Robert Simpson (composer)
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Robert (Wilfred Levick) Simpson (March 2, 1921 – November 21, 1997) was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster. He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music (including 11 symphonies and 15 string quartets), and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells. Remarkably for a composer who was still alive, a Robert Simpson Society was formed in 1980 by individuals concerned that Simpson's music was unfairly neglected. The Society works to bring Simpson's music to a wider public by sponsoring recordings and live performances of his work, by issuing a journal and other publications, and by maintaining an archive.
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Biography
Simpson was born in Leamington and died in Tralee in County Kerry in the Republic of Ireland. His father, Robert Warren Simpson, was a descendent of Sir James Young Simpson, the Scottish pioneer of anaesthetics; his mother, Helena Hendrika Govaars, was the daughter of Gerrit Govaars, founder of the 'Leger des Heils'. Simpson studied at Westminster City School. He married Bessie Fraser in 1946; she died in 1981 and he married Angela Musgrave, a fellow BBC employee and relative of composer Thea Musgrave, in 1982.
Simpson gained his degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Durham in 1952, with the submitted work being his First Symphony. Apart from music, his other great passions were astronomy (he was a member of the British Astronomical Association and – unusually for an amateur – was made a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society) and pacifism (he had been a conscientious objector in World War II). He was awarded many honours, including the Carl Nielsen Gold Medal, 1956 (for his book Carl Nielsen, Symphonist, published 1952), and the Medal of Honor of the Bruckner Society of America, 1962; when offered the CBE, however, he refused it.
The Music
Simpson wrote 11 Symphonies as well as concertos for violin, piano, flute and cello. (The Violin Concerto was subsequently withdrawn.) His extensive output of chamber music comprised 15 string quartets, 2 string quintets, a clarinet quintet, piano trio, clarinet trio, horn trio, violin sonata and a number of non-standard chamber ensemble works as well as works for piano, a sonata for 2 pianos, and a major organ work entitled (after the famous remark attributed to Galileo) Eppur si muove. He tended to avoid vocal music but his output includes two motets. Variation form was important to him, and in addition to variation-movements on his own themes he composed orchestral variations on themes of Nielsen and J. S. Bach, as well as a set of piano variations on a palindromic theme by Haydn to which he returned in his large-scale String Quartet No.9, which is a series of 32 variations and a fugue on the same Haydn theme. String Quartets Nos.4-6 can be regarded as variations upon the compositional processes, rather than the themes, of Beethoven's three Rasumovsky Quartets, op.59. Two significant features of Simpson's oeuvre are his ability to write long works entirely based on a single basic pulse, with faster or slower tempi being suggested by smaller or larger note-values, and the establishment of a dynamic tension between competing tonalities or intervals.
Symphonies
Robert Simpson is said to have written and destroyed four Symphonies (one of which even used serial procedures) before his first published Symphony. He submitted his official Symphony No.1 (1951, but some of its material apparently goes back to 1946) as his doctorate thesis for the University of Durham. This work, in three connected movements, is all in one basic pulse, with the faster tempi being doublings of the basic pulse and the slower tempi halvings of the basic pulse. Also, the work pits the tonalities of A and E-flat against each other. The orchestra is fairly standard, with the exception of using high D trumpets instead of trumpets in B-flat. The premiere was played by the Danish State Radio Orchestra under Launy Grøndahl in Copenhagen on 11 June 1953 and it was recorded by HMV under the auspices of the British Council in 1956, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult.
For Symphony No.2 (1955-56), Simpson decided to use the same orchestral instrumentation as Ludwig van Beethoven used in his first two Symphonies, though with high D trumpets. The dedicatee, Anthony Bernard, conducted the premiere of the work with the London Chamber Orchestra. The tonal conflict in this Symphony centers on B and the tonalities a major third above and below it (G and E-flat). There are three movements, the central one being a palindromic set of 13 variations, the second half of the movement mirroring the first in reverse.
Symphony No.3 (1962) is dedicated to Havergal Brian, who advised Simpson on his music as well as was advised by him. In two movements, this Symphony conflicts C major and B-flat, showing them at the end resolved in a seventh chord. The first movement is a modified sonata form, while the second combines the characters of slow movement, scherzo and finale in a structure that is in continuous acceleration from its slow beginnings to a fast-tempo climax. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra premiered the work. The orchestration is fairly orthodox except that Simpson requires all three flutes to double on piccolos, a standard feature of his orchestration from henceforth.
