A Recording to Savour
GEOFF PEARCE admires the music of British composer John McCabe
‘… a fine account of these works …’
I have long been a devotee of John McCabe, both as a pianist and also as a composer, so when I saw this recording, I really wanted to review it, and I am pleased that I did. The album comprises two fine symphonies and the Cello Concerto.
The second symphony, written in 1970-71, is a reflection on the violence that mankind appears to repeat again and again, apparently without thought or reason, and owes much to the Sam Peckinpah movie of 1969, The Wild Bunch, even though the music does not act as a direct impression of any particular scene. It is in five sections of between three to six minutes duration each, and in themselves, they can not be regarded as movements, but, rather, changes of emotion.
The first section, ‘Vivo’, is a kind of nervous and unsettled section which builds in excitement and has considerable tension. The composer is a fine orchestrator and also has a way of managing the progression of a piece in such a way that it is quite logical.
Listen — John McCabe: Vivo (Symphony No 2)
(SIGCD1007 track 1, 3:45-4:26) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The second section, ‘Andante’, is full of quiet beauty and mystery, at times as if shrouded by mist with shapes emerging and then retreating into the safety of obscurity. There is some beautiful solo work here from the all major sections, particularly flute and oboe d’amore, and the whole of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra responds well to this evocative music under the direction of Kenneth Woods.
Listen — John McCabe: Andante (Symphony No 2)
(SIGCD1007 track 2, 2:22-3:10) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
I particularly enjoyed the third section, which hearkens back to the first, but here there is an airiness and playfulness that is not present at the opening of the work. At the same time there is also drama and darkness, but this is fleeting.
Listen — John McCabe: Allegrissimo (Symphony No 2)
(SIGCD1007 track 3, 2:52-3:33) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The fourth section is slow, mostly thoughtful and quite sad, although it does become more tense, dense and somewhat dramatic towards the end, before subsiding. Again there is a brief but beautiful oboe d’amore solo towards the final moments.
The last section contains quite a lot of contrasting material and is largely a rather frenetic dance, interspersed with calmer passions and outbursts of violence, ending in sad calmness.
The Cello Concerto, Songline, of 2007 references the Australian Aboriginals and to quote the composer: ‘the invisible pathways of the Australian aboriginals, routes that they sing into life, naming or relating to everything they see or encounter’, which references both physical and psychological paths. McCabe had spent significant time in Australia and the cellist Raphael Wallfisch likewise (and is married to an Australian).
The opening section is full of excitement and is of cheerful disposition, dance-like and playful. There is a sense of wonder, yet also a wry humour. It is an easy and interesting movement to listen to and the cellist has ample opportunities to showcase his technique and also the expressive qualities of his instrument.
Listen — John McCabe: Allegro vivace (Cello Concerto, Songline)
(SIGCD1007 track 6, 3:17-4:11) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The second movement is the longest and is the core of this concerto, I think. It is resplendent with calls of birds, the quiet chatter of people moving through the landscape and the dappling of light through leaves – at least that is what I imagine. It inhabits a land both familiar and new, and a source of wonder and attachment for one moving through it. There is considerable clarity of texture, reminding me of wide open spaces and clean air. The cello provides the extended narrative around which everything else moves, along with a large central cadenza.
Listen — John McCabe: Adagio (Cello Concerto, Songline)
(SIGCD1007 track 7, 7:32-8:19) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
There are some beautiful moments in this movement and I do hope that it will become a standard in the repertoire, as there is much to recommend here. The last part sets up the following movement and is much more animated.
The final movement is fast and rhythmic, and there is a pulsating drone that reminds me of the liveliness and colour of a corroboree.
Listen — John McCabe: Allegro (Cello Concerto, Songline)
(SIGCD1007 track 8, 2:15-3:15) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
It eventually dissolves into a kind of whisper of a memory and thus ends a very enjoyable concerto, with a sudden clap.
