tilt
…To Name a Season
A Winter’s Day
Thaw & Bloom
Printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 1 day
$6USDor more
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of these 5”x7” greeting cards contains the lyrics to “…To Name a Season”, one of the four movements from Suresh Singaratnam’s song cycle for a cappella choir: “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”.
Each card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recording of Sunward Tilt can be heard in a lyric music video featuring a time-lapse animation from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustration on this greeting card's cover was drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Your purchase of this greeting card also includes a digital download of the audio for all four movements of “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”:
…To Name a Season
A Winter’s Day
Thaw & Bloom
Sunward Tilt
Printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 1 day
$6USDor more
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of these 7”x5” greeting cards contains the lyrics to “Sunward Tilt”, one of the four movements from Suresh Singaratnam’s song cycle for a cappella choir: “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”.
Each card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recording of Sunward Tilt can be heard in a lyric music video featuring a time-lapse animation from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustration on this greeting card's cover was drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Your purchase of this greeting card also includes a digital download of the audio for all four movements of “Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario”:
Sunward Tilt
…To Name a Season
A Winter’s Day
Thaw & Bloom
Printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 1 day
$6USDor more
Poster/Print + Digital Album
Museum-quality poster made on thick and long-lasting matte (uncoated) paper.
- Paper weight: 200 gsm / 80 lb
- Shipped in sturdy packaging protecting the poster
Your purchase of this premium matte poster also includes a booklet, set of four greeting cards, and a digital download of the audio for Canadian trumpeter/composer Suresh Singaratnam’s four movement song cycle: Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of each these greeting cards contains the lyrics to their corresponding movements from Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Thaw & Bloom (Spring - 7”x5”)
Sunward Tilt (Summer - 5”x7”)
…To Name a Season (Autumn - 7”x5”)
A Winter’s Day (Winter - 5”x7”)
Each greeting card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recordings of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario can be heard in lyric music videos featuring time-lapse animations from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustrations on these greeting cards' covers were drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Each greeting card is printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
The booklet is printed on 32lb bright white paper and includes full credits for the recording along with the lyrics for the full song cycle, but in larger print than what is printed inside the greeting cards.
Profits from the sale of this item are equally shared between all three of the primary artists responsible for the creation of the music videos (composer Suresh Singaratnam, vocalist Daisy Press, and illustrator Alana McCarthy)
Your order will be fulfilled in two separate shipments: One for the poster, another for the booklet + greeting card sets.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 5 days
$95USD
Poster/Print + Digital Album
A framed poster with museum-quality paper and a beautiful frame.
- 200 gsm / 80 lb matte (uncoated) paper
- Lightweight 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8") thick frame
- Shatterproof, transparent plexiglass.
- Includes hanging kit, to hang in both portrait and landscape orientations.
- For indoor use
The frame and poster are delivered together. The poster needs to be mounted by the end-recipient. '
Your purchase of this framed print also includes a booklet, set of four greeting cards, and a digital download of the audio for Canadian trumpeter/composer Suresh Singaratnam’s four movement song cycle: Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of each these greeting cards contains the lyrics to their corresponding movements from Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Thaw & Bloom (Spring - 7”x5”)
Sunward Tilt (Summer - 5”x7”)
…To Name a Season (Autumn - 7”x5”)
A Winter’s Day (Winter - 5”x7”)
Each greeting card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recordings of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario can be heard in lyric music videos featuring time-lapse animations from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustrations on these greeting cards' covers were drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Each greeting card is printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
The booklet is printed on 32lb bright white paper and includes full credits for the recording along with the lyrics for the full song cycle, but in larger print than what is printed inside the greeting cards.
Profits from the sale of this item are equally shared between all three of the primary artists responsible for the creation of the music videos (composer Suresh Singaratnam, vocalist Daisy Press, and illustrator Alana McCarthy)
Your order will be fulfilled in two separate shipments: One for the framed print, another for the booklet + greeting card sets.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 5 days
$145USDor more
Poster/Print + Digital Album
A framed poster with museum-quality paper and a beautiful frame.
