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MAXWELL DAVIES, P.: The Boyfriend Suite / The Devils Suite / Seven In Nomine / The Yellow Cake Revue (Maxwell Davies, Aquarius, N. Cleobury)
All the works on this recording have connections with stage or theatre. The two suites are derived from scores that Maxwell Davies wrote for films by Ken Russell and could not be more different. The Boyfriend, based on a 1954 musical by Sandy Wilson, introduces a large dance band and period motifs to great effect, while dramatic extremes depicting the film’s themes of corruption, exorcism and execution within a medieval religious setting are explored in The Devils. Seven in Nomine evokes Maxwell Davies’ interest in medieval plainsong. The composer himself plays two of his most popular piano pieces with their memorable evocations of Orkney landmarks.
Tracklist
|  | 1 | Etude No. 1 in C Major, Op. 10, No. 1 | 02:18 |
| | 2 | Etude No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 10, No. 2 | 01:46 |
| | 3 | Etude No. 3 in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3 | 04:29 |
| | 4 | Etude No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 10, No. 4 | 02:18 |
| | 5 | Etude No. 5 in G-Flat Major, Op. 10, No. 5, "Black Keys" | 01:49 |
| | 6 | Etude No. 6 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 10, No. 6 | 03:35 |
| | 7 | Etude No. 7 in C Major, Op. 10, No. 7 | 01:42 |
| | 8 | Etude No. 8 in F Major, Op. 10, No. 8 | 02:51 |
| | 9 | Etude No. 9 in F Minor, Op. 10, No. 9 | 02:39 |
| | 10 | Etude No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 10, No. 10 | 02:44 |
| | 11 | Etude No. 11 in E-Flat Major, Op. 10, No. 11 | 02:45 |
| | 12 | Etude No. 12 in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12, "Revolutionary" | 03:05 |
| | 13 | Etude No. 13 in A-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1, "Harp Study" | 02:41 |
| | 14 | Etude No. 14 in F Minor, Op. 25, No. 2 | 01:49 |
| | 15 | Etude No. 15 in F Major, Op. 25, No. 3 | 02:12 |
| | 16 | Etude No. 16 in A Minor, Op. 25, No. 4 | 01:55 |
| | 17 | Etude No. 17 in E Minor, Op. 25, No. 5 | 03:49 |
| | 18 | Etude No. 18 in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 25, No. 6 | 02:13 |
| | 19 | Etude No. 19 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 25, No. 7 | 06:04 |
| | 20 | Etude No. 20 in D-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 8 | 01:24 |
| | 21 | Etude No. 21 in G-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 9, "Butterfly's Wings" | 01:11 |
| | 22 | Etude No. 22 in B Minor, Op. 25, No. 10 | 04:35 |
| | 23 | Etude No. 23 in A Minor, Op. 25, No. 11, "Winter Wind" | 04:02 |
| | 24 | Etude No. 24 in C Minor, Op. 25, No. 12 | 02:59 |
A fellow student of Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr and the pianist and composer John Ogdon in Manchester, the English composer Peter Maxwell Davies went on to study in Italy with Petrassi. This was followed by a short but influential period teaching at a school in England, and he later studied with Roger Sessions and others at Princeton. He made an innovative addition to the theatrical dimension of music, developing the idea behind Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire; and since the early 1970s, when he moved to the remoteness of the Orkneys, he has developed a less experimental musical language, also writing works associated with the community in which he finds himself. He was knighted in 1987 and appointed Master of the Queen’s Music in 2004.
Music Theatre
With the Pierrot Players and later with the ensemble that grew from it, The Fires of London, Maxwell Davies created a series of works in which the dramatic and musical were combined. These, notably, included Eight Songs for a Mad King, Vesalii icones and Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot. His opera Taverner, based on alleged incidents in that composer’s life, was staged in London in 1972. Other stage works include the opera The Doctor of Myddfai, the collaborative comic opera Der heisse Ofen, and the chamber operas The Martyrdom of St Magnus and The Lighthouse.
