Peter Maxwell Davies, an English composer and conductor, wrote music in many genres, notably ten

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and works for the stage, from the monodrama '' Eight Songs for a Mad King'' (first performed in 1969) to ''The Hogboon'' (scheduled to be performed in June 2016). His official catalogue includes more than 334 works starting with his Op. 1 in 1955, but there are also about fifty earlier works dating back as far as 1942—regarded as

juvenilia Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appears as a retrospective publication, some time after the author has become well known for later works. ...

—and around a hundred minor mature works, designated by "WoO" (''Werke ohne Opuszahl'' = Works without Opus number). These numbers were not assigned by the composer, but rather were first established only in 2010.Nicholas Jones and Richard McGregor, "Peter Maxwell Davies's Opus and WoO Numbers: A New Work List", ''Musical Times'' 151, no. 1910 (Spring 2010): 53–86. He sometimes based his music on Mediaeval and Renaissance

motif Motif may refer to: General concepts * Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions * Moti ...

s and themes such as the opera '' Taverner'', on the composer

John Taverner John Taverner ( – 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He is best-known for ''Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas'' and ''The Western Wynde Mass'', and ''Missa Coro ...

. After his move to

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, he often used Orcadian themes, for example in ''

An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise ''An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise'' is a classical orchestral composition by the English composer Peter Maxwell Davies. It is notable for being one of the few pieces in classical repertoire to feature a bagpipe solo. One of Davies's lighter piece ...

'' for orchestra with

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

. Interested in classical forms, he composed series and cycles of works. The first seven of his ten symphonies form a cycle. He composed several

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

s, including a

Trumpet Concerto A trumpet concerto is a concerto for solo trumpet and instrumental ensemble, customarily the orchestra. Such works have been written from the Baroque music, Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day ...

and a series of ten ''

Strathclyde Concertos The ''Strathclyde Concertos'' are a series of ten orchestral works by the England, English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. History and character Commissioned by Strathclyde Regional Council, each work features an instrumental soloist and small ...

'' for different instruments, sometimes in combination. Of his fourteen

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

s, ten form a series, the ''

Naxos Quartets The Naxos Quartets are a series of ten string quartets by the English composer Peter Maxwell Davies. They were written between 2001 and 2007 to a commission from Naxos Records. In 2001 the Maggini Quartet was appointed to record all ten for the ...

'' which can be considered a multi-installment "novel."

Table of selected compositions

This incomplete table of compositions by Peter Maxwell Davies lists notable works chronologically, adding when available subtitle or full title, scoring, Opus number (Op.), year of composition, genre, text information, and the link to the details on the official website. The title is sometimes a common title, with a subtitle added in the same column, while other details such as a full title or a description appear in the second column. The scoring is given if it is not obvious from the title, or unexpected, such as the tenth symphony which includes vocal parts. A year of composition follows, according to the website. The year of a first performance may be different. The column "Text" lists texts on which the work is based, or their author(s).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, List Of Compositions By Peter Maxwell Davies, Peter Maxwell, compositions by