BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins
Tippett Symphonies 1 & 2
Hyperion
IF THE orchestral works of Suffolk-born Sir Michael Tippett are belatedly winning appreciative reappraisal, Scottish musicians are very much to the fore of that process. Following the award-winning recording by Steven Osborne and the BBC SSO of his Piano Concerto on a Hyperion double set that also includes all four Piano Sonatas, conductor Martyn Brabbins and the orchestra turn their attention to the symphonies. Over a decade separates Tippetts First and Second after he had disowned an earlier attempt at the form written in his late twenties. They are very different beasts too, the second both a more coherent work in itself but also more beholden to the influence of other composers of the time, particularly Benjamin Britten in the long slow second movement.
Yet structurally the two works are quite similar, and Brabbins demonstrates a beautiful understanding of that in his direction of both works, allowing those lengthy second movements to speak at their own pace before the sparkle of the third movement scherzos. Tippett’s music may not have been very fashionable at the time, but these works sit comfortably in a longer continuum now.
Beautifully recorded in Glasgow’s City Halls just under a year ago, they also give the orchestra’s wind soloists the opportunity to shine, alongside the beautifully balanced string sound.
Keith Bruce
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here