John McEwen - the mystery

[Sydney Grew]

Sir John McEwen is said to have composed five symphonies, and it is easy to find number five:

Symphony in C sharp minor, "Solway", 1911

But there is hardly any information about the first four.

Grove lists a
Symphony in A minor, 1898

and youtube has a movement from

Symphony No. 2
played by the
Durham University Orchestral Society

So does any one know
- the year of composition,
- the key signature,
- and the opus number of
symphony 1
symphony 2
symphony 3
and symphony 4?

Also, was number five really his last?

Has any one ever heard his symphonies? Has any symphony of his ever been broadcast?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A movement from the Solway Symphony was broadcast on R3 on the morning of 21st June, 2011 as the Olympic Torch was carried from Dumfries to Gretna.

For all other information on the composer, your best bet is to contact the University of Glasgow, in whose Special Collections are held all the manuscripts donated by the composer:

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/97e7ee0c-c031-36ac-bc69-bc6ec89ac0ec

... although it may be quicker to contact the Repository directly with your query.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Oh! And the entire Solway Symphony, as performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Bramwell Tovey, was broadcast Live from the Maida Vale studios on 16th December, 2016.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b084vwbb

A little more information on the A minor Symphony available here:

https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/7703

... Mr Mitchell seems to be the authority on the composer - you might try to contact him via the University of Edinburgh.

[Andy Freude]

The 'mystery' may well be explained by Grove: "McEwen was unusually unconcerned with furthering performance of his music." Mitchell says of the A minor that "McEwen found that he could not get such a symphony performed". So, there would seem to be no way of discovering the precise details other than by consulting the manuscripts.

The first movement of 'Solway' (all 12 minutes of it!) was played on Breakfast on 16 May last year, in a programme very aptly themed as 'Along the Severn'.

[Edgy 2]

I have the Chandos Solway Symphony but don’t know the others
McEwen wrote some lovely String Quartets though,Chandos have recorded them.
There’s also a nice cd of his piano music on the same label.
Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity is marvellous,also on Chandos

[Sydney Grew]

Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity is marvellous,also on Chandos

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Although I could not find symphonies 1 to 4, I did find a few pieces at youtube, and have pointed to them via my music forum:

https://newartmusic.createaforum.com/the-symphony/

- Fifth symphony, "Solway" (1911).

- Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity (Milton), for soprano, chorus and orchestra (1905). There are eleven parts.

- Coronach, for orchestra, the first of
Three Border Ballads (1906)

- Grey Galloway, for orchestra, the second of Three Border Ballads (1907)

- The Demon Lover, for orchestra, the third of Three Border Ballads
(1908)

- Scottish Rhapsody "Prince Charlie", for violin and orchestra (1915)

- String quartet number six or eight in A Major "Biscay" (1913) - he composed nineteen of them, we are told.

I had expected to find a kind of Scotch Hamilton Harty, but no, his music is very different, more like that of Delius, Scriabine or early Schönberg.

McEwen, being an obviously intelligent fellow, but egalitarian in some ways, also published pamphlets such as one entitled "Abolish Money".

[ahinton]

McEwen, being an obviously intelligent fellow, but egalitarian in some ways, also published pamphlets such as one entitled "Abolish Money".

No performance / broadcast royalties for him, then!

I must confess that my previous experience of McEwen has been confined to a few of the many string quartets that occupied him for well over half a century.