ABSTRACT
Odyssey received a first, truncated performance in August 1987 conducted by Mark Elder with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms, followed by a complete performance, by the same orchestra, but conducted by Richard Bemas at the Royal Festival Hall in April 1989. The first performance of the complete score by Richard Bemas and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1989 had a rather mixed reception. There were critical voices, most notably Merion Bowen, who extended his instinct that Maw ‘probably didn’t manage it’ in the first, incomplete performance into a more solidly negative evaluation in response to hearing the complete work. The recording of Odyssey, from Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s performance in October 1990, was released by EMI in 1991. This recording has had a significant impact on the public perception of both the work and the composer.
