Search - Robert Simpson, Vernon Handley, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra :: Robert Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4

Modern Beethoven

M. Seeley | Charlotte, NC | 02/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are my personal favorites in the Simpson symphonic oeuvre. And if you are just getting acquainted with this British composer, this is a great place to begin. Here in these two symphonies Simpson tips his hat off to Beethoven.The opening of the Second Symphony is breathtaking. The slow movement has a gentle meditative quality, probing remote areas of the mind. The finale has the grittiness and energy of Beethoven's Seventh.The Fourth Symphony contains some of the most remarkable and the most communicative of Simpson's Beethoven paraphrases. The archetype here is the scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with a Haydn quotation thrown in for good measure in the Trio section. Simpson remains close to the structure of the original, but creates a completely new experience. What words can describe this music? Transparent. Rhythmic. Energizing. Polytonal. Vernon Handley and his band do a masterful job in bringing forth the luscious details in these two incredible works."

Music that will move you in unusual ways.

John Caruso | BRAINTREE, VT United States | 06/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There was a time when I judged the greatness of a musical composition by its emotional impact on me. Then, the power to elicit tears and strong pathos--that familiar ache of longing in my chest--reigned as the supreme basis of my attachment to a piece of music. Yet, over the years I came to see that even the emotionalism of Mahler had its limits, otherwise the ending of his eighth symphony would not have come across as a forced attempt at recapturing the glory of the Resurrection Symphony. While the Elegy from Strauss's Ein Alpine Sinfonie never fails to reduce me to a quivering mass of liquid grief, I have also come to see that most of the compositions I can come back to again and again over the years with renewed enjoyment (those works with staying power) are the ones that possess greater subtlety of expression, that wealth of ambiguous emotion that may not grab us as powerfully as a new infatuation at first, but which continue to keep us faithful over the years like a true love. A good example for me is Prokofiev's 5th, versus Shostakovich's 5th. In the immediate year or two after discovering these two great symphonies, the emotionalism of Shostakovich's symphony caused me to rate it higher than the Prokofiev. But more than a decade later there is no doubt in my mind, start to finish, that Prokofiev's is the stronger work. (What does this have to do with Simpson? Don't worry, I'm getting to that!) Prokofiev's realism keeps us perpetually on the verge of emotions we can't rightly name. The ending of the slow movement takes us rapidly through a series of moods that create an enormous tension, feelings that are both ambiguous and anticipatory, setting us up perfectly for the finale. The preceding scherzo is as wicked and gleeful as a witch's ride, at once diabolical and irresistible. In the Shostakovich 5, we feel tremendous grief, we feel pathos, we feel rage and we feel irony, but we don't feel a lot in between these strong emotions. After one has exhausted this intensity, it becomes more difficult with repeated listenings to enter the world of these heavy emotions.Robert Simpson has described his own music as humane but anti-emotional. After listening to this recording of his 2nd and 4th symphonies, I am convinced that Simpson is one of those composers whose music has the kind of emotional ambiguity and subtle depth to hold a listener's ear, not only in the immediate, but for years to come. There are moments of strange beauty that just leap out at your on a first listening, like at 4:45-5:00 of the Allegro Grazioso of the 2nd Symphony, or the wildly unpredictable excitement generated at the end of the 4th symphony's scherzo. And there are also moments, stretches even, of new harmonic textures, orchestral sonorities and contrapuntal movements where my interest is only pricked at first, yet which compel me to listen more closely. Always there are interesting transformations and a tremendous driving energy that is thilling and impossible to resist. Vladimir Nabokov once said that the greatest emotion was that pleasurable shiver down the spine; if that is true, then Robert Simpson surely is an artist who arouses the highest of emotions in his listeners."

Extraordinary music

Paul Graziano | Burlington, VT United States | 10/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is little I can say without repeating the other reviews posted here. This was my first exposure to Simpson and it got me hooked, so, by my own experience, I'd recommend it as a good introduction. The 2nd might be the easiest for a newcomer to digest, and the 4th is simply extraordinary. I'll repeat another reviewer by stating that the scherzo is an exhilarting high-wire act that must be heard to be believed. I can definately see some people being turned off by this music. Simpson is not concerned with producing lovely melodies by the dozen, and if you're the type of person who grows impatient with Bruckner or finds Nielsen too harsh (specifcally, I'm thinking of his 4th & 5th), you might want to look elswhere. Which is not say there isn't great beauty here, just don't expect it sound like Faure. For those with a more robust consitution seeking a truly adverturous musical experience, Simpson is the way to go."