- 200 gsm / 80 lb matte (uncoated) paper
- Lightweight 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8") thick frame
- Shatterproof, transparent plexiglass.
- Includes hanging kit, to hang in both portrait and landscape orientations.
- For indoor use
The frame and poster are delivered together. The poster needs to be mounted by the end-recipient. '
Your purchase of this framed print also includes a booklet, set of four greeting cards, and a digital download of the audio for Canadian trumpeter/composer Suresh Singaratnam’s four movement song cycle: Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of each these greeting cards contains the lyrics to their corresponding movements from Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Thaw & Bloom (Spring - 7”x5”)
Sunward Tilt (Summer - 5”x7”)
…To Name a Season (Autumn - 7”x5”)
A Winter’s Day (Winter - 5”x7”)
Each greeting card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recordings of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario can be heard in lyric music videos featuring time-lapse animations from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustrations on these greeting cards' covers were drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Each greeting card is printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
The booklet is printed on 32lb bright white paper and includes full credits for the recording along with the lyrics for the full song cycle, but in larger print than what is printed inside the greeting cards.
Profits from the sale of this item are equally shared between all three of the primary artists responsible for the creation of the music videos (composer Suresh Singaratnam, vocalist Daisy Press, and illustrator Alana McCarthy)
Your order will be fulfilled in two separate shipments: One for the framed print, another for the booklet + greeting card sets.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 5 days
$145USD
Poster/Print + Digital Album
A framed poster with museum-quality paper and a beautiful frame.
- 200 gsm / 80 lb matte (uncoated) paper
- Lightweight 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8") thick frame
- Shatterproof, transparent plexiglass.
- Includes hanging kit, to hang in both portrait and landscape orientations.
- For indoor use
The frame and poster are delivered together. The poster needs to be mounted by the end-recipient. '
Your purchase of this framed print also includes a booklet, set of four greeting cards, and a digital download of the audio for Canadian trumpeter/composer Suresh Singaratnam’s four movement song cycle: Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of each these greeting cards contains the lyrics to their corresponding movements from Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Thaw & Bloom (Spring - 7”x5”)
Sunward Tilt (Summer - 5”x7”)
…To Name a Season (Autumn - 7”x5”)
A Winter’s Day (Winter - 5”x7”)
Each greeting card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recordings of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario can be heard in lyric music videos featuring time-lapse animations from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustrations on these greeting cards' covers were drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Each greeting card is printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
The booklet is printed on 32lb bright white paper and includes full credits for the recording along with the lyrics for the full song cycle, but in larger print than what is printed inside the greeting cards.
Profits from the sale of this item are equally shared between all three of the primary artists responsible for the creation of the music videos (composer Suresh Singaratnam, vocalist Daisy Press, and illustrator Alana McCarthy)
Your order will be fulfilled in two separate shipments: One for the framed print, another for the booklet + greeting card sets.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 5 days
$145USD
Poster/Print + Digital Album
A framed poster with museum-quality paper and a beautiful frame.
- 200 gsm / 80 lb matte (uncoated) paper
- Lightweight 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8") thick frame
- Shatterproof, transparent plexiglass.
- Includes hanging kit, to hang in both portrait and landscape orientations.
- For indoor use
The frame and poster are delivered together. The poster needs to be mounted by the end-recipient. '
Your purchase of this framed print also includes a booklet, set of four greeting cards, and a digital download of the audio for Canadian trumpeter/composer Suresh Singaratnam’s four movement song cycle: Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Featuring gorgeous illustrations by Toronto based visual artist Alana McCarthy, one of the two inside panels of each these greeting cards contains the lyrics to their corresponding movements from Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario.
Thaw & Bloom (Spring - 7”x5”)
Sunward Tilt (Summer - 5”x7”)
…To Name a Season (Autumn - 7”x5”)
A Winter’s Day (Winter - 5”x7”)
Each greeting card contains a QR code and printed URL that link to a website where NYC based vocalist Daisy Press’ recordings of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario can be heard in lyric music videos featuring time-lapse animations from artist Alana McCarthy, showing how the very same illustrations on these greeting cards' covers were drawn. Simple, yet mesmerizing to watch and enjoy even more with each repeated listen and viewing.