Symphony No.4 (1970-72) was commissioned by the Hallé Orchestra, who gave the premiere, under their conductor James Loughran, at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, on 6 April 1973. This was Simpson’s first ‘orthodox’ four-movement Symphony and his largest work to date. It is, in fact, his only consciously ‘classical’ symphony in its layout, its overall tonality (E flat major, with the middle movements in the dominant and subdominant) and many of its musical references to Beethoven and Haydn. In this work Simpson began to make use of a characteristic harmonic device that resounds through his later music: he sometimes places chords that are identical in structure a fifth apart, usually in widely-spaced registers, so that the higher chord sounds like harmonics of the lower one. The first and last movements of Symphony No.4 are continuously developing, rather than having anything much to do with sonata or rondo archetypes. They reinforce Simpson’s powers of purposeful development while also showing his capacity for memorable melody. The large-scale scherzo (which has the scherzo of Beethoven’s Ninth among its antecedents) has an astonishing trio that takes a literal quotation from Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 76 in E-flat major, confronting its diatonic innocence with a fusillade of dissonant events that, however they try, are unable to shake it from serenely going about its own business. The calmly expressive slow movement is a substitute for the original, with which Simpson was dissatisfied after the first few performances.
Simpson's Symphony No.5 (1972), in five movements played without a break, is dominated by an enigmatic 6-note chord which, according to the composer, is meant to represent "the part of the mind that is always watching you, no matter what sort of experiences you're having". The overall shape of the work is broadly symmetrical: a central 'Scherzino' (the title is ironic: the rhythmically irregular movement contains some of the most violent music the composer ever wrote) is flanked by slow movements, with outer Allegros to begin and end. The chord (which is composed of three interlocking tenths (C and E, D and F#, A-flat and C, almost spelling out a complete whole-tone scale) dominates the work's motionless start and final, convulsing collapse – and even defines the structural processes of the two 'Canone' slow movements: gradually disassembled into interweaving lines in the first, it is reconstituted as a flickering, ghostly harmony during the second. The outer movements pack a Beethovenian punch: not for nothing did the critic Bayan Northcott describe the work as "a blockbuster". The London Symphony Orchestra, to whom the work is "dedicated in admiration", gave the premiere.
Symphony No. 6 (1977) is dedicated to the renowned gynecologist Ian Craft and was premiered in 1980 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Groves. In this work Simpson aimed to depict in a general way the miracle of life in conception. The symphony consists of a large single movement, the first half being in effect a gigantic structural upbeat and accumulating crescendo to the central climax which (with graphic orchestral 'contractions') symbolizes the moment of birth. The second part of the symphony is a vivacious Allegro (combining the functions of fugue, scherzo and finale) symbolizing the rapid development of the newly-born individual.
Symphony No. 7 (also 1977) is dedicated to Hans Keller and his wife, the artist Milein Cosman. It was originally intended to be first performed on an LP record, rather than a concert, as the coupling to a projected recording of Symphony No. 2, but the disc was not in fact made and the work was first performed in 1984 by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Brian Wright. The idea was to address just one listener at a time rather than a crowd. Because of the proposed pairing with Symphony No. 2, Simpson decided it had to be less than 30 minutes and use the same 'classical' orchestration as No. 2. The work is in a single movement with a particularly profound and affecting slow central Adagio.
The Royal Philharmonic Society, sponsored by the Arts Council of Great Britain, commissioned Simpson to write Symphony No. 8 (1981), dedicated to the painter Anthony Dorrell (who painted a portrait of Simpson) and his wife, Daphne. Here again Simpson was interested in the idea of writing for just one listener, so he talked with Dorrell to get an idea of what kind of Symphony he'd like to hear. The result is a large-scale symphony in four movements but with only one break - between movements 2 and 3 - with a sinister scherzo and meditative slow movement. Jerzy Semkow conducted the Royal Danish Orchestra in the first performance in London in 1982. The score calls for a large orchestra with clarinet in E-flat, four horns and two sets of timpani.