The last work on this disc is the Third Symphony, Hommages, composed in 1978 – a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Here, the composer pays homage to other composers who have meant something to him. He does this on two levels, one by direct quotation, as in the case of Joseph Haydn and Carl Nielsen, and the other by illusion of an aspect of each composer, as in the case of Szymanowski, Schoenberg and Tippett.
The opening movement, ‘Flessible’, uses the slow movement of Haydn’s String Quartet, Op 76 No 6, as the basis of a tune of his own and provides an oscillating two chord pattern drawn from Carl Nielsen’s Suite for Piano, Opus 45. The booklet notes explain how the composer employs this. The result is distinctly John McCabe and does not immediately sound like Haydn or Nielsen. It does not place great demands on the listener, even though it is unmistakably ‘modern’. In my mind, if I am being imaginative, this movement conjured up a nautical feeling, of perhaps sailing on a bright and breezy day, perhaps in a large estuary or lake. It is largely untroubled, but does progress to an impressive climax, yet equally, sometimes the writing is scored as if for a chamber ensemble. There is a strong feeling of direction here, and the music never feels aimless like contemporary music sometimes can.
Listen — John McCabe: Flessible (Symphony No 3, Hommages)
(SIGCD1007 track 9, 4:27-5:18) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The opening movement leads directly into a central Adagio, also entitled ‘Fantasia’, as does the Haydn slow movement which inspired it. It is build around a roulade in the flutes and is rather otherworldly – actually almost nebulous. I find this quite an unusual movement – more like the wisp of a dream, so that, when one awakens, one knows that one has had a dream, perhaps a vague reminiscence on what it may have been about, but no idea of the content.
Listen — John McCabe: Adagio (Symphony No 3, Hommages)
(SIGCD1007 track 10, 4:28-5:11) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
There is a climax that is a little unsettling towards the end, but then the movement returns to the flutes to calm things down during the second or two before the music moves directly into the final movement.
The final movement, a moderato entitled ‘Fugue-variations’ starts in the piccolo, then one flute, then other instruments are added, and brass and woodwind hasten things along as the pace increases. The music then ebbs and flows a bit, different motifs come and go, sometimes treated in a contrapuntal manner. At places, particularly McCabe’s use of brass and percussion and the wind passages, I am reminded quite a lot of Nielsen, at least in spirit. The climax is glorious, exciting and quite long, in reference to the whole movement, but this subsides into a gentle but satisfying ending.
Listen — John McCabe: Moderato (Symphony No 3, Hommages)
(SIGCD1007 track 11, 8:12-9:09) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
I like John McCabe as a composer, and I think that, outside of the UK, we do not hear enough of his music performed, so this is a very welcome recording of three major works, performed by an orchestra and soloist who provide a fine account of these works, and a conductor who understands the intricacies and direction of this music. I do hope there is greater interest in this quite individual composer of our time. The recorded sound is warm and clear, and the booklet is informative. This is a recording to savour.
John McCabe: Symphonies 2 & 3 and Cello Concerto (Signum Classics) ????
John McCabe, who died in 2015, belongs to that vital stream of 20th/21st century British composers whose modernist aspirations at a time of stylistic soul-seeking fed the inspiration of today’s more relaxed modernism, but whose own exposure waned posthumously as a result. All credit to the BBC SSO and conductor Kenneth Woods for redressing the balance with an illuminating package of McCabe’s Second and Third Symphonies (both 1970s) and his 2007 Cello Concerto, Songline. These are impressive, clean-cut performances, capturing vividly the precision engineering of McCabe’s texturing, but equally the warmth that softens any underlying austerity. The Symphony No 2, a febrile, crystalline reflection on human violence, sizzles with translucent dynamism. Compare that to the lusher density of the Third Symphony (“Hommages”), or the excitable fluidity of the Aboriginal-inspired Songline with cellist Raphael Wallfisch as inspired protagonist, and the distinctiveness of McCabe’s music is plain to see. Ken Walton
RELEASED TODAY, Friday July 24: Signum Classics/John McCabe’s Symphonies Two & Three and Cello Concerto ‘Songline’ – Kenneth Woods/BBC Scottish SO with Raphael Wallfisch.
