Robin Stevens: Orchestral Music, Volume Three
The compositional career of Robin Stevens (1958–2026), Welsh-born and Manchester-based, was divided into two periods, separated by a period of illness. The first produced mainly chamber music and works for the church that employed him; restored to health (briefly, as it transpired), he found an appetite for larger forms, writing three substantial concertos and a number of other orchestral works. The tone-poem Mourning into Dancing was his first for large orchestra, but he handles the medium with virtuosic assurance, generating a wildly exciting showpiece, a kaleidoscope of colour and rhythm. Stevens never lived to complete the symphony he had in mind, but his expansive, four-movement Viola Concerto is symphonic in outline, with the viola soloist both initiating and commenting on the action – rather like a distant cousin of Berlioz’s Harold en Italie. The more modest Concert Rondo for flute and small orchestra provides light relief between these two mighty scores.
Katherine Bryan, flute
Paul Silverthorne, viola
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Paul Mann, conductor
Listen To This Recording:
Mourning into Dancing (2011, rev. 2013) (14:47)
- Introduction: Allegro con spirito, drammatico – (0:46)
- Lament: Adagio lamentoso – (0:55)
- Processional: Adagio con moto – (4:41)
- Scherzo: Allegro con spirito, ma non troppo – (2:49)
- Jig and Chorale: Allegro vivo (5:35)
Concerto Rondo for Solo Flute and Small Orchestra (2016)
- Allegro con spirito, with sparkling vivacity (4:11)
Viola Concerto (2022-23) (46:45)
- I. Adagio con moto – Risoluto (Allegro non troppo) (16:30)
- II. Scherzo: Allegro moderato (4:00)
- III. Poco adagio (15:00)
- IV. Finale: Allegro molto – Poco meno mosso (11:15)
First Recordings,
Made in the Presence of the Composer
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