Robert Simpson(1921-1997)

[calyptorhynchus]

At the moment I am helping out Toccata with proof-reading their booklets and CD materials. So I have seem the proofs of the new Simpson CD booklet. There I saw a sentence that amused me a lot: the CD has a setting of A E Housman's The Cherry Tree, and in the booklet Matthew Taylor talks about the hearing the influence of Finzi on this song. Finzi's influence on Simpson: I never thought I'd read that thought!

And while I was typing that another strange conjunction occurred to me. In the late 1980s Simpson and his wife Angela moved to Ireland, to a house overlooking Dingle Bay. Simpson had a workroom looking out over the view and all his late compositions were composed there (Symphony No.10 and String Quartet 12 onwards). This put me in mind of Bax in the 1920s heading off to north Scotland and staying at a hotel where he could get Atlantic views and inspiration to compose his symphonies (and quality whisky). Again, another composer you wouldn't think of as having any similarities with Simpson.

[foxandpeng]

The Clarinet Trio (1967) about to be released on Toccata is for A Clarinet, Cello and Piano. (I know this because I have the score, and transcribed it and made a MIDI version for Youtube, but I have now taken this down).

Can someone with access to either the score or other information let me know if the Clarinet Quintet from the next year is also for A Clarinet, or is it for a Bflat instrument?

Thanks for this! Good old Toccata!

[calyptorhynchus]

News from the Robert Simpson Society. The unrecorded chamber works disc vol 1 is now sitting the warehouse, ready to be released in January.

If you would like a free copy of this disc you can get one by joining the Society (contact details on their webpage).

The unrecorded chamber works disc Vol 2 will consist of:

1. The Brass Quintet
2. The Sonata for Two Pianos
3. Simpson's arrangement of Nielsen's Commotio for two pianos

And performers are being lined up for this disc. If you would like to contribute to the costs of the disc you can do so via the RSS webpage.

Finally the Society has a list of unrecorded woks beyond these. These are

1. A piano trio version of the Haydn Variations for piano
2. Flute Concerto
3. Violin Concerto (as revised by Matthew Taylor after Simpson's instructions)
4. Variations and Fugue on a Theme of J S Bach
5. Orchestral Brass version of The Four Temperaments (originally for Brass Band)

As 2-5 of these are orchestral recording them will cost big bikkies and so the Society is looking for sponsorship to do it.

[foxandpeng]

News from the Robert Simpson Society. The unrecorded chamber works disc vol 1 is now sitting the warehouse, ready to be released in January.

If you would like a free copy of this disc you can get one by joining the Society (contact details on their webpage).

The unrecorded chamber works disc Vol 2 will consist of:

1. The Brass Quintet
2. The Sonata for Two Pianos
3. Simpson's arrangement of Nielsen's Commotio for two pianos

And performers are being lined up for this disc. If you would like to contribute to the costs of the disc you can do so via the RSS webpage.

Finally the Society has a list of unrecorded woks beyond these. These are

1. A piano trio version of the Haydn Variations for piano
2. Flute Concerto
3. Violin Concerto (as revised by Matthew Taylor after Simpson's instructions)
4. Variations and Fugue on a Theme of J S Bach
5. Orchestral Brass version of The Four Temperaments (originally for Brass Band)

As 2-5 of these are orchestral recording them will cost big bikkies and so the Society is looking for sponsorship to do it.

Thanks for the heads up

[calyptorhynchus]

OK, the "Chamber Music vol 1" Toccata disc landed today.

What a revelation! The String Quartet in D major is fine, early work, very consonant for Simpson; the influence of Beethoven, Brahms and even a bit of Tippett is in evidence, but the work gains in confidence until the finale which is awesome, and genuine Simpson.

The songs are very good and well-worth listening to.

The Clarinet Trio, I'd say this is the greatest chamber work of the C20 for clarinet... if Simpson himself hadn't written the Clarinet Quintet the next year. Having prepared a MIDI version I knew what it was going to sound like, but was unprepared for how good it sounds with real musicians of the calibre of Johnson, Wallfisch and Lenehan playing.

Finally the 2 Clarinet Quintet, the string trio version of this (already recorded by Hyperion) sounds cool and even a little sensuous (hints of cool jazz with the clarinet and bass clarinet sound a little saxophone-y in places). But the version with three basses here is like nothing else in chamber music, all of the above, plus much darker; the same work on a different plane.