Composer Peter Maxwell Davies's Symphony No. 2 is a direct response to the sounds and forms of the ocean near his home in the Orkney Islands.
Performer Biography
The BBC Philharmonic, founded in 1934 as the BBC Northern Orchestra, has made over 200 recordings with Chandos Records.
Composition History
St Thomas Wake, subtitled 'Foxtrot for orchestra on a pavan by John Bull', was commissioned by the City of Dortmund and premiered there in 1969.
Composer Biography
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, one of the foremost composers of his time, lives in the Orkney Islands off Scotland, where he writes most of his music.
Compositional Technique
The Symphony No. 2's tonality is B minor, but the dominant used throughout is F, or E sharp, creating a semitonal conflict with the traditional F sharp dominant.
Compositional Technique
A thematic unity in Symphony No. 2 is provided by the plainsong 'Nativitas Tua, Dei Genetrix', which is transformed using intervallic modification and permutation by magic squares.
Composition History
Symphony No. 2 was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to celebrate its Centenary.
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