Hugh Benham: Songs for Times and Seasons Amy Carson & Nicola Rose

• Hugh Benham (b. 1943): Lovely Spring:
• 1 Benham: Lovely Spring 01:46
• Love and Friendship:
• 2 Benham: Love and Friendship 01:48
• An Autumn Rain-Scene:
• 3 Benham: An Autumn Rain-Scene 03:29
• Dream-Song:
• 4 Benham: Dream-Song 03:57
• The Shepherd:
• 5 Benham: The Shepherd 01:18
• Ah, Sun-flower!:
• 6 Benham: Ah, Sun-flower! 02:37
• To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love:
• 7 Benham: To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love 03:05
• Total Runtime 18:00

Info for Hugh Benham: Songs for Times and Seasons

Performed by soprano Amy Carson and pianist Nicola Rose, Hugh Benham’s Times and Seasons is a lyrical cycle of four songs inspired by the changing year, setting evocative verse by the 18th and 19th century English poets Christina Rossetti, Emily Brontë, Thomas Hardy and Walter de la Mare. Vivid musical imagery captures the fleeting beauty of spring, the endurance of friendship, the melancholy of autumn rain, and the mystery of twilight dreams.

This recording also includes three contrasting William Blake settings, from pastoral innocence to visionary intensity, showcasing Hugh Benham’s expressive range and sensitivity to text.

Amy Carson, soprano
Nicola Rose, piano

Amy Carson
was the youngest of the first girl choristers at Salisbury Cathedral. She went on to be a choral scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge. She has made highly acclaimed appearances on the opera stage and screen, most notably starring as Pamina in Kenneth Branagh’s film of The Magic Flute when she was only 21. She has performed internation- ally both as a soloist and ensemble singer with many professional groups, including The Sixteen, the Monteverdi Choir, The Gabrieli Consort and the OAE.

Nicola Rose
began her musical training as one of the first girl choristers at Salisbury Cathedral. She studied piano at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she is now a Junior Fellow, then at the National Opera Studio in London.

She works regularly as a répétiteur for Welsh National Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, Music Theatre Wales, Barefoot Opera, BBC National Chorus of Wales, and as a vocal coach in Italy, Switzerland and Oxenfoord. Nicola works as a pianist and Music Leader for the charity, The Forget-Me-Not Chorus.

This album contains no booklet.