I had already got the first four of Max’s symphonies on the
original Collins Classics CDs but the remainder were getting increasingly
expensive to source second-hand. It was with much enthusiasm that I was able to
report in my blog of 12th February 2012 that Naxos www.naxos.com had undertaken to release these recordings.
The final two CDs
have recently been released by Naxos www.naxos.com on two discs covering Symphonies 4 and 5 (8.572351) and Symphony No.6 with Time and The Raven and An Orkney Wedding and Sunrise (8.572352) with the composer
conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra respectively.
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| 8.572351 |
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| 8.572352 |
Throughout the symphonies and many other compositions, Max
has used the magic square, a mathematical device which offers a wide variety of
ways to manipulate pitches and note lengths. However, as Max would be the first
to say, the listener does not need to know anything about the methods used to
compose the music. The music stands on its own merits. What does come out
clearly is how Maxwell Davies’ methods lay down an underlying form and unity
that seems to come from such methods. But it is the important influence of Orkney
that also runs through these six symphonies.
There are two particular sources of inspiration for Max’s Symphony
No.4, the plainchant Adorna
thalamum tuum, Sion and a particular incident that occurred one morning when
the composer came out of his house, on the island of Hoy, to be confronted by a
golden eagle perched on a nearby fence. The symphony is also different from its
predecessors in that, whilst written for the forces of the Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, the scoring has no trombones or tuba and no additional percussion,
but the work is nevertheless louder and brighter as the timpani, horns and
trumpets have much more input.
It is indeed the brass that makes a strident opening of the first movement moderato before being
joined by the woodwind. The strings
appear quietly but soon the brass dominates again. There are darkly atmospheric
sounds as the music settles, if it can be said to settle at all, into a
plaintive theme for cor anglais. This is rugged music perhaps evoking the
Orkney coastland. Brass and strings build to a climax and, towards the end, all
subsides into a dark theme on bassoon then anguished woodwind. After an
interruption from the brass the cor anglais returns as strings quietly end the
movement.
Timpani rolls mark the beginning of the second movement allegro that follows without a break. Woodwind and
pizzicato strings follow before trumpets take a dominant role, with woodwind
entering to lead to a climax. A clarinet leads to a developed passage for
strings eventually leading to a section, full of mysterious sounds and,
finally, the return of the cor anglais before being cut off as the third movement adagio begins with low woodwind playing
quietly against shimmering string sounds, conjuring up images of a deserted
landscape. Brass and timpani enter
creating a dramatic turbulence but the music soon returns to the woodwind and
quietly hesitant strings. Eventually the strings take over, providing a richer
rising melody decorated by woodwind interventions cut off at a peak by timpani.
This signals a more boisterous section with brass and timpani above agitated
strings. The music eventually subsides and woodwind and strings resume their
quiet theme. The movement ends quietly on the strings.
The fourth and final movement, marked andante – allegro,
opens with jagged stabs from the woodwind replied to by the strings. The strings
gain momentum forming richer textures before the woodwind enter in a flurry of
sounds floating above the orchestra, working up complex textures and themes.
Short stabbing brass sounds appear and slowly increase as the tension builds. As
it develops it is as if the music is floating statically. The ear can always
follow the gripping lines of each orchestral part in this wonderful evocation of
a rugged windswept coastal scene. A solo trumpet enters against the strings but
the timpani cut this off and the woodwind return before the solo trumpet
returns. Shimmering strings quietly play before the trumpet bursts out and the
movement ends quietly on pizzicato strings.
Written for the Philharmonia Orchestra to celebrate its
Fiftieth Anniversary, Symphony No.5 is a shorter work, lasting
around 26 minutes, and played without a break. The symphony is again inspired
by plainchant as well as quoting from Max’s earlier work Chat Moss.
Woodwind open this work with a beautiful little theme before
a sudden outburst of brass. There are sounds from the timpani before strings
enter with the distinctive but subtle sound of the flexatone, then brass and
timpani again resume. A passage for woodwind, strings and flexatone ensues, leading
to a steady, almost march like forward moving theme that builds up in richness
using the whole orchestra. After a climax the music quietens with woodwind,
strings and tuned percussion. The brass enters again in a florid passage but
soon drops back to a quietly mysterious section with drooping trombone sounds
against woodwind and strings.
