COMPOSERS: Payne
LABELS: NMC
WORKS: Time’s Arrow
PERFORMER: BBC SO/Andrew Davis
CATALOGUE NO: NMCD 037 S
On the strength of this new recording, the relative neglect in the concert hall of work by the British composer (and BBCMusic Magazine reviewer) Anthony Payne seems very odd indeed. Time’s Arrow dates from 1990 and was a BBC Proms commission. It is a remarkable work lasting just under thirty minutes, divided into nine sections running without a break. Payne’s idea was that the piece should reflect the concept of the ‘Big Bang’ with an explosion of material speeding out into space, then gradually slowing towards a still centre, then picking up speed to be sucked back to the initial or a subsequent explosion. In devising the structure, Payne has used the principles of the golden section in order to determine the lengths of the journey. What results is a work of stunning confidence with exceptional clarity of thought and argument. The BBC Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Davis rises magnificently to the demands: glittering brass in insistent, repetitive figures; lush strings in arching lyricism; brute explosive energy. Terrific! Annette Morreau
Payne: Time's Arrow
On the strength of this new recording, the relative neglect in the concert hall of work by the British composer (and BBCMusic Magazine reviewer) Anthony Payne seems very odd indeed. Time’s Arrow dates from 1990 and was a BBC Proms commission. It is a remarkable work lasting just under thirty minutes, divided into nine sections running without a break.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:33 pm