ABSTRACT
Hearing Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Concerto funebre for violin and strings in Liverpool at one of John Pritchard's Musica Viva concerts suggested the title to John McCabe and possibly influenced the work's emotional tone. The superbly crafted Variations on a Theme of Hartmann is the earliest clear indication of John McCabe's potential as a symphonist of the front rank, taking into account the thirteen symphonies he had written by the age of eleven. Ear-catching orchestration, resourceful re-fashioning of material and perfectly judged sense of architectural symmetry make the first symphony tremendously satisfying. The opening bars mould apparently simple material into something arresting and genuinely symphonic. The Concertante for Harpsichord and Chamber Orchestra is scored for wind quintet, trumpet, string quartet and two percussionists, who play a variety of instruments, including xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, temple blocks and tubular bells.