Orchestral Music
Orchestral music by Maxwell Davies includes symphonies and his 10 Strathclyde Concertos for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with a wide variety of works ranging from his early Fantasias on an In Nomine of John Taverner to pieces that reflect the Orkneys, including the popular An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise.
Instrumental and Chamber Music
A wide variety of instrumental and chamber music ranges from his impressive early organ piece Fantasia on O magnum mysterium to the recent Naxos Quartets, commissioned by Naxos.
Watch: Recording the Naxos Quartets of Peter Maxwell Davies
On Wings of Song: Peter Maxwell Davies talks to Jeremy Siepmann
The contemporary music group Aquarius was formed by Nicholas Cleobury in the 1980s and worked for over a decade bringing new music to many in an approachable way in concert, music theatre and opera. Working with their president Michael Tippett and many other leading composers from Lennox Berkeley, Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle, to George Benjamin, Paul Patterson and Steve Martland, also championing young composers, they appeared frequently on London’s Southbank, at many festivals across the UK, and notably in Aldeburgh, Berlin and Vienna with Birtwistle’s own production of his Punch and Judy and in a touring production of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale by Timothy West. They broadcast frequently for the BBC and made many recordings including music by Peter Maxwell Davies and of the original versions of Falla’s ballet scores El amor brujo and El sombrero de tres picos. Nicholas Cleobury continued much of their work when he founded the Britten Sinfonia.
 Photo: Alfred Michel
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Nicholas Cleobury has conducted all the major UK orchestras, opera companies and choirs. He has appeared at many leading festivals, including the Proms, worked extensively for the BBC and Classic FM, and has a wide recording catalogue.
He has conducted across Europe, notably at Zurich Opera, across Scandinavia and Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa and the US.
Posts he has held include conductor of Schola Cantorum of Oxford, assistant director of the BBC Singers, chief opera conductor at the Royal Academy of Music, principal conductor of The Fires of London, founder conductor of the Britten Sinfonia, founder director of Sounds New, music director of Mid Wales Opera and head of opera at the Queensland Conservatorium.
A notable exponent of new music, Cleobury has worked with many leading composers, including Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, James MacMillan and Michael Tippett, conducted countless premieres and championed many younger composers.
He works widely in education, conducting and teaching at the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and several universities.
For more information, visit www.nicholascleobury.net.
A fellow student of Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr and the pianist and composer John Ogdon in Manchester, the English composer Peter Maxwell Davies went on to study in Italy with Petrassi. This was followed by a short but influential period teaching at a school in England, and he later studied with Roger Sessions and others at Princeton. He made an innovative addition to the theatrical dimension of music, developing the idea behind Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire; and since the early 1970s, when he moved to the remoteness of the Orkneys, he has developed a less experimental musical language, also writing works associated with the community in which he finds himself. He was knighted in 1987 and appointed Master of the Queen’s Music in 2004.
Music Theatre
With the Pierrot Players and later with the ensemble that grew from it, The Fires of London, Maxwell Davies created a series of works in which the dramatic and musical were combined. These, notably, included Eight Songs for a Mad King, Vesalii icones and Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot. His opera Taverner, based on alleged incidents in that composer’s life, was staged in London in 1972. Other stage works include the opera The Doctor of Myddfai, the collaborative comic opera Der heisse Ofen, and the chamber operas The Martyrdom of St Magnus and The Lighthouse.
Orchestral Music
Orchestral music by Maxwell Davies includes symphonies and his 10 Strathclyde Concertos for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with a wide variety of works ranging from his early Fantasias on an In Nomine of John Taverner to pieces that reflect the Orkneys, including the popular An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise.
Instrumental and Chamber Music
A wide variety of instrumental and chamber music ranges from his impressive early organ piece Fantasia on O magnum mysterium to the recent Naxos Quartets, commissioned by Naxos.
Watch: Recording the Naxos Quartets of Peter Maxwell Davies
On Wings of Song: Peter Maxwell Davies talks to Jeremy Siepmann
