Description
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest written literary text in Middle Eastern/Western cultural history, predates the Hebrew Bible.The epic relates the story of King Gilgamesh, partly divine, partly human, who may have existed historically circa 2800 BC. From immature youth and a belief in his immortality, he eventually comes to accept the power and reality of Death.
The Resurrection of the Soldiers for string orchestra was commissioned by George Vass, to whom it is dedicated, and the English Symphony Orchestra, for the 2016 Presteigne Festival, with funds generously donated by the John S Cohen Foundation and the Arts Council of England. The title derives from the final panel of Stanley Spencer’s Sandham Chapel visionary series of paintings which were the result of Spencer’s experiences in the British army in World War One and depicts soldiers emerging from their graves on the last day.
Reviews:
“ ‘What is the symphony today?’ as put forward by conductor Kenneth Woods in the accompanying notes to this, the fifth edition of the English Symphony Orchestra’s 21st Century Symphony Project, is a compelling conversation starter and is something for listeners to contemplate as they approach these two works by Robert Saxton. Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh, commissioned by the English Symphony and Woods for this project, is a programmatic work. By layout and instrumentation, it certainly fits the bill as a symphony. The Prologue jumps right into the intensity that is a foundation of Saxton’s musical language with repeated and Motorik phrasing and an underlying flurry from the strings supporting melodies passed through the orchestra’s sections. As Saxton has turned to more tonality in his works, he uses dissonance to build and release tension, as can be heard throughout the fourth movement, “Lament on the Death of Enkidu,” following the clarion horn call-opening. The melody is then passed through a number of soloists as each continues to repeat the lament. The second work on this album, the symphonic poem The Resurrection of the Soldiers, was also co-commissioned by the English Symphony and is performed by the English String Orchestra (the string sections only of the larger orchestra). It is inspired by a Stanley Spencer painting of the same name that depicts soldiers from World War I emerging from their graves on the biblical last day. Those unfamiliar with the artwork are in luck since it is re-created as the album’s cover art. Fans of orchestral music will be impressed by this movingly powerful and emotionally charged symphonic poem. Either work will serve as a good introduction to Saxton’s music, and it’s another strong outing in this series.” AllMusic
“A superbly played album featuring two major works by this month’s featured Contemporary Composer, Robert Saxton” Gramophone Editor’s Choice, August 2024
Hard on the heels of the release of Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra’s fifth instalment (devoted to Steve Elcock – 7/24) in their terrific ‘21st Century Symphony Project’ series comes the sixth, devoted to Robert Saxton. Once more it is full of captivating music-making, two remarkable and compelling compositions, magnificently played, but it may also be – as we move past the halfway point of the project – the most challenging issue thus far… The challenge arises from the fact that neither work is titled ‘symphony’. The Resurrection of the Soldiers (2016) is a searing, intense work for string orchestra, one that should by rights take its place among the finest English works for string orchestra. It falls into one continuous span, dividing naturally into three large paragraphs across a not-quite-quarter-hour timespan, and was written for the English Symphony Orchestra and George Vass (to whom it is dedicated) for the Presteigne Festival. Inspired by Stanley Spencer’s series of paintings for the Sandham Memorial Chapel, The Resurrection of the Soldiers is more tone poem, perhaps, but it has the gravitas of a one-movement symphony, not least through its central fugue and consolatory conclusion… The larger piece, the five-movement Scenes from The Epic of Gilgamesh (2022) is another matter. This is the composition written for Woods and prompts the question: ‘What is a symphony?’ At one level, this is a closely argued suite derived from the great Mesopotamian text, around which Saxton had long wanted to compose a work. The musical language is broadly tonal and appealingly descriptive, its succession of vigorous sections and threnodies, and a finale worthy of Tippett at his best, echoing the trials of King Gilgamesh with his friend Enkidu. It is a haunting work, proving (were it needed) that musical impact or relevance need not come from extremes of sonority, harmony or style. The ESO respond with a fabulous interpretation, informed by immaculate ensemble and intonation (with some superb solo and duo playing along the way), one that stayed on loop in my player. Is it a symphony? In its scope, expressive élan and integration, I would say yes. Yet another thoroughly gripping, intriguing album, strongly recommended, as are its five predecessors. Guy Rickards, Gramophone August 2024
“The English Symphony Orchestra and Kenneth Woods continue their 21st Symphony Project with this major work from Robert Saxton, here coupled with one of his earlier pieces in what is a welcome and valuable addition to the discographies of composer, conductor and orchestra.” Richard Whitehouse, On Records [read complete review]
“Robert Saxton, who has had such important mentors as Britten and Berio, Elisabeth Lutyens and Robin Holloway, is a composer with a splendid career and author of a clearly defined body of work. The two works included in this album – admirably recorded – present Saxton’s creative side, in which he explores various aspects of the transcendent: Scenes from “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and The Resurrection of the Soldiers.
