16|SCO news
Memories of Max Some of our memories of the much loved Sir Peter Maxwell Davies From Roy McEwan, Chief Executive Everyone at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra is deeply saddened by the passing of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in March. Max’s relationship with the SCO has been one of the defining characteristics of the Orchestra, emerging before it was 10 years old and stretching to his wonderfully evocative orchestral work Ebb of Winter, written for our 40th Anniversary in 2014. At the core of his twenty works which were commissioned or premiered by the SCO, were the 10 Strathclyde concertos, celebrating the talented musicians within the Orchestra and Max’s special relationship with us. This relationship was deepened by the many trips we took to Orkney as part of the St Magnus Festival which was created and inspired by Max. He was a man of great personal warmth and compassion as well as a fearless campaigner for those causes that he believed in. He will always be an important part of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s life and history and indeed the musical life of Scotland. A full list of SCO Commissions and Premieres of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ music is available on our website. From Steve King, SCO Viola There are still a few of us in the SCO who were around during the golden age of the Strathclyde Concertos and the other pieces of Max’s that we performed together in Scotland and throughout
the world. There are stories there that could fill a book! To this day, he carries forward the flag of true musical individualism – may this carry on for many a year! As Max passed the magic 80, we looked in wonder at how much more this amazing creative musician would pass on to us in the future. His opus was already huge, with a rainbow of diversity in genre and style. I had been on the receiving end of Max’s beat for 31 years. I was on the receiving end of Max’s generosity for 31 years and had the perfect view of Max, the creative, performing and personal musician, from a very practical angle as a viola player. Max is a manifestation of a multi centuries line of mainstream composers in western music that takes us from the plainchant of over 1000 years ago, through Perotin, Monteverdi, Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, Schoenberg, Britten. And the spectrum of his influence on others is all around us – the Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan is a fine example, even my path has been driven by his influence. My association with Max as a composer and also his driving influence behind the unique St Magnus Festival has given me a foundation and inspiration to manifest my own career vision. However, as a friend it is with great fondness and warmth that I look back on this gentle, kind,
