Seasons of Love

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"Seasons of Love"
Image:Rentocralbumcover.jpg
Song by Original Cast Soundtrack
from the album Rent OCR
Released	Sept 1996
Genre	Musical
Writer(s)	Jonathan Larson
Composer(s)	Jonathan Larson

Seasons of Love is the most celebrated song from the Broadway musical Rent, written and composed by Jonathan Larson. The song starts with an ostinato piano motif, which provides the harmonic framework for the cast to sing "Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes" (the number of minutes in a [non-leap] calendar year).

Both in the musical and in the 2005 film, the song is performed by the entire cast. The main question asked is, "How do you measure a year?" Various answers are suggested, from units of measure ("inches", "miles"), to everyday events ("cups of coffee") to more symbolic concepts ("laughter", "strife"). In the chorus, the song reaches the conclusion that love is the only proper measure of a year in a human life.

Contents 1 Songwriter 2 Alternate Versions 3 See also 4 External link

Songwriter

Jonathan Larson actually intended for Seasons of Love to be performed symbolically as a song at Angel's funeral^{[citation needed]}. Its occurrence in the musical is at the beginning of the second act and references recent past events or the events to come, see below. We hear the song twice throughout the second act (once as the opener and once after Take Me Or Leave Me) before hearing it in its last incarnation as background to I'll Cover You: Reprise and Angel's eulogy.

The first time the current musical Rent was ever performed on stage, Jonathan Larson had just died. The cast decided to sit in chairs on stage and sing through all the songs he had written, in his memory. When they reached the energetic "La Vie Boheme" however, they gave up, and started dancing as well. They then did the entire second act as they had rehearsed.

Alternate Versions

As well as the 1996 Original Cast Recording a number of different versions are on record. Along with the OCR soundtrack is an alternate versions of Seasons of Love featuring Stevie Wonder who sings (and improvises upon) the part usually sung by the ensemble character "Soloist #1/Woman With Bags/Mrs. Jefferson" (remarkably at the same pitch).

The version of the song on the film soundtrack also slightly differs. There is a slightly sharper timbre to the instruments and the solo parts are ever so slightly altered melodically, including different vocal embellishments.

To avoid confusion, in the musical, "Seasons of Love" is performed in two parts, the first at the beginning of Act II with the reprise following a few numbers later, following "Take Me Or Leave Me". In the film version Seasons of Love is still performed in two parts, but features at the start of the film with the cast performing it on a theatre stage. In the reprise the song plays as a backdrop to a documentary style film about New York life made by the character Mark. Selections from "Seasons of Love" were also used in several of the film's trailers and other promotional material.

Many musical theatre groups and performance groups often cover this song however no known major artist has been known to record a cover (excepting the Stevie Wonder version).

The song was also used as an opening performance piece in the talent show Philippine Idol.

See also

• Broadway

External link

• Music video for "Seasons of Love" at YouTube

Wikipedia information about Seasons of Love This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Seasons of Love". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.