Gilgamesh embarked on a long and dangerous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. It is well known that The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest literary text in the cultural history of the Middle East and the West, predating the Hebrew Bible. The epic tells the story of King Gilgamesh —part divine, part human—, who may have lived around 2800 BC.
This text, possibly one of the most important in the history of humanity, has interested the English composer Robert Saxton, who used it to compose his piece. The performance was given by the English Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Woods; premiered Scenes from “The Epic of Gilgamesh” in Oxford in March 2023. The score, often tonal, is delicate, with intimate melodies coloured by the instrumental subtlety of the magnificent English Symphony Orchestra. Kenneth Woods treasures Saxton’s harmonic richness and makes his music flow with exceptional clarity.
The Resurrection of the Soldiers, a work co-commissioned by George Vass for the 2016 Presteigne Festival and the English Symphony Orchestra with Kenneth Woods, is a work for chamber orchestra based on Stanley Spencer’s visionary series of Sandham Chapel paintings. These pieces of art were the result of Spencer’s experiences in the British army during World War I and depict soldiers coming out of their graves on their last day. The distressing climate created by Saxton is admirable, a melodic line that permeates the entire texture heterophonically and leads to the final triad of E major.
Kenneth Woods, with the English String Orchestra, conducts an impeccable version of this piece of great intensity and emotional depth. We can say without hesitation that Woods is an undisputed reference as an orchestral conductor in the English music scene. He carried out a brilliant task of recovering English composers with great communicative power.” Carme Miró, Sonogram magazine
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American Record Guide
September 2024
SAXTON: Epic of Gilgamesh Scenes; Resurrection of the Soldiers English Symphony/ Kenneth Woods Nimbus 6447—47 minutes English composer and Oxford professor Robert Saxton (b 1953) studied with Robin Holloway and Luciano Berio, with early guidance from no less than Elisabeth Lutyens and Benjamin Britten. He has worked with figures as eminent as Leon Fleisher, Steven Isserlis, and Mstislav Ros-tropovich—yet, like many of his gifted com-patriots, he is little known in America.
This should change; he is an excellent composer of substance and imagination. Earlier in his career he was a modernist, writing in a dense, complex, and dissonant language; since the millennium, his music has become more tonal and communica-tive, though losing none of the complexity and virtuosity of his earlier style. It is, above all, intense, gripping, and dramatic.
The major work here is Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh (2023), commissioned by the English Symphony as part of its 21st Century Symphony Project. Saxton adamantly rejects the title of “symphony” for the work, though conductor Kenneth Woods asserts that it quite easily falls in the modern symphonic tradition—and I agree. Though it follows the Gilgamesh narrative, it doesn’t come off as a programmatic work—it has its own dramatic arc, thematic cohesion, and strength of purpose that would make it convincing as a stand-alone abstract work. The piece progresses unpredictably yet naturally, without expectations of traditional convention nor flashy surprising effects. I enjoyed the entire work, but particularly the bracing, anguished IV, `Lament on the Death of Enkidu’, the emotional and expressive heart of the piece.