Each greeting card is printed on 16pt card stock, with a matte finish. Designed & printed in Canada. Each card is shipped in a clear polypropylene resin sleeve, safe for conservation and archiving purposes. These clear protective sleeves have passed the Photographic Activity Test ISO standard 18916 and are naturally acid and lignin-free.
The booklet is printed on 32lb bright white paper and includes full credits for the recording along with the lyrics for the full song cycle, but in larger print than what is printed inside the greeting cards.
Profits from the sale of this item are equally shared between all three of the primary artists responsible for the creation of the music videos (composer Suresh Singaratnam, vocalist Daisy Press, and illustrator Alana McCarthy)
Your order will be fulfilled in two separate shipments: One for the framed print, another for the booklet + greeting card sets.
Includes unlimited streaming of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
In the early months of 2017, I’d just finished writing a new song and I needed to record a demo of that new song to pitch it to choir directors. I knew my friend Daisy Press would be the perfect singer to record that demo. She’d taught herself how to produce multitrack recordings of herself singing multiple parts at her home studio in NYC. Why just the demo and not the “official” debut recording? That new song was A Canadian Christmas, so its first recording had to be by a Canadian singer. Daisy sent me her first draft of the demo for A Canadian Christmas a couple weeks after I asked her for that demo recording. It was just up to the end of the second verse, but it was so beautiful, I asked her to stop recording because it would be heartbreaking to have a full recording of this beautiful singing that I couldn’t release.
I found a great Canadian singer to record A Canadian Christmas (thank you Joanna Majoko!) and everything worked out well with that release, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Daisy’s demo recording. I was on the train one Sunday afternoon in early 2018, and as I looked out the window, I noticed some wintry imagery that I hadn’t noticed before while I was driving. I took a note on my phone. For the next few weeks, during my morning practice sessions, I would continue taking notes about wintry scenes whenever something inspiring caught my eye. I'd decided that I would compose a new vocal work about winter that I could hire Daisy Press to record.
That spring, after I’d finished and reviewed my random notes about wintry scenes, I gradually compiled those notes into a poem of more cohesive thoughts. After composing a melody to set that poetry to, I finishing writing the other two accompanying voices. Daisy sent me her first draft of her recording of A Winter’s Day a few weeks later. After hearing that first draft, I instantly knew I was obligated to compose three more movements to complete the song cycle for the seasons. Daisy’s artistry required nothing less. So, I set out to continue the work.
For the next year, I would take notes about my surroundings whenever I was out in parks or passing through other natural scenes and noticed something that caught my senses. On walks, I would stop and pull out my phone to take notes. On drives, I would pull over and park to take notes. By late autumn 2018, it was time to repeat the process of reviewing those notes and compiling them into three new poems.
I didn’t want to repeat myself in the lyrics through the different seasons’ poems unless that repetition was deliberate and in service of the overall story, so I would have working drafts of all three poems on the screen (along with the lyrics for A Winter’s Day) as I worked. I was also trying to avoid repeating any lyrics from Spring for All But Me (a song I’d written in 2003). It took a while, but I finished first drafts of those three new poems in spring 2019. Fortunately, writing the music took much less time. The process for the three new movements of the song cycle was the same as it was for A Winter’s Day: Write a melody for each poem, then compose the accompanying voices for those new melodies.
When I had complete drafts of all three movements, I knew I had to find a way to raise the funds to hire Daisy to record this new music. I only had the MIDI recordings (computer generated instrumental recordings) to listen to, but I knew Daisy’s voice well enough to hear it in my mind’s ear when I listened to those MIDI recordings.
