Four Seasons for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, and piano quartet Op.123 (2013) c.18'00"
poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I. Spring
II. Summer
III. The Death of Autumn (I)
IV. The Death of Autumn (II)
V. Winter
VI. Mindful of You

Commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Celebrity Series of Boston with the generous support of the CMNW Commissioning Fund.

First performed on July 20, 2013 at Chamber Music Northwest, Portland, Oregon by Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; David Shifrin, clarinet; Ida Kavafian, violin; Steve Tenenbom, viola; Peter Wiley, cello; and Pei Yao Wang, piano

REVIEWS

“I can think of no American composer who invests the traditional materials of music with the combination of originality and consistent expertise that Lowell Liebermann does…Right from this opening movement one was struck by the composer’s finesse in employing the assembled forces, prizing clarity in his instrumental textures…Winter may take the prize as the most arrestingly beautiful expanse of the set, its flickering refinementunderscoring the spirit of the poem…And yet, the epilogue…rivals it in exquisite effect, now perhaps recalling the lyricism of Barber. Suggesting points of contact between Liebermann’s cycle and certain acclaimed predecessors should not be taken to suggest that he does not posses an original voice. It means, rather, that he is attached to the trunk of a musical tree that has been sending out new branches for centuries and remains far from exhausted.”
James Keller, Santa Fe New Mexican

“Throughout this work, Liebermann weaves his instruments, including the voice, skillfully. The songs make an impact, or at least they did on me. In the margin of my program, I wrote a rare note: ”These babies might last.” “
The New Criterion