Peter Maxwell Davies: 'Farewell to Stromness' and 'Yesnaby Ground'

[ColinBurnside]

You worked very hard at this piece and you enjoyed playing it. Thank you. CGSNI.

[PSearPianist]

@ColinBurnside Thank you for that!

[cheamverdi]

I am a composer who had to endure while studying composition the almost fascist atonal dominance in academia of composers like Davies. His 'serious' complex music ranks as some of the worst- and actually most unmusical music I have heard. I notice not one of his symphonies are on youtube-ask yourself why. He then produces as an opposite extreme really bad pseudo folk music like in this video as a token gesture to tonality. I have heard pupils write better stuff in school.

[PSearPianist]

@cheamverdi Of course, it may be my playing that is at fault. However, there might be an element of 'if he is famous/a celebrity, he can do no wrong'. That certainly happens in the visual arts!

[eurisko618]

@cheamverdi You've exposed yourself as a bit of a dimwit with this highly simplified and ignorant summation of Davies work. Certainly he has written a lot of very difficult to appreciate music, much of which was in his younger days, but he has written plenty of very fine "tonal" music, much of which is based on Celtic and Scottish folk music, and he's written fine symphonies and other forms of music that put your lame conclusion off the cliffs of Orkney where it belongs.

[marcohorowitz8]

@cheamverdi good point!

[trentmuch1]

@cheamverdi

Although I can't agree with you that atonal music is a bad thing in totality (If that's what you're saying!), I certainly agree that this piece is awful!

PSearPianist goes through it very well, so it isn't the playing that is at fault at all. It's the song that's faulty!

For children learning the piano? Mm, OK... No, actually I would dissuade them on the grounds that this type of self-righteous, repetitive "muzak" might put them off playing the instrument for good!

[amatorynumber]

I can't believe this is by Davies!!!! A nice departure from his usual complexity. Thanks

[PSearPianist]

@amatorynumber I think it was very much a 'piéce d'occasion' and so he departed from his usual style!

[amatorynumber]

@PSearPianist so it seems :-) Thank you.

[CS80undermybed]

Very nice playing indeed, makes me feel like resuming my piano lessons and practicing more. Top stuff!

[PSearPianist]

@CS80undermybed Thank you very much. Do persevere with the piano!

[eurisko618]

These 2 works by Davies sound very authentic of traditional Scottish music, pipes and all. However, for anyone interested in some more even more authentic Scottish piano music, based deeply in traditional music, I highly recommend Murry McLachlan's comprehensive series of the complete piano music of Eric Chisholm, Scotland's greatest composer. Chisholm's piano works are in a way a bit like Bartok's folk music that he cataloged & x-scribed into original works. Virtuoso music played very well!

[PSearPianist]

@eurisko618 Thanks for that. I have a set of pieces by Chisholm, and once played some in a concert. It is a while since I looked at them!

[eurisko618]

@PSearPianist One thing I discovered shortly after I discovered Chisholm's music was that the scores are not easy to find. I was interested in his wonderful "Sonata in A" but had to inquire at the Chisholm foundation for the score. It turns out that it exists only in manuscript and even the manuscript is sub-divided into several possible combinations. I did not order it and I don't know where to find other works. What sort of set do you have?

[PSearPianist]

@eurisko618 It is the 'Cameos', all of which have very strange titles.

[eurisko618]

Thank you for these recordings! I've been playing "Farewell" for about a year but never had much success with "Yesnaby" (I'm an aging amateur attempting to regain some of the skill I had 50-30 years ago!). To be honest I preferred your reading of "Yesnaby" over "Stromness" in which I felt you took some liberties with the score regarding both tempo and phrasing - minor points I suppose, but just an honest critique. Keep up the good work!

[PSearPianist]

@eurisko618 Thank you for your interesting comment. It is a while since I did these recordings, and I might well do them differently now. I certainly listened to a commercial recording before I did the videos. Sometimes I have to depart from the norm just to bring pieces off on my piano, which - though generally good - does not have the quality of action of a top-of-the-range Steinway.

[eurisko618]

@PSearPianist Yes, I've heard several recordings, one I believe by Davies himself, and the "At a slow walking pace" tempo varies, apparently by how fast the performer walks, and I find the medium of these to be the most satisfying, and you play it at the tempo I like best. My critique has to do with changing the tempo where no indication exists. Personally I feel the best "feeling" comes from varying the dynamics according to the score works best. I share your "piano problems".

[truthoutmedia]

beautiiful, man

[PSearPianist]

@truthoutmedia Thank you!

[owatson322utube]

Great playing - as always! Lovely pieces.

[PSearPianist]

@owatson322utube Thank you!

[NancyBruning]

I just heard Farewell on a classical radio station while on a trip to South Beach, Miami. I had to stop what I was doing immediately to listen 100%. I googled the composer on my iPhone and this video came up. I love the performance and the pieces. Knowling nothing, I got the feeling of movement through space. Not mournful trudging, but somber steps with a bit of tra- lah. I love when I'm swept away by a new composer!