Jul 24, 2026 | Outstanding [category w.e.f. January 2021], Recording Reviews | 0 comments
Originally posted on June 9
John McCabe’s music has the knack of holding the listener’s attention from the off and keeping it for the duration of the piece, which is certainly true of the three substantial works here, each playing continuously for roughly twenty-five minutes. McCabe (1939-2015), a prolific composer across various genres and ensembles, was also a notable pianist (a pioneer when recording Haydn Sonatas complete for Decca) and gifted with the written word.
The five-movement Second Symphony (1971) owes to The Wild Bunch, Sam Peckinpah’s late-1960s film with a cast including William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ryan, the director’s structuring of the movie suggesting to McCabe how his Symphony should progress. With brilliant large-orchestra scoring, a heady atmosphere is created – cinematic indeed – powerful musical arguments making for a tense if compelling journey; potentially a familiar one given Louis Frémaux’s well-established CBSO recording for EMI/Warner that was tied to the premiere.
The remaining pieces are recorded for the first time.
Symphony No.3 (‘Hommages’; 1978), commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the premiere conducted by Charles Dutoit, is underscored by Haydn and Nielsen, both important to McCabe. It’s eminently listenable, beguiling in its colours and interactions. Early into the final (third) movement a layering of conflicting frequencies reminds of Birtwistle, and from there a huge climax is built, surprising given what has gone before – impassioned, a mighty vehement force unleashed, the polar opposite to the mild-mannered, quietly spoken, totally approachable man that McCabe was on the few occasions our paths crossed at concerts.
The Cello Concerto ‘Songline’ (2007) – a Hallé commission for Truls Mørk, Mark Elder conducted the first performance – is a wonderful opus, neoclassical, lyrical and intimate, attractively quirky in design, ideas and instrumentation. McCabe writes: “The Songlines are the invisible pathways of the Australian aboriginals, routes that they sing into life, naming or relating to everything they see or encounter. These are both physical ways that they walk, during which process every feature of the landscape also has some tribal or mythical significance, and also psychological routes by which they trace their culture.” In passing, a brass flourish might remind of Tippett, a couple of bars could suggest Stravinsky’s Agon. With Raphael Wallfisch in eloquent and quicksilver form, as the music demands, ‘Songline’ invites further listens and the wide appreciation this release affords.
With vibrant and committed performances conducted insightfully by Kenneth Woods that exude rightness throughout, Andrew Keener’s high-end production values, Oscar Torres’s superb sound, and Guy Rickards’s booklet note, this winner of a release is on Signum Classics SIGCD1007 and available from July 24.
Might I suggest to Signum a coupling of McCabe’s Violin Concerto No.2 – a masterpiece (is any soloist playing it following Erich Gruenberg and Dennis Simons?) – with The Chagall Windows (previously Loughran and Haitink).
JOHN McCABE: Orchestral works
Jun 25, 2026 | CD reviews
John McCabe – Orchestral works
Raphael Wallfisch cello
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Woods conductor
SIGNUM SIGCD1007
This is a major release. McCabe’s cello concerto, a work of extraordinary construction and beauty, is one of his most important and compelling works. Premiered by Truls Mørk in 2007, its recording by the equally accomplished Wallfisch is long overdue. The subtitle indicates its indebtedness to Bruce Chatwin’s philosophical novel, The Songlines (1981).
In the long Adagio of the second movement, the soloist traces the physical and psychological pathways of Australian Aboriginal creationist myths, encountering small instrumental combinations that reflect the totemic beings who sang the world into existence.
This profound culture is rich soil for a composer – Britten’s proposed collaboration with Sidney Nolan on a ballet based on the ‘Dreamtimes’ never materialised, alas – but did McCabe know Michael Finnissy’s Red Earth, Peter Sculthorpe’s lyrical Cello Dreaming, or Alan Garner’s superb novel, Strandloper?
