The Symphony No. 7 by
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...
was composed in 2000. It was written for and dedicated to the
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at MediaC ...
, by whom it was premiered on 19 June 2000 at the
St Magnus Festival, in the Pickaquoy Centre,
Kirkwall
Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland.
The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...
,
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 ...
, conducted by the composer.
Character and materials
Davies regards this symphony as part of a seven-member
cycle, but not as its conclusion. Instead of ending, the Seventh Symphony forms a harmonic link to the opening of the
First Symphony. The composer describes the Seventh as his "most classical" symphony, with particular dependence on the music of
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
.
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for piccolo, two flutes (second doubling alto flute), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, double bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani (a tom-tom or
roto-tom may be substituted for the piccolo timp), five percussionists (playing glockenspiel, marimba, crotales, tubular bells, 2 wood blocks (small, medium), tambourine, bubbolo, side drum, 2 bass drums (small, very large), antique cymbals, small suspended Chinese cymbal, clashed cymbals, 2 suspended cymbals (small, large), tam-tam), harp, celesta, and strings.
Analysis
The symphony is in four movements:
# Exposition
# Minuet and Trio
# Slow Movement
# Development
The first movement behaves as the
exposition section (only) of a
symphonic movement, contrasting two types of musical material, both from each other, and from bridging music with less well-defined characteristics.
The second movement, in the classical form of a
minuet and trio
A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''.
The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...
, was inspired by the
op. 20 String Quartets of Haydn, though the musical surface does not sound like the Haydn models.
Although the composer points to the simple, two- and three-part string writing at the beginning of the third, slow movement, as representing the spirit and style of Haydn's middle period, the following build-up and climax has been seen as owing a heavy debt to
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
.
The last movement is not a finale, but rather is titled "Development". Its dominant characteristic is that of the traditional
development section
Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...
of a classical symphony: systematic
modulation
In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the ''carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informatio ...
through a succession of tonalities while, at the same time, ideas from earlier in the symphony are fragmented, reassembled, and reworked. After a dramatic accelerando, a quotation from the slow movement arrives, followed by an inconclusive ending that links to the opening of the First Symphony, "so that the whole cycle could start over again".
References
Further reading
*
External links
Davies: Symphony No. 7, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Maxwell Davies, cond.Boosey & Hawkes{{Davies symphonies
2000 compositions
Symphonies by Peter Maxwell Davies
Davies 7
Music dedicated to ensembles or performers