Christopher GUNNING (b. 1944)
Symphony No. 6 [22.56]
Night Voyage [12.00]
Symphony No. 7 [27.40]
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Christopher Gunning
rec. 3-4 Feb 2014, Watford Town Hall.
DISCOVERY DMV112 [62.56]
Praise be, there are already recordings of many of Gunning's symphonies.
I do not have a total but would guess that the seventh is his latest.
The Symphony No. 2 is missing in action — which intrigues me —
otherwise we have Symphony 1 on Albany,
3 and 4 on Chandos
and 5 also on Discovery.
The concertos can be heard variously in harness with the symphonies. Three
are coupled on a separate Discovery
CD. Some years ago his Soprano Saxophone Concerto On Hungerford
Bridge was recorded by John Harle. That was on ASV
so is now deleted and only available through the more obscure Amazon corridors
or as part of a 5CD Resonance
box. His film and TV music has been the subject of a miscellany on a Chandos
CD from the BBC Phil and Rumon Gamba.
While his Fifth was a big 50+ minute construct the two symphonies here
are shorter. Each is less than half an hour and each is in a single movement.
Gunning’s style of expression is direct. He does not hide what he
has to say behind avant-garde or other opaque barriers. The music is dramatic
and full of inventively communicated incident.
The most instantly memorable aspect of the Sixth is a sense of the hunt
or at least of speed. If, from time to time, you think of Herrmann's
tetchy and angst-ridden moodiness and of the music for the rain in Psycho
then you will not be alone. The music rises to climactic statements and
moves on to tenderness. The overall effect broadly places the music in
the Alwyn/Sibelius category. One is often conscious of an air of regret
or anxiety suggested or directly stated. This returns strongly affirmed
at the end of the work's 22 minutes. In his liner-note the composer
indicates his hope that the music has a strong narrative but stresses
that there is no specific story.
Before the Seventh Symphony comes Night Voyage - a 12 minute
mood impression - my words. This is vivacious marine music recalling the
glinting dazzle of Howard Blake's film music for The Riddle of
the Sands. As with so much sea music - Alfvén's Fourth Symphony,
Nystroem's Sinfonia del Mare, Bax's Tintagel
and Fand - the work stands as an echo of mankind’s emotional
travails and joy. The storm here is clearly recognisable but not as physically
crushing or as imposing as the equivalent Grimes interlude. This is a
completely successful piece; atmospheric and magically poised.
The Seventh Symphony is in six ‘phases’. Once again the language
is seductively clear and emotional. It’s in the same melodic constituency
as the other two pieces. It is a searching work and quite properly we
are left to read our own emotional experiences into its 28 minutes. The
music is redolent of Sibelius's Third and Sixth Symphonies crossed
at times with say William Alwyn's first symphony. I mention this
simply to give some, no doubt cack-handed, impression of what it sounds
like rather than suggesting any lack of originality of message. Once again
rushing hunting motifs are in evidence and lend the score both atmosphere
and winged progress. Towards its close the music picks up something momentous
and epic-cinematic. This falls away off a cliff face into a steady and
quiet glow. It’s not contented but certainly it speaks of stability.
Gunning directs the RPO with whom he has worked before so what we hear
can almost certainly be taken as representative of what the composer wants
the music to say to us. I hope that there will be more.
The liner note is in English with French and German translations.
The recording here is stunning and gloriously revealing of instrumental
detail.
All three works were composed between 2010 and 2011.
Rob Barnett
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