One might consider that there is something of the roughness of Finnissy’s scorched landscape, and even a few brief nods to Sculthorpe’s trademark bird-like descending glissandos here (listen, for example, halfway through the second movement after the cello’s mesmeric dialogue with a solo vibraphone).
McCabe’s large orchestra is deployed in variegated chamber-like ensembles whose timbres are very carefully calculated (there is also a prominent part for xylophone), allowing his consistently fresh and intriguing landscape to unfold with a sense of wonder and delight.
The two symphonies have equally intriguing undertones. The main impulse of No. 2 was suggested by Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 film The Wild Bunch – not, the composer was anxious to emphasise, its synopsis, action or inherent violence – but the overall shape of the drama, which McCabe considered to possess a distinctly satisfying sonata-like arch. The five movements follow each other without a break.
Once again, the instrumentation is large, including oboe d’amore, piano, celesta and a large percussion assembly. It is a captivating score, lively and poignant by turns, and is given an authoritative reading. The homages of Symphony no. 3 are not immediately evident, but the slow movement from Haydn’s String Quartet op. 76, no. 6 underpins the Adagio, and two chords from Nielsen’s Suite for Piano are important structural components throughout. Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage is also not far from this sound-world, particularly in the writing for percussion, and the breathtaking sunburst that concludes this gripping work.
The BBC SSO play with huge commitment under Kenneth Woods, the recording is exceptionally clear, and all instrumental spotlighting has been achieved subtly and naturally. McCabe has been finely served, and it is to be hoped that another issue is on the way.
Admin –
Classical Music Daily
https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/2026/07/john-mccabe.htm
A Recording to Savour
GEOFF PEARCE admires the music of British composer John McCabe
‘… a fine account of these works …’
I have long been a devotee of John McCabe, both as a pianist and also as a composer, so when I saw this recording, I really wanted to review it, and I am pleased that I did. The album comprises two fine symphonies and the Cello Concerto.
The second symphony, written in 1970-71, is a reflection on the violence that mankind appears to repeat again and again, apparently without thought or reason, and owes much to the Sam Peckinpah movie of 1969, The Wild Bunch, even though the music does not act as a direct impression of any particular scene. It is in five sections of between three to six minutes duration each, and in themselves, they can not be regarded as movements, but, rather, changes of emotion.
The first section, ‘Vivo’, is a kind of nervous and unsettled section which builds in excitement and has considerable tension. The composer is a fine orchestrator and also has a way of managing the progression of a piece in such a way that it is quite logical.
Listen — John McCabe: Vivo (Symphony No 2)
(SIGCD1007 track 1, 3:45-4:26) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The second section, ‘Andante’, is full of quiet beauty and mystery, at times as if shrouded by mist with shapes emerging and then retreating into the safety of obscurity. There is some beautiful solo work here from the all major sections, particularly flute and oboe d’amore, and the whole of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra responds well to this evocative music under the direction of Kenneth Woods.
Listen — John McCabe: Andante (Symphony No 2)
(SIGCD1007 track 2, 2:22-3:10) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
I particularly enjoyed the third section, which hearkens back to the first, but here there is an airiness and playfulness that is not present at the opening of the work. At the same time there is also drama and darkness, but this is fleeting.
Listen — John McCabe: Allegrissimo (Symphony No 2)
(SIGCD1007 track 3, 2:52-3:33) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The fourth section is slow, mostly thoughtful and quite sad, although it does become more tense, dense and somewhat dramatic towards the end, before subsiding. Again there is a brief but beautiful oboe d’amore solo towards the final moments.
The last section contains quite a lot of contrasting material and is largely a rather frenetic dance, interspersed with calmer passions and outbursts of violence, ending in sad calmness.
