The Fifth Symphony, unlike its predecessors, unfolds as a single movement, similar to Sibelius's Seventh Symphony, where sectional divisions are perceptible but not easily identified.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Peter Maxwell Davies's music, despite spanning a broad range of styles, always communicates directly and powerfully, whether in his symphonic works, music-theatre, or light orchestral pieces.
Performer Biography
The Philharmonia Orchestra, established in 1945, is one of the world's great orchestras, boasting relationships with sought-after artists like its Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Recording & Production
Both symphonies on this album are performed by the orchestras for which they were originally written: the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for Symphony No. 4 and the Philharmonia Orchestra for Symphony No. 5.
Composer Biography
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, one of the foremost composers of our time, lives in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland, where he writes most of his music.
Composition History
The Fifth Symphony was commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra and premiered by them, with Peter Maxwell Davies conducting, as part of the BBC Proms in London on August 9, 1994.
Composition History
The Fourth Symphony was composed for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble for whom Peter Maxwell Davies had previously written sinfonias and was writing a series of ten Strathclyde Concertos.
