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David Matthews Symphony No. 8

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tapiola
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« on: June 06, 2016, 09:24:42 am »

On 29 June, the BBC Philharmonic under Jac van Steen will be recording Symphony No.8 and Toward Sunrise at Media City, Salford, for a Chandos CD. ​This will also include A Vision of the Sea which the orchestra have already recorded under Juanjo Mena.
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2016, 11:05:59 am »

Very, very welcome though this news is it is also a little strange.

Dutton seemed to have the monopoly on recording the orchestral music of David Matthews-although there was one previous Chandos cd with  the "Concerto in Azzurro", "The Music of Dawn" and "A Vision and a Journey" recorded back in 2007 and issued in 2009.

However one can but applaud Chandos for getting in on the act and adding to the quite remarkable David Matthews discography. Oh fortunate man to have virtually everything he has composed for orchestra on disc :)  Thoroughly well-deserved too...of course :)
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ahinton
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« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2016, 01:52:47 pm »

Very, very welcome though this news is it is also a little strange.

Dutton seemed to have the monopoly on recording the orchestral music of David Matthews-although there was one previous Chandos cd with  the "Concerto in Azzurro", "The Music of Dawn" and "A Vision and a Journey" recorded back in 2007 and issued in 2009.

However one can but applaud Chandos for getting in on the act and adding to the quite remarkable David Matthews discography. Oh fortunate man to have virtually everything he has composed for orchestra on disc :)  Thoroughly well-deserved too...of course :)
Indeed so!
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calyptorhynchus
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« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2016, 10:50:34 pm »

Will remove my recording from our archive when the disk comes out.
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2018, 11:45:51 pm »

This recording was postponed until November 2017. It must be hoped that Chandos will not long delay its release. Jac van Steen and the Ulster Orchestra performed the work a few days ago in Belfast.

The Symphony No.9 is due its premiere in Bristol on 9 May with the English Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Woods. I hope that a recording will not take as long as its predecessor!
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calyptorhynchus
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« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2018, 06:53:27 am »

Excellent news! I reckon our David is the greatest living symphonies at the moment. Let's hope he avoids the "curse of the Ninth" and gives us at least a Tenth.
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calyptorhynchus
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« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2018, 08:39:46 am »

symphonist  :)
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ahinton
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« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2018, 09:00:10 am »

symphonist  :)
There's no arguing with you estimation of David Matthews here, although it does seem as though England now has a clutch of composers keeping the symphony alive; a quick browse of the excellent Toccata Classics label will, for example, reveal some by composers such as Rodney Newton, Steve Elcock and David Hackbridge Johnson, the last of whom has actually written more symphonies that David Matthews has yet done!
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2018, 12:42:59 pm »

You are of course absolutely correct to highlight these composers and their symphonies recorded recently by Toccata Classics. Their symphonies do indeed prove that there are composers still composing symphonies and fine symphonies at that.

There is though for me an interesting issue. When a composer produces a piece of music it is in the form of a score. When a painter paints a picture or a sculptor creates a sculpture these works of art are "accessible" to his or her potential audience. The painting or sculpture may of course never be exhibited to the public or indeed seen by anyone else but it is certainly "alive" both to its creator and in a more general sense.

It could be argued that this is less obviously the case with a piece of music. The work exists (it may even, I suppose, be argued by a composer that it exists in his head) in the form of a score. If made available, in whatever format, the score can be studied by those who can read musical scores. But is the music "alive" until it is performed and thereby heard by others. There could well be hundreds of thousands of symphonies by living composers lying around unperformed, unheard. Does that mean that the symphony is alive and well?

For me the symphony is not Really "alive" until it has been performed (and I might even claim-although I won't!- heard by me, either in live performance or in a recording).

What I think we generally tend to do is to recognise he existence of a work if we Know that it has been composed. This is a sort of compromise position. If we have heard other music composed by an individual then the mere existence of an unperformed work means that it becomes an "entity" in our knowledge and perception of that composer's works. Thus, William Wordsworth's unperformed Symphony No.6 "Sinfonia Elegiaca" exists in my perception of Wordsworth as a composer. In that sense the symphony may not be properly "alive" but I perceive it as capable of becoming fully "alive".

Until I became aware of the existence of Rodney Newton, David Hackbridge Johnson or Steve Elcock and, more importantly, was able to listen to their symphonies I could not possibly regard them as "living British symphonists". Now I can. And that of course is due to the enterprise of Toccata!

This is a (typically?) rambling set of comments. What I have tried to convey may be incoherent. It may also be complete nonsense. But if it provokes or elicits any discussion then my post will have served some purpose :)
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guest128
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« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2018, 04:53:19 pm »

If a tree falls in the woods does it make any sound if there are no ears that hear it?
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2018, 05:45:56 pm »

Is a symphony a piece of music if it is never heard? Yes, it exists as a score but it was intended, presumably, to have real existence as sound not as musical notation.
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Grandenorm
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« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2018, 09:28:06 pm »

Quote
If a tree falls in the woods does it make any sound if there are no ears to hear it?

There was a young man who said, "God
"Must find it exceedingly odd
"To think that this tree
"Will continue to be
"When there's no-one about in the quad."

Dear Sir,
   Your remarks are quite odd.
   I am always about in the quad,
   And that's why this tree
   Will continue to be
   When observed by
        Yours faithfully,
             GOD

Thus, Bishop Berkeley.

Quote
Is a symphony a piece of music if it is never heard?

Up to a point, Lord Copper. Like the text of a play, the score is a statement of intention - the finished work of art is the performance in both cases.
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #12 on: April 27, 2018, 11:28:18 pm »

I would agree with this

I suppose my basic point is that I am not sure that "the symphony is alive and well" just because there are plenty of composers writing symphonies if these works are not being heard.
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Grandenorm
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« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2018, 08:28:56 pm »

That's a very fair observation.
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« Reply #14 on: May 13, 2018, 11:58:32 am »

Quote
The Symphony No.9 is due its premiere in Bristol on 9 May with the English Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Woods. I hope that a recording will not take as long as its predecessor!

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/may/10/english-symphony-orchestra-woods-review-st-georges-bristol-david-matthews-ninth-symphony
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