The Cello Concerto, Songline, of 2007 references the Australian Aboriginals and to quote the composer: ‘the invisible pathways of the Australian aboriginals, routes that they sing into life, naming or relating to everything they see or encounter’, which references both physical and psychological paths. McCabe had spent significant time in Australia and the cellist Raphael Wallfisch likewise (and is married to an Australian).
The opening section is full of excitement and is of cheerful disposition, dance-like and playful. There is a sense of wonder, yet also a wry humour. It is an easy and interesting movement to listen to and the cellist has ample opportunities to showcase his technique and also the expressive qualities of his instrument.
Listen — John McCabe: Allegro vivace (Cello Concerto, Songline)
(SIGCD1007 track 6, 3:17-4:11) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The second movement is the longest and is the core of this concerto, I think. It is resplendent with calls of birds, the quiet chatter of people moving through the landscape and the dappling of light through leaves – at least that is what I imagine. It inhabits a land both familiar and new, and a source of wonder and attachment for one moving through it. There is considerable clarity of texture, reminding me of wide open spaces and clean air. The cello provides the extended narrative around which everything else moves, along with a large central cadenza.
Listen — John McCabe: Adagio (Cello Concerto, Songline)
(SIGCD1007 track 7, 7:32-8:19) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
There are some beautiful moments in this movement and I do hope that it will become a standard in the repertoire, as there is much to recommend here. The last part sets up the following movement and is much more animated.
The final movement is fast and rhythmic, and there is a pulsating drone that reminds me of the liveliness and colour of a corroboree.
Listen — John McCabe: Allegro (Cello Concerto, Songline)
(SIGCD1007 track 8, 2:15-3:15) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
It eventually dissolves into a kind of whisper of a memory and thus ends a very enjoyable concerto, with a sudden clap.
The last work on this disc is the Third Symphony, Hommages, composed in 1978 – a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Here, the composer pays homage to other composers who have meant something to him. He does this on two levels, one by direct quotation, as in the case of Joseph Haydn and Carl Nielsen, and the other by illusion of an aspect of each composer, as in the case of Szymanowski, Schoenberg and Tippett.
The opening movement, ‘Flessible’, uses the slow movement of Haydn’s String Quartet, Op 76 No 6, as the basis of a tune of his own and provides an oscillating two chord pattern drawn from Carl Nielsen’s Suite for Piano, Opus 45. The booklet notes explain how the composer employs this. The result is distinctly John McCabe and does not immediately sound like Haydn or Nielsen. It does not place great demands on the listener, even though it is unmistakably ‘modern’. In my mind, if I am being imaginative, this movement conjured up a nautical feeling, of perhaps sailing on a bright and breezy day, perhaps in a large estuary or lake. It is largely untroubled, but does progress to an impressive climax, yet equally, sometimes the writing is scored as if for a chamber ensemble. There is a strong feeling of direction here, and the music never feels aimless like contemporary music sometimes can.
Listen — John McCabe: Flessible (Symphony No 3, Hommages)
(SIGCD1007 track 9, 4:27-5:18) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
The opening movement leads directly into a central Adagio, also entitled ‘Fantasia’, as does the Haydn slow movement which inspired it. It is build around a roulade in the flutes and is rather otherworldly – actually almost nebulous. I find this quite an unusual movement – more like the wisp of a dream, so that, when one awakens, one knows that one has had a dream, perhaps a vague reminiscence on what it may have been about, but no idea of the content.
Listen — John McCabe: Adagio (Symphony No 3, Hommages)
(SIGCD1007 track 10, 4:28-5:11) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
There is a climax that is a little unsettling towards the end, but then the movement returns to the flutes to calm things down during the second or two before the music moves directly into the final movement.
The final movement, a moderato entitled ‘Fugue-variations’ starts in the piccolo, then one flute, then other instruments are added, and brass and woodwind hasten things along as the pace increases. The music then ebbs and flows a bit, different motifs come and go, sometimes treated in a contrapuntal manner. At places, particularly McCabe’s use of brass and percussion and the wind passages, I am reminded quite a lot of Nielsen, at least in spirit. The climax is glorious, exciting and quite long, in reference to the whole movement, but this subsides into a gentle but satisfying ending.
