{"id":8004,"date":"2018-01-01T21:19:08","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T20:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?post_type=product&p=8004"},"modified":"2022-07-27T03:26:05","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T02:26:05","slug":"sawyers-symphony-no-3-songs-of-loss-and-regret-fanfare","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/product\/sawyers-symphony-no-3-songs-of-loss-and-regret-fanfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Philip Sawyers- Symphony no. 3, Songs of Loss and Regret, Fanfare"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe importance of Woods\u2019s initiative is greatly significant, and to judge by Philip Sawyers\u2019s Third Symphony the plan has got off to an excellent start\u2026.Sawyers is a natural symphonist\u2026 This Symphony, like the song- cycle, is a masterpiece\u201d\u00a0Robert Matthew-Walker- ClassicalSource.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“The cycle is 24 minutes long, and profoundly moving, especially in these beautifully sung performances by April Frederick… \u201cFutility,\u201d set to a text by Wilfred Owen that Britten used in the War Requiem, is stunning in its impact. This cycle should develop a life in the concert hall…It seems to be a symphony about struggle, with tension running very high in a dramatic first movement followed by an intensely personal Adagio that is the centerpiece (and the longest movement). After its Mahlerian opening, this slow movement seems to move in the direction of resistance to the turbulence of today\u2019s world…The performance, as one would expect from the conductor to whom it is dedicated, is impassioned and very well played and recorded.” Henry Fogel, Fanfare<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTerrific music like this renews my faith in the\u00a0symphony as a genre\u2026\u00a0a\u00a0feeling of reconciliation worthy of the Mahler\u00a010th.\u201d Don O’Connor – American Record Guide<\/a><\/p>\n

“It’s a gripping listen, Sawyers\u2019 style notable for its lyricism, even when he’s in full-on Schoenberg mode. Take the symphony’s ear-stretching \u201cAdagio\u201d, its angular string leaps and fulsome scoring paying homage to Bruckner and Mahler. There are also nods to English pastoralism, though the mixture never sounds like naff pastiche. Sawyers\u2019 quirksome third movement intermezzo is unexpected and engaging, and the way in which a tonal brass chorale is incorporated into a largely serial finale is ingenious in the extreme. This isn’t a glib journey from darkness to light, the music\u2019s emotional power such that you rarely reflect on whether Sawyers is writing tonally or not. Terrifically played too, by dedicatee Ken Woods and his gallant English Symphony Orchestra… Sawyers\u2019\u00a0Songs of Loss and Regret\u00a0<\/em>is a cycle of eight songs composed to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, here heard in an arrangement for strings and soprano. Poems by Housman and Owen feature: the latter’s\u00a0Futility\u00a0<\/em>was also set by\u00a0Britten<\/a>\u00a0in his\u00a0War Requiem<\/em>, of course, and Sawyers\u2019 version doesn’t suffer by comparison, the whole sequence an understated, poignant delight, beautifully sung by April Fredrick.” Graham Rickson – The Arts Desk<\/a><\/p>\n

“The symphony is a gritty, often powerful work yet, though composed in \u2018twelve-tone pyrotechnics\u2019, those who find post-Schoenberg musical language indigestible should not have too much trouble with that or the very moving Songs of Loss and Regret. The heart of the symphony is an adagio movement which simultaneously conveys despair and consolation. The songs include music worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Britten\u2019s War Requiem, with which its shares a setting of Wilfred Owen\u2019s Futility, and the opening Shropshire Lad setting (Into my heart an air that kills) is in no way overshadowed by more famous Housman settings \u2013 Butterworth, Gurney, VW, etc…<\/span>Very fine performances, excellently recorded” Brian Wilson – MusicWeb International<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat future for the symphony in the 21st century? Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra are on a mission to find out, with this concert the first in a project of commissions and premi\u00e8res. On the strength of this showing, the premi\u00e8re of Philip Sawyers\u2019 Third Symphony, the future looks bright indeed. The work is a substantial and distinctive contribution to the genre, and it was here presented in a compelling reading, impressively disciplined and with a passionate intensity maintained across its 40-minute span.\u201d\u00a0Gavin Dixon- Bachtrack.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026.Sawyers\u2019 Third Symphony is a tremendously impressive accomplishment. If the subsequent commissions by \u2018The 21st C. Symphony Project\u2019 turn out to be only half as good, it will still be a cause for celebration. The ESO gave this opening instalment what was obviously a zinger of a performance, Woods\u2019 detailed direction embracing both its ambitious scale and complexity of detail; the composer, certainly, seemed dizzy with pleasure when he took his bow, and we civilians in the audience knew we had heard something special\u2026\u201d\u00a0Martin Anderson- Musical Opinion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cPhilip Sawyers\u2019s Third Symphony (2015) is undoubtedly one of the finest British symphonies of recent years\u2026 the long, visionary Adagio is its emotional heart, music of searing intensity, yet the expressive fulcrum lies rather in the Arnold-like Intermezzo, full of disarming charm and gentle humour, adjusting the context of the whole. The impact is overwhelming\u2026 Great music, great performances\u2026\u201d\u00a0Guy Rickards- Gramophone<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have no reservations in pronouncing this a very fine work indeed and one which deserves a place in the any orchestra\u2019s repertoire.\u201d\u00a0Gary Higginson- MusicWeb<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPhilip Sawyers\u2019s Third Symphony is a major new work from a distinctive voice in British music\u2026 a work of impressive symphonic unity and drama.\u201d\u00a0Gavin Dixon- Fanfare<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSawyers can handle the resources of a modern \u2013 or smaller \u2013 symphony orchestra to brilliant effect\u2026this is an impressively expressive piece of sustained writing with more lyrical interludes balancing the power of the massed instrumental passages.\u201d\u00a0Nick Barnard- MusicWeb<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“…the journey from \u201cdarkness to light\u201d appears in all its spectacular clarity…Woods knows how to soar in climaxes and to shape the musical phrase to the slightest detail. Needless to say, to achieve such result it is necessary that the orchestra plays smoothly and high-spirited and this is the case with the English Symphony Orchestra, from which Woods draws a committed and crisp playing.” The Music Gala<\/a><\/p>\n

“…a fabulously tidal\u00a0symphony<\/a>, with wild expanses of differing moods…\u00a0Eventually the angular theme returns, but this time focussed, fugal. Sawyers screws his harmonic tension to tsunami point: implacable violins finally challenge the brass to one last long drawn-out chorale. Pummelled strings rise turbulent beneath great brass chords: the entire fisting\u00a0orchestra<\/a>\u00a0soars, confident, triumphant and united at last.” Alice McVeigh – MV Daily\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

“FIVE STARS…\u00a0his Symphony No.3 \u2013 from 2015 when he was aged 64 \u2013 is his finest work yet. It\u2019s an imposing four-movement 38 minute work tightly constructed and trenchantly argued but, in its long lyrical Adagio, reveals a passionately beating heart. The trenchancy reminds one of Robert Simpson\u2019s symphonies but the Mahler-influenced Adagio is reminiscent of another British orchestral player-turned-composer \u2013 Malcolm Arnold in his fifth symphony. Kenneth Woods is a committed advocate of Sawyers\u2019 work and he conducts the English Symphony Orchestra in an inspiring performance. The eight Songs of Loss and Regret (2013) commemorate World War I and April Frederick\u2019s lyric soprano fits them well. Sawyers\u2019 brassy Fanfare completes an album that\u2019s essential for English music enthusiasts.” Birmingham Post critic Norman Stinchecomb<\/p>\n

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