Maxwell House

Some music from earlier in the career of Peter Maxwell Davies; then enfante terrible, now Master of the Queen's Music. The disk features two pieces, his First Symphony played by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Simon Rattle and Points and Dances From Taverner by the Fires of London directed by Maxwell Davies himself. The symphony wasn't originally conceived as such but evolved over some time in the late seventies. The sound world is what now seems to be a standard one for comtemporary orchestral music, stabbing chords, percussive effects etc. Maxwell Davies's own comments refernce many influences from Schumann, through Sibelius to Boulez. There is also a certain Catholic inspiration. Points and Dances are taken from incidental music in an early operatic work based on the carrer of the 16th century English composer Taverner. 16th century music seen through a prism, lightly scored but weirdly off kilter. It's strange how forbidding this music can still seem to people after being established for so many years.