As the pandemic hit the world in early 2020, I thought I might have a better chance at a Canada Council for the Arts grant to fund this recording since Daisy would be recording these tracks at her home studio and we would be creating something beautiful in the middle of a global pandemic and in spite of all the challenges that situation created. I wasn’t eligible for any of the grant funding myself (because the music had already been composed), but I knew an amazing illustrator in Toronto, so I ask her if she’d be interested in providing the artwork for this recording. She agreed, and then a little while later, I also noticed her posting time-lapse videos of her illustrations on her social media channels, so I asked if she could include those for each of the illustrations too. My hope was for the time-lapse animations and artwork to be a vehicle for this music to reach a wider audience. I knew my good friend Marc Koecher would be the audio engineer to mix this, so I asked him if he was also on board for a little more work, and he was.
With the assistance of a good friend who helped with proof-reading and editing (thanks Christie!) I submitted that grant application in April 2020 with the expectation that this would be an application that wouldn’t be approved, but that I could learn from. (It’s rare for someone’s first Canada Council application to be approved). I had mostly put this project out of mind to move on to other work, and then in December 2020, just days before the cross-Canada virtual choir+orchestra recording of A Canadian Christmas was to be released, I received an email from the Canada Council for the Arts. “The results of your application are now available”…
At first, I just assumed it was another polite rejection letter, so I opened it, clicked the link in the email, signed into my Canada Council for the Arts Portal account, and clicked the “View Results” link. I was briefly confused by why the screen for a rejection notification would have an “Accept” button, and list the exact amount I’d requested in funding for my recording project. Then I realised what I was actually looking at. I was thrilled, but also in the middle of trying to finish editing the video for the 2020 recording of A Canadian Christmas, so I knew I didn’t really have the time to celebrate this amazing news. I texted and called Daisy, Alana, Christie, and Marc to let them know, then got back to work on editing the video. We had to request an extension for the recording (because the results were sent out a couple months late), and that was granted, so in January 2021, Daisy and Alana started their work.
Alana would use Daisy’s original 2019 recording of A Winter’s Day as inspiration for her first illustration while Daisy started recording Thaw & Bloom (the spring movement of the song cycle). That first time-lapse video from Alana...before the lyrics animation was added, it just fit the music so perfectly. I knew we really had something special here and I was even more excited to complete this project.
As Daisy started recording, we realized this project would be more challenging than we had originally expected because her once quiet neighbourhood in Manhattan had suddenly become home to the constant sounds of sirens and helicopters during the pandemic. Imagine working hard to sing a perfectly in tune take of a track (with emotion, expression, and thoughtfully planned phrasing) and then having that take interrupted by a passing siren or helicopter. We needed another extension, and the Canada Council for the Arts generously granted it. A recording that was supposed to take a few weeks ended up taking months because of all this unexpected environmental background noise in Manhattan. It ended up being a lot more stressful for Daisy, and I will forever be grateful for her work on this project, because when you listen her performance of this music, none of that really comes through in the recordings. You just hear the beauty of her voice and the brilliance of her musicianship. The silver lining of these unexpected delays was giving Alana the opportunity to complete each of her illustrations in the seasons that they were meant to portray, as Daisy’s first drafts of the recordings were completed along a similar timeline. I am also grateful that I had the opportunity to experience those first drafts in their corresponding seasons so I could confirm everything did indeed match as I'd planned.
Thaw & Bloom is Southern Ontario's Spring in its two parts. First in the key of A minor (Thaw) and then starting and ending in the key of A major (Bloom), I wanted these the "background" voices of these two sections to musically convey the feelings of these stages of spring without the lyrics sung by the lead voice. Daisy makes the contrapuntal writing of the Bloom section sound effortless, but singers will appreciate how technically challenging those two minutes of singing are. I wanted to capture a Renaissance feel for the Thaw section before switching to a more Baroque sound for the Bloom section.
Sunward Tilt was written to be the most conventionally “song-like” of the four movements, both in rhyme scheme and melodic construction. Mostly in the key of C major, it is also a music mirror for A Winter’s Day (which is mostly in the key of F# minor).
