Philip Sawyers: Concertos

Sawyers’s thrilling orchestral music truly captivates, aided and abetted by pitch-perfect soloists Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin) and Simon Desbruslais (trumpet) and the ESO. — BBC Music Magazine, January 2019, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 5th Oct 2018
Catalogue No: NI6374
Label: Nimbus
Series: Alliance
Length: 79 minutes

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Sawyers: Violin Concerto

Work length26:38

$4.00

$5.60

Alexander Sitkovetsky
English Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Woods

I. Moderato

Track length10:26

$1.50

$2.10

II. Andante

Track length10:06

$1.50

$2.10

III. Allegro

Track length6:06

$1.00

$1.40

Sawyers: The Valley Of Vision

Work length17:08

Album only

English Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Woods

Sawyers: Concerto for Trumpet, Strings and Timpani

Work length26:55

$4.50

$6.30

Simon Desbruslais
English String Orchestra
Kenneth Woods

I. Allegro

Track length8:57

$1.50

$2.10

II. Andante

Track length11:37

$2.00

$2.80

III. Allegro

Track length6:21

$1.00

$1.40

Sawyers: Elegiac Rhapsody for trumpet and strings

Work length9:10

$1.50

$2.10

English String Orchestra
Kenneth Woods

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Philosophers and musicians have argued for centuries about whether music is a universal language or a personal one. It seems tha t it can obviously be either or both, and that there is a huge continuum of language between those musical gestures that are truly universal and those which are almost as personal as a fingerprint. One of the things I find most compelling about Philip’s music is the extent to which it embodies the extremes of both the universal and the personal. As Philip’s output grows and our understanding of his work evolves, we can begin to see that there are musical threads which spill over from one work to the next. In this respect, he is part of a venerable tradition. Sometimes these recurring themes and mo tifs have profound personal significance, sometimes they are simply, as Philip once said to me of a particular rhythmic motif which appears in the vast majority of his pieces at least once, 'very useful'.

Reviews

January 2019

Sawyers’s thrilling orchestral music truly captivates, aided and abetted by pitch-perfect soloists Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin) and Simon Desbruslais (trumpet) and the ESO.

January 2019

The English SO are unfailingly committed in the perceptive hands of Kenneth Woods, who joins the composer in contributing perceptive booklet notes.

May 2019

An impressive disc of music that is well worth hearing.

Musical Opinion April-June 2019

The whole disc is a riveting listen: I do urge you to buy it.

Classical Music October 2018

[Violin Concerto] Sawyers’ voice is tonally based, but in a way which is sometimes reminiscent of Rubbra; the finale holds a beautiful, long-breathed melody, superbly given here by Sitkovetsky, whose playing throughout is exemplary. The Valley of Vision, inspired by painter Samuel Palmer, is heard in a radiant account; clearly in the English Pastoralist vein, it offers both sweet repose and an intense climax. If the trumpet concerto is less memorable as a piece, the Elegiac Rhapsody for trumpet and strings, in memoriam John McCabe, is powerful.

Philip Sawyers: Concertos

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