The brass and tuned percussion pick up and, with timpani,
there is a forward moving rhythm, almost processional, driving the music to a
climax of brass, strings and percussion. This slows to something of a plod but still
with a steady forward movement. The music descends to woodwind and strings quietly
playing a plaintive theme preceding a beautiful, quietly flowing, melody for
strings. The woodwind and brass seem to ruminate before brass and bells
dominate. Strings and woodwind take over but the brass returns before it drops
back again to the woodwind and strings with a solo drooping motif evoking the
sound a lone seabird. The full orchestra returns to a glorious broad climax
with timpani followed by a battery of percussion and brass before a return to
the quietly meditative strings and again the sound of a lone gull. A string
tune follows above quietly sliding strings before a bassoon enters in an atmospheric
passage. The strings quietly ruminate until the final hushed timpani sound.
This surely is the symphony that newcomers to Maxwell Davies
symphonic works should hear first coupled as it is with the magnificent Fourth
Symphony.
Maxwell Davies’ Symphony
No.6 was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society to celebrate its
Fiftieth Anniversary and was first performed in Kirkwall, on Orkney, as part of
the 1996 St Magnus Festival. It is dedicated to the Orcadian poet, George
Mackay Brown.
The germ idea for the three movement Symphony No.6 is a slow theme from his work of a year earlier, Time and the Raven. The first movement adagio – allegro opens
atmospherically with pizzicato strings followed immediately by a drooping
string motif and a timpani roll before woodwind join in the drooping theme. This
develops into a short climax for full orchestra. The music seems to heave
backwards and forwards interspersed with quiet ruminative moments over a subtly
developing and forward moving undertow. There are lovely little details that
evoke the sounds of the wild with the music constantly moving and shifting ebb
and flow. Eventually brass and tambourine try to move the music forward to a
climax, as if the music is trying to break out in some way, but seems to fall
back. A flute theme appears in a Scottish sounding little tune. Eventually a
real climax breaks out but still there is the melodic line in the strings to
which the music returns. The Scottish sounding theme on the flute returns,
backed by fluttering strings before being picked up by a solo violin. A solo
trumpet joins against the other brass and hovering strings before quietening to
an end.
Timpani strokes open the second
movement before a trombone intones a solemn melody interrupted by more
timpani before leading to a massive climax. Strings hold a melodic feel which
brass and percussion try to break out of. A struggle seems to ensue with wild
brass and percussion against the melodic strings. The strings have their way
for a moment in a melodic passage before brass returns. By the end there is a
final word from the timpani and percussion to suddenly end the movement.
Low strings open the third
movement slowly. A powerful, constantly shifting, melody on the strings
continues, perhaps one of Max’s most beautiful creations. Woodwind and brass
join as do percussion and finally the marimba. Slowly the pace quickens a
little as the full orchestra builds to a slight climax providing music of
breadth and power. There are magical sounds conjured with strings, marimba and
percussion. Towards the end the music seems to heave up from the depths with
brass to a climax against anguished string sounds where the Scottish tune can
be heard again. Short brass and timpani outbursts signal the end of the work
that quietens and peters out on the timpani and percussion.
Time and the Raven
precedes the Sixth Symphony by one year and was commissioned by the Royal
Philharmonic for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United
Nations. Underneath the surface of this apparently lighter work, there is an
undertow of darkness. In Peter Maxwell Davies’ own words ‘…the Raven becomes a symbol of warning – in my work, dark music hints at
what could be, were attitudes to nationalism not to modify.’
Whilst there is the feeling of nationalistic music, no
actual National Anthem is used. This work seems to bring together two elements
of Max’s work, the lighter occasional piece and his darker more serious work. Occasionally
there is an Ivesian feel as the pseudo anthems emerge from a kaleidoscope of
sounds. This is a terrific piece that is more than just an occasional work.
Orkney Wedding and
Sunrise was written in 1984 for the centenary of the Boston Pops
Orchestra. This most popular work of Maxwell Davies was inspired by an actual
wedding attended on the Orkney Island of Hoy that was the first wedding on the island for
many years. It is a brilliantly inspired work that takes us from the guests
arriving at a wedding, to the band tuning up, dancing, a drunken fiddler, and
guests leaving at dawn as a bagpiper welcomes the rising sun. If you haven’t
already heard this work then you really should not miss it.
These re-releases are a great addition to Naxos’ catalogue.
The performances are everything you would expect from these orchestras under
the baton of the composer. There are informative notes by the composer himself
as well as Richard Whitehouse and David Nice. Highly recommended.
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