Peter Maxwell Davies: Stevie’s Ferry to Hoy, for solo piano (1975)

It is good to come across a piece by Peter Maxwell Davies that I can play. Stevie’s Ferry to Hoy, for solo piano is a case in point. I guess that it would be set at about Grade 2-3, although I think that the middle movement, ‘Choppy Seas’ is a little harder to get one’s fingers around.

The work was composed in 1975 and was dedicated to ‘Anne Bevan to play on the piano’. She was a young pianist living in Stromness.  The ferry in question ran twice-daily from Stromness on the Mainland, Orkney to Moaness on Hoy. At that time, it was piloted by Stevie Mowatt. It is this ‘Stevie’ that is celebrated in the title.  This was the ferry that Peter Maxwell Davies used when he travelled to the mainland from his home at Bunnertoon in Rackwick. 

There are three very short movements in this piece. The opening ‘Calm Water’ may be a little bit if a ‘mirage’. Hoy Sound is not noted for its tranquillity at the best of times. Maxwell Davies has said that ‘even when it appears serene [it] is only on [its] ‘best behaviour.’ Most of this movement is written in C major with only a few accidentals to cause a ripple of unease with a touch of dissonance. ‘Choppy Seas’ is really a ‘toccata’ that could have come from the pen of Bach. There is considerable rhythmic flexibility within the movement ending which ends with a couple of ‘forte’ chords. ‘Safe Landing’ is a little ‘song without words.’ There is nothing complex here, just a lovely little tune with a grateful accompaniment.

I guess the beauty of these miniatures is their relative simplicity. There is nothing here that is challenging to the pianist of the listener. On the other hand, there is not a whiff of condescension in this music. The composer is writing for the beginner not down to them.

Maxwell Davies would create a similar music journey in 1985 with his First Ferry to Hoy for Junior SATB Chorus, Junior Recorder and Percussion Bands, and Instrumental Ensemble.

Peter Maxwell Davies’s Stevie’s Ferry to Hoy has been released on at least two CDs.  Richard Casey plays most of the composer’s piano works written between 1945 and 2009. It is issued on Prima Facie PFCD017/8 (2013). The work also appears on Clarinet Classics CC0019 (1998) played by Stephen Pruslin. The disc includes music by Harrison Birtwistle and Alexander Goehr.