Simpson, Robert (1921-1997)

[edashtav]

Which one?

Presumably, the one who wrote pieces about those twin concerns of ruminants: The Green Wind & The Night Wind.

[BBMmk2]

But he wasn't, Bbm - he followed just two years of a Medical course (another four years' study before he could get his 2nd MB - the equivalent of dropping a Biology course after the second year: a bit more than "A"-level, but not yet a Degree) before moving to composition at Durham University, where he became a Doctor ... of Music.

Many thanks, Ferney.

I will never forget the chat we had with RS about his work Energy for brass band. Such insights he gave into this work.

[Beef Oven!]

Which one?

I knew someone would ask that as I was writing it!

[ahinton]

So last night I returned as promised to Simpson's 9th Symphony, finding a bit more in it this time, and also listened to his illustrated talk at the end of the CD which is quite interesting. It's clear from the music that he really is thinking in terms of fugues, chorale preludes, "rustling accompaniments", organising climaxes and so on, but hearing him talking about them is a bit like listening to a voice from a bygone age, as if all of the metamorphoses of musical thinking undergone by his generation simply hadn't taken place. Obviously this doesn't come from ignorance, since at the BBC he would have come across more cutting-edge music than most; it's a rejection of or indifference to the music of his own time during a period when that music was at its most vital and creative. This isn't Simpson-bashing, just musing on what I find a strange attitude.

I'm less than convinced that his stance, as suggested in his own music, would necessarily have had to be one of "rejection of or indifference to the music of his own time during a period when that music was at its most vital and creative". I'd be more inclined to conclude that Simpson simply preferred to plough his own furrow just as other very different composers wanted to plough theirs and, after all, "the music of his own time" emerged from what one can only describe as a broad and indeed ever broadening church; one has only to consider a number of composers from the decade or so following his birth - for example Boulez, Henze, Musgrave, Xenakis, Stockhausen, Stevenson, Goehr et al to see just how broad this was. Not being overtly influenced by this, that or the other trend in contemporary music does not of itself imply "rejection of or indifference to" any or all of them.

[Beef Oven!]

Earlier this morning I listened to Simpson's symphony #10. It has always been my least favorite of his symphonies, but today I really enjoyed it. Perhaps the discussion on this thread has helped me in some way.

[vinteuil]

.

... don't know about Simpson - but very much like the picture on the hyperion CD of nr. 10.

'The Cloud' ('Molnet'), 1896, by Prince Eugen Napoleon Nicolaus of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Närke [1865 – 1947].

Thank you for that.

.

[Beef Oven!]

Indeed - Hyperion have some wonderful LP covers

[Richard Barrett]

Earlier this morning I listened to Simpson's symphony #10. It has always been my least favorite of his symphonies, but today I really enjoyed it.

Wouldn't you admit though that the beginning is a bit, er, shouty?

I'm grateful for the existence of this thread. I don't think RS is ever going to be one of my favourite composers but, as a result of (both sides of) the discussion here I've felt impelled to listen again to and reassess not just his music but also my reaction to it, and at least in the case of his 9th Symphony come to an appreciation of some aspects of it which I hadn't previously cottoned on to. For me, something to come back to at some other time.

[ahinton]

I mentioned upthread the composer's second string quintet by way of recommendation; I ought to have mentioned the first one as well, also a late work.

[Beef Oven!]

Wouldn't you admit though that the beginning is a bit, er, shouty?

I'm grateful for the existence of this thread. I don't think RS is ever going to be one of my favourite composers but, as a result of (both sides of) the discussion here I've felt impelled to listen again to and reassess not just his music but also my reaction to it, and at least in the case of his 9th Symphony come to an appreciation of some aspects of it which I hadn't previously cottoned on to. For me, something to come back to at some other time.

Grateful for your contributions - have made me think a lot about his music. I don't know whether it's real or imagined, but I think I'm listening completely differently on the back of some of the ideas in this thread.

The way I am, I get shouted at quite a lot so I didn't notice anything untoward in the beginning of the ninth

[Beef Oven!]

I mentioned upthread the composer's second string quintet by way of recommendation; I ought to have mentioned the first one as well, also a late work.

And let's not forget the Quintet for clarinet and strings, which I'm quite keen on.

[ahinton]

And let's not forget the Quintet for clarinet and strings, which I'm quite keen on.

Indeed - as am I.

[Beef Oven!]

Indeed - as am I.

Phew! That's a relief. Good that you don't find it shouty, macho or hectoring

[ahinton]

Phew! That's a relief. Good that you don't find it shouty, macho or hectoring

!!! As I think I mentioned earlier, these are not characteristics that I find to have a disproportionate presence in Simpson's work as a whole.

[Richard Barrett]

The way I am, I get shouted at quite a lot so I didn't notice anything untoward in the beginning of the ninth

Tenth! Even I know the Ninth begins quietly.