Even better is The Resurrection of the Soldiers (2016), a stunning elegiac master-piece for string orchestra that can easily stand beside Vaughan Williams’s Tallis Fan-tasia. Inspired in part by Stanley Spencer paintings depicting World War I soldiers rising from their graves, it follows a cycle of resurrection, rebirth, and hope in a rigorous array of canons and fugues. It comes off as anything but academic, though; it is searingly intense and emotional, never letting the urgency of the moment cease. I’m struck once again by how the many harmonic and melodic developments feel so surprising yet so right. This is classical artistry at its best—craftsmanship, expression, and dramatic effect firing on all cylinders. Great performances and sound all around. Along with its Steve Elcock album (this issue), the English Symphony’s 21st Century Symphony Project has proved to be a fascinating, rewarding endeavor. FARO
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Gramophone Magazine EDITORS CHOICE
July 2024
Saxton The Resurrection of the Soldiers. Scenes from The Epic of Gilgamesh. English String Orchestra; English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods Nimbus (NI6447 • 47’)
Hard on the heels of the release of Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony
Orchestra’s fifth instalment (devoted to Steve Elcock – 7/24) in their terrific ‘21st Century Symphony Project’ series comes the sixth, devoted to Robert Saxton. Once more it is full of captivating music-making, two remarkable and compelling compositions, magnificently played, but it may also be – as we move past the halfway point of the project – the most challenging issue thus far.
The challenge arises from the fact that neither work is titled ‘symphony’. The Resurrection of the Soldiers (2016) is a searing, intense work for string orchestra, one that should by rights take its place among the finest English works for string orchestra. It falls into one continuous span, dividing naturally into three large paragraphs across a not-quite-quarter-hour timespan, and was written for the English
Symphony Orchestra and George Vass (to whom it is dedicated) for the Presteigne Festival. Inspired by Stanley Spencer’s series of paintings for the Sandham Memorial Chapel, The Resurrection of the Soldiers is more tone poem, perhaps, but it has the gravitas of a one-movement symphony, not least through its central fugue and consolatory conclusion.
The larger piece, the five-movement Scenes from The Epic of Gilgamesh (2022) is another matter. This is the composition written for Woods and prompts the question: ‘What is a symphony?’ At one level, this is a closely argued suite derived from the great Mesopotamian text, around which Saxton had long wanted to compose a work. The musical language is broadly tonal and appealingly descriptive, its succession of vigorous sections and threnodies, and a finale worthy of Tippett at his best, echoing the trials of King Gilgamesh with his friend Enkidu. It is a haunting work, proving (were it needed) that musical impact or relevance need not come from extremes of sonority, harmony or style. The ESO respond with a fabulous interpretation, informed by immaculate ensemble and intonation (with some superb solo and duo playing along the way), one that stayed on loop in my player. Is it a symphony? In its scope, expressive élan and integration, I would say yes. Yet another thoroughly gripping, intriguing album, strongly recommended, as are its five predecessors. Guy Rickards
Admin –
From AllMusic
Original here
https://www.allmusic.com/album/robert-saxton-scenes-8230–mw0004297566?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2024-09-06
Robert Saxton: Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh Review by Keith Finke
“What is the symphony today?” as put forward by conductor Kenneth Woods in the accompanying notes to this, the fifth edition of the English Symphony Orchestra’s 21st Century Symphony Project, is a compelling conversation starter and is something for listeners to contemplate as they approach these two works by Robert Saxton. Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh, commissioned by the English Symphony and Woods for this project, is a programmatic work. By layout and instrumentation, it certainly fits the bill as a symphony. The Prologue jumps right into the intensity that is a foundation of Saxton’s musical language with repeated and Motorik phrasing and an underlying flurry from the strings supporting melodies passed through the orchestra’s sections. As Saxton has turned to more tonality in his works, he uses dissonance to build and release tension, as can be heard throughout the fourth movement, “Lament on the Death of Enkidu,” following the clarion horn call-opening. The melody is then passed through a number of soloists as each continues to repeat the lament. The second work on this album, the symphonic poem The Resurrection of the Soldiers, was also co-commissioned by the English Symphony and is performed by the English String Orchestra (the string sections only of the larger orchestra). It is inspired by a Stanley Spencer painting of the same name that depicts soldiers from World War I emerging from their graves on the biblical last day. Those unfamiliar with the artwork are in luck since it is re-created as the album’s cover art. Fans of orchestral music will be impressed by this movingly powerful and emotionally charged symphonic poem. Either work will serve as a good introduction to Saxton’s music, and it’s another strong outing in this series.