Full disclosure: …To Name a Season is my favourite of the four movements. It was the last movement I completed and after restraining myself harmonically for the previous three movements of this song cycle, this was my opportunity to more fully explore what was possible with the luxury of composing for six voices. I was still aiming for sounds that are consonant to most ears, but wanted to explore more extended harmonies in this movement and break free from some of the rules of more traditional choral composition (musicians might notice the phrase with parallel major 9th chords). As Sunward Tilt is a musical mirror to A Winter’s Day, this movement that starts in the key of Eb major is a musical mirror to Thaw & Bloom. Although not quite as pronounced in its division, this movement is also in two sections. As the leaves change and eventually fall while the air cools in Southern Ontario’s autumns, this tonal centre of this movement switches from Eb major to Eb minor and the harmonic language simplifies to return to that more Renaissance feel of the Thaw section of Thaw & Bloom. Ironically, my favourite moments of the entire song cycle are in the last minute of this movement, where the harmonies is relatively simple. (From “Long drive through woodland corridors…” to the end). It is not hyperbole or an exaggeration when I tell you that listening to Daisy Press’ performance of this minute of music is now one of my favourite experiences in life.
When I first wrote this music, original artwork was not something I’d considered. It wasn’t until the grant application that I saw an opportunity to boost our chances of funding the recording by including the work of an accomplished Canadian visual artist in the grant request. I knew Alana McCarthy’s work was consistently amazing and any artwork she created for this would just add to Daisy’s work as a vocalist, but I was honestly not completely prepared for how much this project ended up being so much more than the sum of its parts. Each illustration captures the sights and feel of its corresponding season in Southern Ontario but also stands on its own artistic merits. When I see the crow against the bright blue sky in the artwork for Thaw & Bloom, I’m instantly transported to the memory of that brisk spring day in 2018 when I was driving through the country and had to pull over to type out some quick notes about my surroundings. The style of her illustrations for the artwork for A Winter’s Day and Sunward Tilt evokes memories of my first time seeing the work of the Group of Seven at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in 2015. Fittingly, her illustration for …To Name a Season is my favourite of her four beautiful works. I still remember the first time I saw it. I was driving and had just seen the new email notification on my phone after parking. When I opened the email to view the attachment of Alana’s first draft, I was a little choked up to see an image that matched Daisy’s recording so perfectly (Alana had also heard Daisy’s first draft just a few days before creating her illustration). Her time-lapse animations that were something I requested late in the application process provided us with a wealth of visual material to create compelling lyrics music videos that elevated this project to another level.
So, after four years of work, here we are with the first recording of Seasonal Songs for Southern Ontario. I’ve listened to these recordings so many times and I’m still not sick of hearing Daisy Press sing this music. I think singers and other musicians will appreciate the monumental accomplishment this is for her as a vocalist, but let’s all take a minute to appreciate how for almost 20 minutes, we can be captivated by nothing but the sound of one person’s voice with no instrumental accompaniment. Listening to these recordings by Daisy Press has undoubtedly made me a better musician. Seeing Alana McCarthy’s beautiful artwork has made me appreciate the sights of Southern Ontario and the beauty of nature even more. Please take the time to listen to these songs a few times (at least once in each of the four seasons, to appreciate how they fit with each season).
After all four music videos are released by March 22, 2022, the home page for the song cycle's website will feature a compilation of the music videos for all four seasons. That compilation will automatically change every season to change the order of the individual music videos to end in the current season. I hope you enjoy this music as much I do.
- Suresh Singaratnam
credits
released March 1, 2022
Vocals performed & recorded by Daisy Press
Music & lyrics by Suresh Singaratnam
Mixed by Marc Koecher - MK Soundworks
Mastered by Nathan James - The Vault Mastering
Artwork by Alana McCarthy
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Suresh Singaratnam is a trumpeter of uncommon breadth - unique not only for the small crowd he inhabits as a virtuoso of
both classical and jazz styles but also for the continuity and clarity of his voice across both idioms. When he began to study the trumpet at age nine, it never occurred to him that he might have to choose between the two.
Comprising 32 takes on iconic Robert Schumann compositions, the emergent pianist's Pentatone debut is a must-hear for classical fans. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 11, 2024
