10|SCO NEWS
RECENT RECORDINGS ancient ways of life, with words from ‘The Well’ by George Mackay Brown. “…a superb performance, confirming this as one of Maxwell Davies’ most beautiful and moving inspirations.” Penguin Guide to Compact Discs Sir Peter Maxwell Davies features prominently in our new recordings list with one new album and three re-releases. He was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal, the highest accolade the Society can bestow, shortly before his death in March 2016. The new album, recorded in September 2015, includes the substantial concert overture Ebb of Winter which was commissioned to celebrate the SCO’s 40th Anniversary; the flamboyant party piece An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise and two works for solo guitar tenderly performed by the Scottish performer Sean Shibe including Farewell to Stromness which must be one of the most beautiful pieces of contemporary music. The album has recently been in the Top 30 Classical Charts and Gramophone Magazine commented, “For a single-disc introduction to the many voices of Max, look no further.”
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A Celebration of Scotland This perennial best-selling album, includes Kinloche his Fantassie, Seven Songs Home, Dances from the ‘Two Fiddlers’, Jimmack the Postie, Renaissance Scottish Dances and the moving Lullabye for Lucy. It also includes a poignant version of Farewell to Stromness, this time performed on piano. We originally released this album in 1989 with vocal contributions from the choir of St Mary’s Cathedral.
Strathclyde Concertos No 1 for Oboe and No 2 for Cello. These two concertos have finally been re-released after many years’ absence from the catalogue.
Into the Labyrinth was written in 1983, for tenor Neil Mackie and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. It is a symphonic song-cycle which ponders the influence of modern times on
Cellist William Conway, for whom the Cello Concerto was written, reminded us in recent concerts in Glasgow and Edinburgh of the, expressive singing qualities of this dark, lyrical work. When it was first performed in 1989, the concerto evoked comparisons with Elgar’s. –––––– All recordings are available to purchase at the SCO merchandise desk.
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