Tippett: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins

Tippett’s first two published symphonies are mature and confident works dating from the middle of the last century. Coruscating accounts from Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra are sure to win new friends for this marvellous music.

Tippett:
 Symphony No. 1
 Symphony No. 2

"These readings have the intentness of conviction, which the still underrated Symphony No. 1 in particular richly deserves…In approaching Tippett’s teaming textures, Brabbins and his producer Andrew Keener appear to have aimed for clarity. A relatively modest string body allows wind detail to come through; and a fairly dry studio acoustic is preferred."
BBC Music Magazine - January 2018 ****

"[Symphony No. 1] remains a challenge to conductors as well as to recording technology, a challenge which this new version surmounts with polish and panache…By showing how the central movements [of the Second] complement and balance the outer ones, Brabbins gives the music maximum cogency…This is remarkable music-making, and recorded with all the appropriate richness of colour and clarity of textural detail."
Gramophone MagazineJanuary 2018