Symphony No. 5 - 1972 (London Symphony Orchestra Live Premiere BBC Broadcast 3 May 1973)
Symphony No. 6 - 1977 (London Philharmonic Orchestra Live Premiere BBC Broadcast 8 April 1980)

March 2, 2021 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of English composer Robert Simpson (1921-1997). And were it not for the release of this recording, I believe this event could have gone completely unnoticed. Not surprisingly so when you consider that amongst 20th century British composers, Robert Simpson could arguably be considered the odd man out. Were it not for the excellent coverage of his Symphonies and String Quartets on the Hyperion label, his music may have gone completely overlooked. Even much more left field composers like Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle for example have benefited from more public scrutiny. Hopefully this Lyrita label release of live BBC broadcast tapes of these premiere concerts will arouse some resurgence of interest in his music, especially since a 100th anniversary is a perfectly good excuse for a revival.

Mind you if your notion of English symphonic music is memorable tunes à la Elgar, superlative orchestration the likes of Bantock and Holst, or dramatic thematic manipulation à la Walton or Vaughan Williams, Robert Simpson may not be your cup of tea (pun intended). His writing is generally characterized by an intellectual survey of the inner mechanical workings of music, with plenty of internal convolutions marked by sudden, apoplectic and wild outbursts. Every single note is there for a reason which somehow prevents the overall effect from sounding organic or emotively attained. But then that is what makes the final movement of the Symphony No. 5 such a cataclysmic and rewarding experience. One of the critics present at the premiere performance pointed out: "The performance was one of the finest premieres I can remember of a major orchestral work, fearless in its physical impact." The Symphony No. 6 is a bit more traditional and organic in its layout despite being a single-movement work and therefore may I suggest that it should be the first one to listen to in order to test the waters. And one note of caution if I may: The Fifth starts off so quietly as to being almost inaudible but resist the urge to raise the volume too much unless you plan on suffering a cardiac arrest. At exactly the 1:00 minute mark one of the aforementiond sudden, apoplectic and wild outbursts will blow you out of your chair.

If you enjoy complex and original 20th century symphonic music, do yourself a favour and lend the music of Robert Simpson its long overdue support. After all it is his anniversary.