SKU: HL.14008415

UPC: 884088808242. 8.5x11.0x0.261 inches.

This work, written by Maxwell Davies in 1983 for chamber orchestra, was commissioned to celebrate the quartercentenary of Edinburgh University. The first performance was given by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Edward Harper in October 1983. Duration c. 29mins. This work was thought through in outline following a visit to the ruined pre-Reformation church of Hoy in Orkney, on a fine Spring afternoon after Maxwell Davies had played the harmonium for the tiny congregation in its large bleak Victorian replacement. The old church was surrounded by the graves of centuries, the more recent ones with familiar names, largely of people who lived in houses now ruinous - crofters, fishermen, clerics, sea-captains. Next to it stood the chief farmhouse, the Bu, going back to Viking times. He thought of the lives and deaths encompassed there, expressed through hundreds of years of music in the church, and in the big barn of the farm. The plainsongs 'Dies Irae' and 'Victimae Paschali Laudes' are used throughout the work - the first concerning the Day of Judgement, from the Mass for the Dead, the second particular to Easter Sunday and the Resurrection. These are subject to constant transformation - the intervallic contour slowly changes from one into the other, and their notes are made to dance through Renaissance astrological 'magic square' patterns. The orchestra consists of double woodwind, two horns, two trumpets and strings.

SKU: BT.ALHE31401

French.

The Symphony No.39 In E Flat K.543 was finished in Vienna on 26th June 1788. Together with the symphonies in G minor and C major Jupiter (all three were composed in less than a month), it marks the summit of Mozart's achievementin symphonic form. Although this symphony breaks no new ground as regards the use of orchestral instruments, it is nevertheless one of the first examples of modern orchestration, because the resources of each instrument and thevarious combinations of timbre are here exploited with great skill.This miniature score is an excellent resource for perusal or private study of this work.

SKU: HL.14021000

ISBN 9780711959927. 5.5x7.5x0.2 inches.

Commissioned to write a piece for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Davies provided a musical General Assembly of his own: a bright overture based on an Australian aboriginal song which gives rise to 'national anthems' of various kinds and instrumental colourings. Finally the 'anthems' are combined, 'if not triumphantly', Davies says, 'at least in a manner whereby they get along together'. The first performance took place in June 1995 in Nottingham. It was given by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies. Score (miniature). Duration c. 14mins.

SKU: HL.14021038

ISBN 9780711991248. 5.5x7.5x0.148 inches.

Peter Maxwell Davies' Swinton Jig was inspired by his youth spent in Salford. These variations on a traditional melody portray the community spirit during wartime and the impromptu concerts and dances held within the air shelters. The instrumentation reflects this, with banjos, bells, bones and horns, and even an out of tune upright piano! This work was commissioned by the BBC and first performed in November 1998 by the BBC Philharmonic. In miniature pocket score format.