Stephen Scotchmer
Composer | Conductor | Musician
Musical Notes
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The Symphonies
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Introduction
My seven symphonies are a very significant part of my output as a composer. With the exception of the first, the other six have all been written in the last five years (the last completed on February 4th 2021). Although not planned as such, they have all been shaped or influenced by illness and/or a questioning of faith. The first symphony was without a doubt a response to my mother's demise through dementia and her death in 2011. I had no idea when I set Henry Longfellow's poem 'Nature' in the last movement of that symphony that I too would shortly succumb to the inequities of ageing. The following lines from the poem have haunted me ever since:
So Nature deals with us, and takes away
Our playthings one by one, and by the hand
Leads us to rest so gently, that we go
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,
Orchestral music has always been my first love, so it was inevitable that I would choose this medium to express my thoughts. The symphony is viewed by some as an archaic form, but for me it is simply a practical vehicle to write a fairly lengthy piece of music that can explore many moods and enable me to assemble my thoughts in a coherent manner. Playing the violin and conducting an amateur orchestra for forty years have equipped me well for tackling this large project.
Each of the seven symphonies begins with a brief slow introduction which goes on to play a significant role in the rest of the work. The seven symphonies (in chronological order), have tonal centres of C, D, E, F, G, A, & B respectively. Number one has the addition of a solo soprano in the fourth movement and number six has a four part chorus in its third and final movement.
Beethoven Violin Concerto in C
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This year is the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. I have noticed that the violin concerto fragment WoO 5 is being programmed throughout 2020 as part of the celebrations. I believe that this reconstruction/performing edition is the only one in the world that enables the concerto to be performed as a three-movement work.
Beethoven Violin Concerto in C
Reconstruction and performing edition by: Stephen Scotchmer
Shortly before Beethoven left Bonn to settle in Vienna, he composed a violin concerto in C major (1790-1792). There is a lot of conjecture as to whether the work was abandoned, (only 259 bars survive) or whether it was mostly completed and is now mostly lost. The manuscript is complete in terms of scoring and performing directions etc. right up to the last surviving bar. Beethoven also wrote a cadenza (for piano) based on thematic material closely resembling the opening motive of the first movement. It is possible that he may have re-worked the piece as a piano concerto (for his own use). He tended to write cadenzas for his concertos immediately prior to a performance – implying that the work was indeed finished. As late as 1822, Beethoven was offering the work for sale to the publisher Peters!