Maxwell Davies - Symphony No.2, St Thomas Wake | Naxos 8572349

Maxwell Davies - Symphony No.2, St Thomas Wake

£12.30

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Label: Naxos

Cat No: 8572349

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Orchestral

Release Date: 30th April 2012

Contents

Artists

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor

Peter Maxwell Davies

Works

Davies, Peter Maxwell

St Thomas Wake
Symphony no.2

Artists

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor

Peter Maxwell Davies

About

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Second Symphony is his ‘Sea Symphony’, a complex, virtuosic work that explores in absorbing, increasingly dynamic fashion, the ocean’s proximity and what the composer calls ‘the architecture of its forms’. Both themes and orchestration are masterly. The percussion section is richly voiced, adding considerably to the symphony’s very particular, rugged and varied sound world. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is a leading symphonist and this particular work is a rugged, powerful example of how he has absorbed the influence of, say, Sibelius to generate his own sense of sound, motion and energy.

St Thomas Wake, by contrast, is a disquieting but bravura exercise in parody, evoking memories of the composer’s experiences during the Second World War.

As with the St Thomas Wake, Symphony No.2 is an ex-Collins recording, and it received excellent reviews when first released in 1994, though back then these two works were not coupled together.

Universally acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has made a significant contribution to musical history through his wide-ranging and prolific output. He lives in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland, where he writes most of his music.

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