Peter Maxwell-Davies

## **Introduction**

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was an English composer born September 8th, 1934 in Salford Lancashire, England. Throughout his music works, he would sometimes combine musical elements from medieval and renaissance time. After he moved to Orkney, Scotland, Davies music came strongly from Scottish themes, however, most of his symphonies were written in classical form. He wrote 10 symphonies, 10 concertos for different instruments and a number of opera. In 2004 Peter Maxwell Davies was made Master of the Queen's Music and was one of the first classical composers to launch a music download website (MaxOpus) in 1996.

## **Work Analysis**

The work I will be analyzing is Peter Maxwell Davies' Symphony No. 8 which was completed in 2001 under a commision from the British Antarctic Survey. Davies was required to visit Antarctica to create a work for the fiftieth anniversary of Ralph William's score for the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic. Davies spent 3 weeks in Antarctica and stated that his 8th work would be a symphony. He ended up conducted his *Antarctic Symphony* with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London on May 6th, 2001. The symphony is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais (English horn), 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, double bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani and a number of percussion instruments. The symphony includes one whole movement that is separated ted into 5 different sections. The whole work is constructed around a central scherzo surrounded by different tempos and various dynamics. The piece opens in Allegro with contrasting dynamics and instruments ranging from horns to woodwinds and percussion each playing its own rhythm and intensity. This is followed by a single clarinet melody, slow in dynamics which also includes a cello line. The next section or the development is an edited version of the exposition which Davies described as a "junkyard." Throughout the symphony, we have moments of largo that build into intense piles of sound from each part almost mimicking the idea of icebergs and melting ice throughout Antarctica.

## **Comparisons**

Maxwell-Davies was most likely influenced by European Modernism and the romantic classical period of music. Most of his music is written as symphonies in classical sonata-allegro form one of the most popular forms of the classical era. His work from the late 1960s leans towards a more experimental outlook and our more intense including Revelation and Fall and Eight Songs for a Mad King. Experimental music was known for pushing boundaries and some of the known composers to use experimental music are John Cage and Pierre Schaffer.

## **Observations**

Maxwell Davies was interesting to read and research about because he is more on the modern spectrum of music. His very first music downloading website fascinated me and I was able to research a little more into the making of the website and how the website made it in a developing time. I enjoyed his Antarctic Symphony and was able to find clear similarities in the music and his noted experiences. It was comforting to learn about a composer that didn't use serial music to compose and to listen to music with a clear intro and conclusion.

## **Works Cited**

http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Peter-Maxwell-Davies-Antarctic-Symphony-Symphony-No-8/15134

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter\_Maxwell\_Davies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental\_music

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata\_form

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-Maxwell-Davies