The Art-Music Forum

Following the splendid news about the recent recording for Toccata of William Wordsworth's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 8, I can now reveal that the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Rory Macdonald have recorded-

THOMAS WILSON (1927-2001)

Symphony No.3 (1979)
Symphony No.4 "Passeleth Tapestry" (1988)
Carillon for orchestra (1990)

for Linn Records.

News of four previously unrecorded British symphonies!! Happy Days :)

Excellent news! I wonder who's paying for them?
Now, if we could get the remainder of Arthur Butterworths paid some attention, that would a be job well done...

I am inclined to suspect (and this may or may not be informed speculation) that the recording has been made with generous financial support from a friend or friends of the late composer.

Unlike Iain Hamilton- who although a Scot was educated, lived and worked in London and in North Carolina- or Wordsworth who was a Englishman who chose to live in the Highlands and was also excessively diffident about his own music- Wilson was very much a fixture of the West of Scotland music scene for decades. As such he made many friends. Some of those were well-known in Glasgow musical circles and were/are not without the personal financial resources to......etc etc etc

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thomas-Wilson-Symphonies-Rory-Macdonald/dp/B07M6LXLG5/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1547491456&sr=1-2&keywords=Thomas+Wilson (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thomas-Wilson-Symphonies-Rory-Macdonald/dp/B07M6LXLG5/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1547491456&sr=1-2&keywords=Thomas+Wilson)

Scheduled for release in early February.

and now two more symphonies on their way from Linn:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8846067--thomas-wilson-symphonies-nos-2-5 (https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8846067--thomas-wilson-symphonies-nos-2-5)

These are great news! I am very much looking forward to this CD, in particular for the Fifth, which is a great work distinguished by some kind of autumnal beauty.