Simpson dedicated his Symphony No. 9 to his wife, Angela. This work, composed 1985-87 and held by some to be the summit of Simpson's symphonic achievement, is in a single monumental movement and in one basic pulse, though it encompasses an opening section in chorale-prelude style, a big Beethovenian scherzo, and a concluding set of variations on a palindromic theme. It was premiered by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley in Poole, Dorset on 8 April 1987. It is interesting to note that this symphony alludes to Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 in D minor, (at rehearsal letter F in any version) a work which Simpson criticized as a noble but flawed effort.
Symphony No. 10 (1988) is dedicated to Vernon Handley, who conducted the premiere in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on 16 January 1991. Like No.8 it is a large-scale work in four movements, each of which starts the same way, with a C# 6/3 chord with an upward octave leap (this same gesture closes the work). Once again the scherzo comes second and is comparatively brief, followed by an expansive Adagio which seques directly into the finale. This is one of Simpson's most highly contrapuntal works and the finale is a powerful fugal construction, apparently partly inspired by the finale of Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' Sonata.
In Symphony No. 11 Simpson reverts to the smaller, 'classical' orchestra of Nos.2 and 7. The work was composed in 1990 and dedicated to the composer and conductor Matthew Taylor, who was scheduled to conduct the premiere at the Cheltenham International Festival in 1991, though in the event the premiere had to wait until the Malvern Festival of the following year. The symphony is in two movements, a contemplative Andante followed by a large-scale scherzo-finale of great dynamic energy.
Quartets
Simpson composed 15 numbered string quartets; a quartet preceding this sequence was written as part of his course at Durham University and may still exist there. He regarded Quartets Nos 1-3 as forming a distinct group, and Nos 4-6 likewise, though they can all be performed as entirely independent compositions.
Other works
The Books and Articles
As a writer on music (he would have disavowed the title 'musicologist'), Simpson was guided by his deep admiration for Tovey's ability to discuss a composer's sophisticated treatment of forms and keys in a manner that was accurate and incisive without ever alienating the non-specialist reader. His earliest published writings were as a reviewer and critic; but before long his focus had shifted towards being an advocate for widely unappreciated or misunderstood composers like Anton Bruckner, Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius, as well as to the analysis of better-known figures (such as Beethoven) whenever he felt able to illuminate their work from a composer's perspective. His writings can usefully be divided into five categories: (i) books written by Simpson; (ii) books edited by Simpson; (iii) contributions to other books and collections; (iv) posthumous collections of articles; (v) individual articles, programme- and sleeve-notes, etc.
(i) books written by Simpson:
Carl Nielsen: Symphonist (1952, rev. 1979).
Bruckner and the Symphony (1963).
Sibelius and Nielsen: a Centenary Essay (1965).
The Essence of Bruckner: An Essay Towards the Understanding of his Music (1966).
Beethoven Symphonies (1970).
The Proms and Natural Justice: A Plan for Renewal (With Foreword by Sir Adrian Boult; 1980).
(ii) books edited by Simpson:
The Symphony (2 Vols; Ed. R. Simpson; 1966).
(iii) contributions to other books and collections:
'Ianus Germinus: Music in Scandinavia' (1960), in Twentieth Century Music - an International Symposium of Essays on Current Trends in Music, Ed. R. Meyers. (1960; reissued 1968).
Foreword to: Beethoven, Sibelius and the 'Profound Logic': Studies in Symphonic Analysis", by Lionel Pike (1978).
'Beethoven Concertos', in A Guide to the Concerto, Ed. Robert Layton (1988)
'Carl Nielsen Now: A Personal View', in The Nielsen Companion, Ed. Mina Miller (1995).
Foreword to: Experiencing Music (Musicians on Music, No. 5), by Vagn Holmboe, Ed. and Trans. Paul Rapoport (19??).
(iv) posthumous collections of articles:
Simpson on Beethoven: Essays, Lectures and Talks by R. Simpson, Selected and Edited by Lionel Pike (1996)
(v) individual articles, programme- and sleeve-notes, etc.
'The Seventh Symphony of Bruckner: An Analysis' Music Review (1947): 178-187.
'More Reflections (After Composition)', Tempo No 144 (1983).
Program Notes for the Vanbrugh Quartet's Beethoven String Quartet cycle (19??).
Sleeve notes for the Delme Quartet's recording of Bach's 'Die Kunst der Fuge' arr. R. Simpson (19??).