Just a short post: Simply a list
of 12 Symphonies written by Scottish composers that I should like to see given
a full professional recording. It may be that I have missed a recording of
one or other of these pieces: I would be grateful to hear about it. I do know
that Iain Hamilton’s Symphony No.1 was available on YouTube, John Maxwell
Geddes’s Symphony No.2
still is and a recording of Graham Williams’s Symphony has been uploaded to the
composer’ website. Clearly, some of these composers wrote several
symphonies: Wilson (5), Whyte (2) and Hamilton (5), but I have selected just
one each for this list.
Robert Ernest Bryson
(1867-1942): Symphony No.1 in D (1909)
Erik Chisholm
(1904-65): Symphony No.1 (1937-8)
Ian Whyte (1901-60): Symphony No.1 (1949)
Iain Hamilton (1922-2000):
Symphony No.1 (1952)
Thea Musgrave
(b.1928): Sinfonia (1963)
Thomas Wilson
(1927-2001): Symphony No.2 (1967)
Martin Dalby
(b.1942): Symphony No.1 (1970)
Graham Williams
(?): Symphony (Ian Whyte Award) (1972)
Robin Orr
(1909-2006): Symphony No.2 (1974)
Edward Harper
(1941-2009): Symphony (1979)
William Wordsworth
(1908-88) Symphony No.7, op.107 ‘Cosmos’ (1980)
John Maxwell Geddes
(1941-2017): Symphony No.2 (1993)
5 comments:
Cedric Thorpe Davie?
Very positive reviews for Wilson's Symphonies on Linn Records recent release with the RSNO;
MusicWeb International
Recommended:
'A magnificent release from a major Scottish composer....superb, often exacting but always beautiful scores............ the brilliant and strongly imaginative scoring is what keeps one's attention riveted from first to last.'
RECORDS INTERNATIONAL
"A natural symphonist of the highest quality....... highly inventive orchestration"
BBC Music Magazine
April 2019
****
"This was a fascinating discovery. Wilson – a 20th-century Scottish composer – has clearly been overlooked. His writing is colourful, dynamic and cinematic, and it is delivered with real panache here."
Presto Classical
Presto Editor's Choice
February 2019
"A distinct and original voice..........the orchestration in the Fourth Symphony, a musical autobiography of Paisley, is especially arresting."
The Scotsman
16 February 2019
Thomas Wilson: Symphonies Nos 3 & 4 (CKD )****
Just listen to the two symphonies – Nos 3 & 4 – on this fiery new recording by the RSNO under Rory Macdonald.........The Fourth, “Passeleth Tapestry,” is masterfully scored, fuelled by blistering energy at one extreme, intense beauty at the other. The Third is elemental, from the opening to the magical restfulness of the final bars. In these, and in his 1990 work Carillon, Wilson’s artistry comes dramatically to life in powerful, often highly sensitized RSNO performances.
The Reviewer's Chair
*****
"Wilson's accomplished, evocative writing makes a strong impression on first hearing". 5 STARS
Sunday Times
17th February 2019
"....two of these scores were written for big Scottish occasions: Symphony No 4, “Passeleth Tapestry” (1988), for the 500th anniversary of Paisley; Carillon (1990) for the opening of Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall. Each ciphers a theme from letters in the place name, and the symphony’s striking opening section is itself an inventive carillon. Wilson’s is a big, eclectic style, and the performances are arresting.
Anon, Thanks for that. It is great CD!
J
Thomas Wilson Symphonies 2 & 5 due out on Linn Records with Rory Macdonald and the RSNO completing the cycle, see;
https://artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2020/11/03/more-thomas-wilson-symphonies/comment-page-1/
Thanks for that
John F
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