Album Notes

Liner Notes:
My previous CD, 'From My Heart', was a compilation of music covering a span of more than a decade. While some pieces were written specifically for the CD, many were commissioned works, or music written as gifts. 'Seasons of the Heart' is a departure from that format, in that all of the music on this CD was written over the past year, beginning immediately after the release of 'From My Heart'. Although not all of the numbers are intentionally programmatic, I am hopeful that you, the listener, will find that the music inspires images for you, reflecting your own experiences throughout the past year.

A few words about some of the pieces ...

I have learned that one of the few constants in life is change; many of us fear change, whilst others see it as an opportunity for new adventures. I have experienced several "Seasons of Change" in the past year, and I suspect you have as well. The seaside is one of my favourite places to be, although I get there all too seldom. "Daydreams" represents that bit of peaceful solitude which I am sometimes able to find within my heart. All of my life I have been a wanderer; physically travelling when able, and travelling via books and the internet during settled times. "My Gipsy Heart" speaks to my desire to continually seek out the new and unfamiliar.

"On Greenland's Coast" is my arrangement of three traditional folk melodies: "I Live Not Where I Love", "The Water is Wide" and "Over the Hills and Far Away". The title is drawn from a lyric to the latter from John Gay's 'The Beggar's Opera', but it encapsulates themes innate to all three, regardless of different words that have been applied to them over the years. Greenland's coast is a cold place, a place of separation. But it is also a place of possibility, where the power of thought can transform the present. The music has resonated through Civil War England, revolutionary America and the "Flanders, Portugal and Spain" of the Napoleonic Wars, embodying the hopes and fears of countless ordinary lives. This, for me, gives it its enduring power.

It is no secret that my favourite flower is the rose; not only do they have beauty, but they have a natural resilience. From their humble origins in China, roses have spread around the world becoming an icon for nations, for historical events, for spirituality, for friendship, and for love. We enjoy their perfume, extract medicinal properties from their petals, and new varieties are developed yearly. Despite the attentions of the over-zealous, or times of absolute neglect, they continue to flourish summer after summer, sometimes into the autumn and winter. I draw comfort and inspiration from the "Rose"; I hope you will as well.

Follow your heart,
Jane Ellen