J. Kuusisto: Symphony; Pictured Within

$10.99
Label
BIS
Release Date
December 15, 2023
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Jaakko Kuusisto, Anonymous, Kalevi Aho, Sally Beamish, Harrison Birtwistle, Richard Blackford, Gavin
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Bbc Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      December 15, 2023
    • UPC
      7318590027479
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      BIS-2747
    • LABEL
      BIS
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Orchestral & Symphonic
    Works ⌄

    1. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Theme

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    2. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 1: tact 60

      Composer: Dai Fujikura

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    3. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 2

      Composer: David Sawer

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    4. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 3

      Composer: Sally Beamish

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    5. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 4

      Composer: Colin Matthews

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    6. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 5

      Composer: Iris ter Schiphorst

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    7. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 6

      Composer: Brett Dean

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    8. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 7

      Composer: Wim Henderickx

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    9. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 8

      Composer: Richard Blackford

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    10. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 9

      Composer: Harrison Birtwistle

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    11. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 10: Sixty Salutations

      Composer: Judith Weir

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    12. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 11

      Composer: Gavin Bryars

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    13. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 12

      Composer: Kalevi Aho

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    14. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 13

      Composer: Anthony Payne

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    15. Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.: Variation 14: The Art of Beginning

      Composer: John Pickard

      Ensemble: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Martyn Brabbins

    16. I. half note = 55

      Composer: Jaakko Kuusisto

      Ensemble: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: Pekka Kuusisto

    17. II. Lento

      Composer: Jaakko Kuusisto

      Ensemble: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: Pekka Kuusisto


This disc is a double tribute. The first work, Pictured Within, is a collective effort conceived as a major project to mark the 60th birthday of conductor Martyn Brabbins, whose reputation in new music and British music is beyond reproach.

Following the pattern of Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Pictured Within is a series of 14 variations on a theme, each of which takes up the character of the equivalent variation in Elgar’s work, the difference being that here 14 different composers have each contributed a variation in tribute to Brabbins.

Also on the SACD is Jaakko Kuusisto’s Symphony, a fitting tribute to the composer, conductor, and violinist who passed away in 2022. Illness left Jaakko no time to complete his work, so it fell to his brother Pekka – who conducts here – and Jari Eskola to finish it. The result is a powerful piece, full of familiar themes and melodies derived from Jaakko’s existing compositions, to which are added autobiographical extra-musical elements. The moving conclusion is a collage of fragmented phrases inspired by the signals emitted by lighthouses and ships, as if Kuusisto’s spirit had been sent out to sea.