Listen — John McCabe: Moderato (Symphony No 3, Hommages)
(SIGCD1007 track 11, 8:12-9:09) ? 2025 BBC / Kenneth Woods :
I like John McCabe as a composer, and I think that, outside of the UK, we do not hear enough of his music performed, so this is a very welcome recording of three major works, performed by an orchestra and soloist who provide a fine account of these works, and a conductor who understands the intricacies and direction of this music. I do hope there is greater interest in this quite individual composer of our time. The recorded sound is warm and clear, and the booklet is informative. This is a recording to savour.
Copyright © 14 July 2026 Geoff Pearce, Bomaderry NSW, Australia
Admin –
The Scotsman – Album of the Week
CLASSICAL
John McCabe: Symphonies 2 & 3 and Cello Concerto (Signum Classics) ????
John McCabe, who died in 2015, belongs to that vital stream of 20th/21st century British composers whose modernist aspirations at a time of stylistic soul-seeking fed the inspiration of today’s more relaxed modernism, but whose own exposure waned posthumously as a result. All credit to the BBC SSO and conductor Kenneth Woods for redressing the balance with an illuminating package of McCabe’s Second and Third Symphonies (both 1970s) and his 2007 Cello Concerto, Songline. These are impressive, clean-cut performances, capturing vividly the precision engineering of McCabe’s texturing, but equally the warmth that softens any underlying austerity. The Symphony No 2, a febrile, crystalline reflection on human violence, sizzles with translucent dynamism. Compare that to the lusher density of the Third Symphony (“Hommages”), or the excitable fluidity of the Aboriginal-inspired Songline with cellist Raphael Wallfisch as inspired protagonist, and the distinctiveness of McCabe’s music is plain to see. Ken Walton
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Colin Anderson – Classical Source
https://www.colinscolumn.com/signum-classics-releases-john-mccabes-symphonies-two-three-and-songline-cello-concerto-kenneth-woods-conducts-bbc-scottish-so-with-raphael-wallfisch/
RELEASED TODAY, Friday July 24: Signum Classics/John McCabe’s Symphonies Two & Three and Cello Concerto ‘Songline’ – Kenneth Woods/BBC Scottish SO with Raphael Wallfisch.
Jul 24, 2026 | Outstanding [category w.e.f. January 2021], Recording Reviews | 0 comments
Originally posted on June 9
John McCabe’s music has the knack of holding the listener’s attention from the off and keeping it for the duration of the piece, which is certainly true of the three substantial works here, each playing continuously for roughly twenty-five minutes. McCabe (1939-2015), a prolific composer across various genres and ensembles, was also a notable pianist (a pioneer when recording Haydn Sonatas complete for Decca) and gifted with the written word.
The five-movement Second Symphony (1971) owes to The Wild Bunch, Sam Peckinpah’s late-1960s film with a cast including William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ryan, the director’s structuring of the movie suggesting to McCabe how his Symphony should progress. With brilliant large-orchestra scoring, a heady atmosphere is created – cinematic indeed – powerful musical arguments making for a tense if compelling journey; potentially a familiar one given Louis Frémaux’s well-established CBSO recording for EMI/Warner that was tied to the premiere.
The remaining pieces are recorded for the first time.
Symphony No.3 (‘Hommages’; 1978), commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the premiere conducted by Charles Dutoit, is underscored by Haydn and Nielsen, both important to McCabe. It’s eminently listenable, beguiling in its colours and interactions. Early into the final (third) movement a layering of conflicting frequencies reminds of Birtwistle, and from there a huge climax is built, surprising given what has gone before – impassioned, a mighty vehement force unleashed, the polar opposite to the mild-mannered, quietly spoken, totally approachable man that McCabe was on the few occasions our paths crossed at concerts.
