Symphony No. 10 (Simpson)

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Robert Simpson composed his Symphony No. 10 in 1988 and dedicated it to the conductor Vernon Handley who gave the premiere of the work in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, on 16 January 1991 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. This is Simpson's largest and longest symphony, being one of his most contrapuntal works and in four substantial movements.

Contents

Form

The symphony is approximately 51 minutes in length and is divided into four movements which broadly resemble a classical symphony structure:

  1. Allegro
    The symphony opens wrathfully and, like all the movements of the symphony, projects the leap of a minor third through three octaves from the orchestra, a motive that is used to provide much of the thematic and melodic material of the whole work. It develops without much affinity with a typical, classical sonata form, culminating to a massive coda in which the tempo broadens out.
  2. Allegro leggiero
    This second movement is a relatively brief scherzo, played entirely ppp and seemingly evoking shimmering moths around a light at night, shifting rapidly in tonality. Throughout, there are hints of a vast tidal force just below the musical surface.
  3. Andante con moto
    This is a broad, calm movement in a three part section that includes a middle section whose overall tempo feel is double of the outer sections. Throughout there are hints of the very opening gesture of the work in the brass and woodwinds.
  4. Largo - Allegro con brio
    The work culminates in an enormous, 20 minute finale which was apparently inspired by the finale of the Beethoven ‘Hammerklavier’ Piano Sonata. It opens with a slow, mysterious introduction that gives way to a spirited, fiery fugal subject which becomes increasingly polyphonic and explores a wide range of orchestrational colours. It culminates in a furious battle from the two timpanists which closes with two sharp chords from the orchestra that recall the opening gesture, suggesting the argument has come full circle.

Discography

Currently, the only commercially available CD is a Hyperion Records performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley. [1]

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Robert Wilfred Levick Simpson was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.

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The Symphony No. 3 by Arnold Bax was completed in 1929. It was dedicated to Sir Henry Wood and is perhaps the most performed and most immediately approachable of Bax's symphonies.

Symphony No. 3 (Arnold)

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The Symphony No. 1 by Robert Simpson was completed in 1951 and submitted as his doctorate thesis for the University of Durham.

The Symphony No. 2 by Robert Simpson was completed in 1956 and dedicated to Anthony Bernard, conductor of the London Chamber Orchestra, though the first performance was in fact given by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli on 16 July 1957 at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Symphony No. 3 by Robert Simpson was written in 1962 and dedicated to veteran composer Havergal Brian. The premiere was given by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on 14 March 1963 under the conductor Hugo Rignold. Its BBC Proms premiere was given by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on 21 August 1967 under the conductor Charles Groves. The US premiere was given by the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra on 8 December 1974 under its then Music Director, Ainslee Cox.

The Symphony No. 4 by Robert Simpson was written between 1970 and 1972 and commissioned by The Hallé who gave the premiere, conducted by James Loughran, at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, on 6 April 1973.

The Symphony No. 5 by Robert Simpson was written in 1972 and "dedicated in admiration" to the London Symphony Orchestra, who gave the premiere on May 3, 1973, conducted by Andrew Davis. The second performance in England didn't take place until 1984.

Robert Simpson composed his Seventh Symphony in 1977, the same year he completed his Sixth Symphony. The work is dedicated to Hans Keller and his wife, Milein Keller, and was first performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Brian Wright at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool on 30 October 1984. It is a one-movement work of approximately 28 minutes duration, and since its first performance it has become one of Simpson’s most frequently heard symphonies.

The Symphony No. 8 by Robert Simpson was completed in 1981 and commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society. The first performance was given at the Royal Festival Hall on 10 November 1982 by the Royal Danish Orchestra conducted by Jerzy Semkow. The work employs a large orchestra which includes two sets of timpani and four horns. It one of Simpson’s largest, richest and most complex scores.

The Piano Concerto in C is a concertante work by Ralph Vaughan Williams written in 1926 and 1930-31. During the intervening years, the composer completed Job: A Masque for Dancing and began work on his Fourth Symphony. The concerto shares some thematic characteristics with these works, as well as some of their drama and turbulence.

Symphony No. 1 in G minor, "Sérieuse", is an orchestral work by Swedish composer Franz Berwald. It was premiered on December 2, 1842 in a concert at the Royal Opera, Stockholm given by the Swedish Royal Court Orchestra conducted by the composer's cousin Johan Fredrik Berwald. This first performance was not a success, leading to this symphony being the only one of Berwald's mature symphonies to be performed during his lifetime;.

References

  1. ↑ Andrew Jacksons, "Recordings and Reviews of Simpson's Works Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine . Accessed 5 May 2008


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