[PSearPianist]

Thanks. I think you are the first person to say that you have heard one of my videos on an iPhone. I am glad you liked my tempo!

[cpenca]

@NancyBruning I heard it on a station in gainesville and waited in my car in a parking lot until it was over.

[protagoras123456]

You should try to listen to work of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies - Miss Donnithorne's Maggot on YouTube. It's fascinating!!!

[PSearPianist]

Thank you - I will look out for it!

[foxyfaefife]

Currently I know only two things about Maxwell Davies:

1) He's particularly keen on swan terrine.

2) This sounds absolutely excellent as it is.

[PSearPianist]

That's kind. Re the swan, I can recall reading that he had a spot of trouble over that!

[Borysculus]

Let me comment from a point of view of a foreigner who has now heard both pieces for the first time: I loved it! I absolujtely did not find the tempo too fast. Of course, it could be beacuse of the fact I have not grown to expect a particular interpretation (-:

[PSearPianist]

Thanks for that. However, I do need to have another look at the piece!

[esspeeuk]

Farewell to Stromness is beautifully played but much, much too fast. I was recently at a Scottish Symphony Orchestra Concert where it was played in a salute to the Composer's 75th birthday. He was present for the performance and the rehearsals and the tempo was much much slower and reflective.

[PSearPianist]

That's interesting. Maybe I should redo it!

[PSearPianist]

You may be right on what it depicts. When I recorded this I had heard other recordings and thought my tempo was about right. If I did it again maybe I would do it a little slower.

[GrimsbyMagistrates]

I think it's a lovely piece and very well played.

[PSearPianist]

Thank you!

[EdwardWhelanPiano]

This isn't typical Maxwell Davis! Sounds more like a blend of Einaudi and James Horner! Still good though, how about some proper Maxwell Davis?

[PSearPianist]

If I can get hold of any other works of his i shall certainly consider playing them. He is not particularly known for solo piano music.

[operacat1]

I LOVE the piece, my favourite piece of contemporary piano music. I make some feeble attempts at playing it myself, but you show how to do it properly!

[PSearPianist]

Thanks for your kind comment! As you will see from the other comments, there are a lot of different opinions on how the piece should sound.

[stravinsky99]

Glad 'Yesnaby Ground' has been included here: a lovely interpretion.

[PSearPianist]

Thank you for your kind comment.

[220392123]

this is nice

[PSearPianist]

Thank you!

[thisshirtisblacknot]

I don't rate the piece, but i rate your playing ;)

[PSearPianist]

Thanks for your kind comment - of course I like the pieces, or I would not have played them, but they might be an acquired taste as they are unusual.

[pinkelephant101]

i love farewell to stromness but i don't like the staccato personally, as i don't think it's a piece that should have humour, for me its more melancholic, but interesting interpretation nontheless.

[PSearPianist]

Thanks for your comment. I happened to hear Peter Maxwell Davies own piano performance on a British commercial classical radio station (Classic FM - which has apparently plugged the piece quite a lot and is responisble for its popularity, at least in the UK). He is probably a bit more legato than I am, but he certainly points the phrasing with a little staccato here and there.

[TrialsAndTrebleclefs]

In the Farewell to Stromness why have you played with stocatto? Nice interpretation though :)

[PSearPianist]

When I was preparing my performance I listened to an arrangement for a wind ensemble, and the players used staccato to bring out the slurring which the composer puts in the score. I liked the effect - its adds a bit of humour - and incorporated it into my playing!

[fraggie99]

out of time, poor

[PSearPianist]

Please be more specific and tell me where I have played anything significantly different from what appears on the score!

[optik2optik]

Merci! J'aime! Dieu a voulu que vous soyez pour faire de la musique, et aussi pour nous!

[PSearPianist]

C'est un commentaire très gentil. Merci très beaucoup!

[BachScholar]

I like these a lot. Does he have other piano music?

[PSearPianist]

Thanks for your comment. He has written a handful of other short pieces (published by Boosey & Hawkes), and a 28 minute piano sonata (1981) published by Chester Novello. I have never heard the sonata, and it doesn't seem to have a place in the standard repertoire. He seems to be best-known for occasional pieces written in accessible idioms (eg, the orchestral 'Orkney Sunrise and Wedding')

[PSearPianist]

Thank you!

[04nevermind]

I love your playing

[PSearPianist]

That's very kind!

[Babejuda]

Wonderful playing. Beautiful compositions. Thanks for stirring up old (and good) memories of mine from Orkney's Islands and Stromness. I liked the place and its people. I haven't heard its music, though. Are these 2 pieces based on local folk-music?

[PSearPianist]

Thank you. I'm impressed that you have been to Orkney - I live in the UK but never have! I doubt if the pieces are based on specific Orkney folk music. However, they certainly draw inspiration from Scottish Celtic music in general. I am fortunate in being able to watch BBC Alba, a Gaelic language TV channel, which broadcasts a lot of Celtic music.