Admin –
From Arcana FM
https://arcana.fm/2024/06/25/eso-woods-saxton/
On Record – English Symphony Orchestra, English String Orchestra, Kenneth Woods – Robert Saxton: Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh & The Resurrection of the Soldiers (Nimbus)
English Symphony Orchestra, English String Orchestra (The Resurrection) / Kenneth Woods
Robert Saxton
Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh (2023)
The Resurrection of the Soldiers (2016)
Nimbus Alliance NI6447 [47’17’’]
Co-Producers Phil Rowlands and Tim Burton
Recorded 7 April 2021 (The Resurrection) and 7 March 2023 (Scenes) at Wyastone Concert Hall, Monmouth
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse
What’s the story?
The English Symphony Orchestra and Kenneth Woods continue their 21st Symphony Project with this major work from Robert Saxton, here coupled with one of his earlier pieces in what is a welcome and valuable addition to the discographies of composer, conductor and orchestra.
What’s the music like?
His output now as extensive as it is diverse, Saxton had written little purely orchestral music for several decades and few works that might be called ‘symphonic’, but listeners with longer memories may recall the Dante-inspired ‘chamber symphony’ The Circles of Light (1986) or taut incisiveness of the sinfonietta-like Elijah’s Violin (1988). Speaking only recently, Saxton stated a reluctance to call Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh a symphony and yet the piece, a result of many years’ thought about the musical treatment right for one of the oldest surviving written texts, has a formal cohesion and expressive unity which are demonstrably symphonic. Scored for pairs of woodwind, horns and trumpets with timpani and strings, its textural clarity imbues any illustrative aspect with an abstract focus amply sustained over its five movements.
Amounting to a continuous narrative, these head from the fluid motion of ‘Prologue’ to ‘The Journey to the Forest of Cedar’, whose passacaglia-like unfolding finds this composer at his most harmonically alluring, then on to ‘From dawn to dusk’ in a scherzo as animated as it is evocative. ‘Lament’ distils a tangible emotional impact from its gradual if inexorable build-up, moving into ‘Apotheosis’ which expands upon the melodic potential of earlier ideas and sees a powerful culmination with the ‘hero’ forced to seek immortality through other means.
Saxton’s approaching the issue of religious belief indirectly, or even obliquely, is as central to this piece as to the earlier The Resurrection of the Soldiers. Inspired by Stanley Spencer’s series of paintings which depict soldiers emerging from their graves on Judgement Day, this might be described as ‘prelude, fugue and threnody’ – the sombre introduction soon reaching an expressive apex, from where the intricate yet cumulative middle phase builds inexorably to a plangent climax; the ensuing slow section gradually ascends linearly or texturally to an ending whose affirmation feels pervaded by anguish. Both these works have the concept of redemption as their focal-point – albeit one which cannot be gained without effort and, even then, should never be taken as read. Tonality, indeed, as the corollary to travelling in hope.
Does it all work?
It does. Four decades on from those flamboyant pieces which established his name, Saxton here evinces an orchestral mastery which will hopefully find an outlet in further such pieces – whether, or not, ‘symphonic’. More overtly tonal it might have become, his music still poses considerable challenges whether technical or interpretative. Suffice to add these are met with finesse and conviction by Woods and the ESO, who are fully conversant with its elusive but always accessible idiom. The composer could hardly have wished for a more tangible QED.
Is it recommended?
It is, not least as enhanced by the composer’s succinct introductory notes and the conductor’s pertinent thoughts on ‘Conducting Saxton’. It reinforces, moreover, that the 21SP is not about retrenchment – rather, the enrichment of this most archetypal of genres is what really matters.
Listen & Buy
This album is released on Friday 5 July, but you can listen to samples and explore purchase options on the Presto website. Click on the names for more on conductor Kenneth Woods, the English Symphony Orchestra and composer Robert Saxton
Published post no.2,220 – Tuesday 25 June 2024