The Cello Concerto ‘Songline’ (2007) – a Hallé commission for Truls Mørk, Mark Elder conducted the first performance – is a wonderful opus, neoclassical, lyrical and intimate, attractively quirky in design, ideas and instrumentation. McCabe writes: “The Songlines are the invisible pathways of the Australian aboriginals, routes that they sing into life, naming or relating to everything they see or encounter. These are both physical ways that they walk, during which process every feature of the landscape also has some tribal or mythical significance, and also psychological routes by which they trace their culture.” In passing, a brass flourish might remind of Tippett, a couple of bars could suggest Stravinsky’s Agon. With Raphael Wallfisch in eloquent and quicksilver form, as the music demands, ‘Songline’ invites further listens and the wide appreciation this release affords.
With vibrant and committed performances conducted insightfully by Kenneth Woods that exude rightness throughout, Andrew Keener’s high-end production values, Oscar Torres’s superb sound, and Guy Rickards’s booklet note, this winner of a release is on Signum Classics SIGCD1007 and available from July 24.
Might I suggest to Signum a coupling of McCabe’s Violin Concerto No.2 – a masterpiece (is any soloist playing it following Erich Gruenberg and Dennis Simons?) – with The Chagall Windows (previously Loughran and Haitink).
https://signumrecords.com/product/27558/SIGCD1007
Admin –
From British Music Society
https://www.britishmusicsociety.co.uk/2026/06/john-mccabe-orchestral-works/
JOHN McCABE: Orchestral works
Jun 25, 2026 | CD reviews
John McCabe – Orchestral works
Raphael Wallfisch cello
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Woods conductor
SIGNUM SIGCD1007
This is a major release. McCabe’s cello concerto, a work of extraordinary construction and beauty, is one of his most important and compelling works. Premiered by Truls Mørk in 2007, its recording by the equally accomplished Wallfisch is long overdue. The subtitle indicates its indebtedness to Bruce Chatwin’s philosophical novel, The Songlines (1981).
In the long Adagio of the second movement, the soloist traces the physical and psychological pathways of Australian Aboriginal creationist myths, encountering small instrumental combinations that reflect the totemic beings who sang the world into existence.
This profound culture is rich soil for a composer – Britten’s proposed collaboration with Sidney Nolan on a ballet based on the ‘Dreamtimes’ never materialised, alas – but did McCabe know Michael Finnissy’s Red Earth, Peter Sculthorpe’s lyrical Cello Dreaming, or Alan Garner’s superb novel, Strandloper?
One might consider that there is something of the roughness of Finnissy’s scorched landscape, and even a few brief nods to Sculthorpe’s trademark bird-like descending glissandos here (listen, for example, halfway through the second movement after the cello’s mesmeric dialogue with a solo vibraphone).
McCabe’s large orchestra is deployed in variegated chamber-like ensembles whose timbres are very carefully calculated (there is also a prominent part for xylophone), allowing his consistently fresh and intriguing landscape to unfold with a sense of wonder and delight.
The two symphonies have equally intriguing undertones. The main impulse of No. 2 was suggested by Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 film The Wild Bunch – not, the composer was anxious to emphasise, its synopsis, action or inherent violence – but the overall shape of the drama, which McCabe considered to possess a distinctly satisfying sonata-like arch. The five movements follow each other without a break.
Once again, the instrumentation is large, including oboe d’amore, piano, celesta and a large percussion assembly. It is a captivating score, lively and poignant by turns, and is given an authoritative reading. The homages of Symphony no. 3 are not immediately evident, but the slow movement from Haydn’s String Quartet op. 76, no. 6 underpins the Adagio, and two chords from Nielsen’s Suite for Piano are important structural components throughout. Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage is also not far from this sound-world, particularly in the writing for percussion, and the breathtaking sunburst that concludes this gripping work.
The BBC SSO play with huge commitment under Kenneth Woods, the recording is exceptionally clear, and all instrumental spotlighting has been achieved subtly and naturally. McCabe has been finely served, and it is to be hoped that another issue is on the way.
Review by Andrew Plant