Robert Saxton: Portrait
These works by Robert Saxton were written between 2013 and 2019 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.
Robert Saxton received early guidance from Benjamin Britten and studied with Elisabeth Lutyens, Robin Holloway and Luciano Berio among others. He has received commissions from the BBC (TV, radio and Proms) and many prominent ensembles. Until retiring in 2021 Robert was Professor of Composition at Oxford University and is a Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.
Time and the Seasons, for baritone and piano, commissioned by the Oxford Lieder Festival for Roderick Williams and Andrew West, is a song cycle to Saxton’s own texts and is both cyclic and progressive. Suite for violin and piano, first performed at the 2019 Three Choirs Festival by Madeleine Mitchell and Clare Hammond, the performers here, charts a voyage across its five movements leading to a tentatively positive conclusion. Fantasy Pieces, commissioned by the Fidelio Trio, is inspired by Schumann’s Op. 88 as character pieces, regarding both genre and variety of manner. A Hymn to the Thames for solo oboe and chamber orchestra was commissioned by James Turnbull, the St Paul’s Sinfonia and its Music Director Andrew Morley and, during the course of its four linked movements, sets the soloist as both wanderer and river spirit in conjunction with the ‘river’ of the orchestra from source to sea.
Track Listing
- A Hymn to the Thames - I
- A Hymn to the Thames - II
- A Hymn to the Thames - III
- A Hymn to the Thames - IV
- Fantasy Pieces - I
- Fantasy Pieces - II
- Fantasy Pieces - III
- Fantasy Pieces - IV
- Fantasy Pieces - V
- Fantasy Pieces - VI
- Time and the Seasons - I. Winter, still winter
- Time and the Seasons - II. Spring
- Time and the Seasons - III. Time's Ellipse
- Time and the Seasons - IV. Summer Seascape
- Time and the Seasons - V. Summer Psalm
- Time and the Seasons - VI. Autumn
- Time and the Seasons - VII. The Beach in Winter: Scratby [for Tess]
- Suite for Violin and Piano - I. Awakening
- Suite for Violin and Piano - II. Horizon
- Suite for Violin and Piano - III. Jacob and the Angel
- Suite for Violin and Piano - IV. Bells of Memory
- Suite for Violin and Piano - V. Quest
Robert Saxton:
Reviews
“Fluent and inventive. The CD is altogether an ingratiating portrait of a composer well worth attention.
” —Peter Dickinson
“There’s something very English about it all – a satisfying collection that strikes the right balance of being slightly challenging yet without being off-putting. A warm selection of works, varying, rich and complex.
” —Jeremy Condliffe
“A revealing overview of the composer’s musical and wider aesthetic convictions. Does it all work? It does. Is it recommended? Very much so. Excellence of performers and performances is matched by sound.
” —Richard Whitehouse
“This CD has definitely prompted to me look again at Robert Saxton’s whole body of serious work. Performances throughout are excellent, and the sound never less than very good.
” —Kevin Mandry
“[The] music is tonal, but no one will doubt its modernity. Performances all sound capable and committed. The 36 players of the St Paul’s Sinfonia sometimes sound far more numerous and play with excellent ensemble. The chamber pieces are done with fervor, their momentum helped by accurate, aggressive attacks with good phrasing. In the song cycle, baritone Williams turns in his customary stellar rendition.
” —Don O'Connor
“A wide range of tempos and dynamics asks for and gets virtuoso responses. The performances leave nothing to complain about.
” —James H. North
“As evidenced by this very enjoyable CD [Saxton’s] music has no lack of freshness and vigour. This is a very well prepared and presented disc that does an excellent job of providing a portrait of the composer. Saxton is lucky to have his music played by so many fine young musicians. His language is informed by the past without being slavishly redolent of it, whether that be the twentieth century, the eighteenth century or whatever. He has clear influences but he has his own sound.
” —Robert McCarney
“A Hymn to the Thames is moody, expressive, evocative both of the river and of its surroundings. Fantasy Pieces is a set of six movements for violin, cello and piano, and although it is well-crafted and does a good job of balancing the three instruments while allowing each some leadership time. The piano contribution [in Tine and the Seasons] is often significant for scene-setting.
” —Mark J. Estren
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