The Seasons of Love

by Outi Tarkiainen

for clarinet and string quartet

Description

A life-long intimate relationship is increasingly rare these days. Young
love is solemnly sanctified, but if not before, many marriages stumble
beneath the weight of the hectic family years. Those who survive the
storms of early autumn have to regroup as the children fly the nest. The
finiteness of life begins to dawn on people in the depths of winter.
The Clarinet Quintet The Seasons of Love celebrates the power
of love that changes with life’s seasons. I have dedicated it to the
love of my life, Lauri Sallinen, my husband and the father of my
children. The Seasons of Love is at the same time a sort of
portrait of him – at different stages in life, in the past and the
future – as a clarinettist and person; just as he is, as I love him.
There are also some echoes in the Quintet of my Polar Pearls concerto for chamber orchestra. The Clarinet Quintet was commissioned by the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival.

Instrumentation

cl, 2vln, vla, vlc

Category

Chamber Works

Premiere

Lauri Sallinen, clarinet, Meta4 String Quartet, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, July 18, 2023, Kuhmo, Finland

Movements

1. Young Love (Spring-winter*), 2. Sacrament (Spring-summer*), 3. Fruit (Autumn-summer*), 4. New Dimensions (Autumn-winter*), 5. Epilogue

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