Prom 70 - 8.09.14: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' 80th Birthday Prom, SCO, Gernon

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Monday, 8 September
10.15 p.m. – c. 11.30 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies:
(a) Concert Overture Ebb of Winter (London premiere)
(b) Strathclyde Concerto No. 4 (first performance at The Proms)
(c) An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise

Dimitri Ashkenazy, clarinet (Proms debut artist)
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Ben Gernon, conductor (Proms debut artist)

On Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's 80th birthday the Proms pays tribute to this leading figure in contemporary British music with a late-night programme of works selected by the composer.
The concert overture Ebb of Winter, commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as part of its 40th-anniversary celebrations, captures the rugged, rough-hewn beauty of Davies's Orkney home. We see a different side of island life in the joyous ebullience of the much-loved An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise. The fourth Strathclyde Concerto, for clarinet and orchestra, completes the concert - a thrilling tour de force, demanding equal virtuosity from soloist and ensemble.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A pity this music has to be consigned to the "late detention room".

[Blotto]

He's been spread right across the schedules in the last few weeks. Two concerts at Cadogan, ballet and symphony in two evening proms two weeks ago and the late Prom on Monday. With the broadcast and month-long presence on iPlayer, that's not bad, is it?

[CallMePaul]

A pity this music has to be consigned to the "late detention room".

Worth staying up for though. The concerto should be in every clarinettist's repertoire! However, I wonder whether the series name "Strathclyde Concertos" is off-putting? The series was commissioned for the SCO and its principals by the now defunct Strathclyde Regional Council, hence the name, but a less specific name might have led to more performances. I feel the same is true of the Naxos Quartets. These contain some of Max's best recent music but with a name advertising the record label that (bravely0 commissioned them, are quartets and concert promoters going to be put off?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well, it didn't do the Brandenburg Concerti any harm - they were written for the Brandenburg record label, weren't they?

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, it didn't do the Brandenburg Concerti any harm - they were written for the Brandenburg record label, weren't they?

That's clever branding. Er... Branden

[teamsaint]

That's clever branding. Er... Branden

Well the composer Peter Davies seems happy enough to carry a cofffee sponsorship, so who are we.........

Fair enough I suppose,the 10th symphony....was an instant hit......

I'll get my Macs.......

[LeMartinPecheur]

Well the composer Peter Davies seems happy enough to carry a cofffee sponsorship, so who are we.........

Fair enough I suppose,the 10th symphony....was an instant hit......

I'll get my Macs.......

Stirrer!