Robert Saxton: Portrait

Robert Saxton: Portrait

msv 28624 (Métier, CD)

FIRST RELEASE (9 September 2022)

Playing time: 69'40"
Tracks: 22
Booklet pages: 28
℗ 2022 Robert Saxton
© 2022 Divine Art Ltd / Diversions LLC
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Robert McCarney
Review of Robert Saxton: Portrait published on 22 September 2022

Robert Saxton (born 1953):

A Hymn to the Thames (2020)
1 I
2 II
3 III
4 IV

James Turnbull, oboe
St Paul's Sinfonia
Andrew Morley, conductor

Fantasy Pieces (2020)
5 I
6 II
7 III
8 IV
9 V
10 VI

Fidelio Trio:
Darragh Morgan, violin
Tim Gill, cello
Mary Dullea, piano

Time and the Seasons (2013)
11 Winter, still, winter
12 Spring
13 Time's Ellipse
14 Summer Seascape
15 Summer Psalm
16 Autumn
17 The beach in winter: Scratby (for Tess)

Roderick Williams, baritone
Andrew West, piano

Suite (2019)
18 Awakening
19 Horizon
20 Jacob and the Angel
21 Bells of Memory
22 Quest

Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Clare Hammond, piano

These works by Robert Saxton were written between 2013 and 2020 and represent his continuing journey of exploration in modal and harmonic structures; complex in structure but creating no jarring modernist difficulty for the listener. A mix of orchestral, chamber and vocal works, it features top performers including world-renowned baritone Roderick Williams and equally famous (and now film star) Clare Hammond. The first live performance of Robert's A Hymn to the Thames took place on Friday 16 September 2022.

Recorded on 28 January 2022 at St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood, 1 Sylvan Road, London SE19 2RX, UK (A Hymn to the Thames), 7 November 2021, live at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL, UK (Fantasy Pieces), 12 March 2014, live at King’s Hall, Station Road, Ilkley, LS29 8HB, UK (Time and the Seasons) and on 27 Jan 2020, at St John the Evangelist, Iffley Road, Oxford OX4 1EH, UK (Suite).