Editing Robert Simpson (composer) (section)

==Music==
{{see also|List of compositions by Robert Simpson}}
Dedicated as he was to renewing the classical tradition of a dynamic musical architecture built on the gravitational power of [[tonality]], Simpson wrote very few small or occasional works and concentrated on large-scale genres. He wrote 11 symphonies as well as concertos for violin, piano, [[Flute Concerto (Simpson)|flute]] and cello. (The Violin Concerto was subsequently withdrawn.) His extensive output of chamber music comprised 15 string quartets, two 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 two pianos, and a major organ work entitled {{lang|it|Eppur si muove}} (after the famous remark attributed to [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]]). He tended to avoid vocal music but his output includes two motets. [[Variation (music)|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 [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], as well as a set of piano variations on a palindromic theme by [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] to which he returned in his large-scale [[String Quartet No. 9 (Simpson)|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 [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s three [[String Quartets Nos. 7–9, Op. 59 – Rasumovsky (Beethoven)|Rasumovsky Quartets]], [[opus number|Op.]] 59.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Simpson |first=Robert |title=String Quartet No. 4 |publisher=Alfred Lengnick & co |year=1973}}</ref>

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.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

===Symphonies===
"People who write symphonies do it because they feel able to: a lot of those who don't tell everyone else the symphony is dead ... The trouble is that the symphony as an abstraction does not exist: there may be exhausted symphonies and exhausted composers, but the response to a challenge to one's capacity for large-scale organisation and development&nbsp;– that can be exhausted only in individuals."<ref>Robert Simpson, ''The Listener'', 1973.</ref>

Robert Simpson is said to have written and destroyed four symphonies (one of which even used [[serialism|serial]] procedures) before his first published symphony. The official, published symphonies include the following:
* [[Symphony No. 1 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 1]] (1951), doctorate thesis for the [[University of Durham]]
* [[Symphony No. 2 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 2]] (1955–1956), dedicated to [[Anthony Bernard]]
* [[Symphony No. 3 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 3]] (1962), dedicated to [[Havergal Brian]]
* [[Symphony No. 4 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 4]] (1970–1972), commissioned by the [[The Hallé|Hallé Orchestra]]
* [[Symphony No. 5 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 5]] (1972), dedicated to the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
* [[Symphony No. 6 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 6]] (1977), dedicated to the renowned gynaecologist [[Ian Craft]]
* [[Symphony No. 7 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 7]] (1977), dedicated to [[Hans Keller]] and his wife, the artist [[Milein Cosman]]
* [[Symphony No. 8 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 8]] (1981), dedicated to the painter [[Anthony Dorrell]]
* [[Symphony No. 9 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 9]] (1985–1987), dedicated to his wife, Angela
* [[Symphony No. 10 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 10]] (1988), dedicated to [[Vernon Handley]]
* [[Symphony No. 11 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 11]] (1990), dedicated to [[Matthew Taylor (composer)|Matthew Taylor]]

From 1987 to 1996 Vernon Handley recorded all but one of the symphonies for [[Hyperion Records]], with the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] (in 1, 3, 5 and 8), the [[Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra]] (2, 4 and 9) and the [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra]] (6, 7 and 10). The cycle was completed in 2003 when No. 11 was recorded by its dedicatee, Matthew Taylor, conducting the [[City of London Sinfonia]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

===Concertos===
; Violin Concerto (1959): A work of some forty minutes, dedicated to the violinist [[Ernest Element]], withdrawn by the composer late in his life. Simpson had considered revising the work, and Matthew Taylor has reworked the composition to fulfil Simpson's original intentions. 
; Piano Concerto (1967): A one-movement twenty-minute work, falling into several sections and written for the pianist [[John Ogdon]]. The concerto is one of his most big-hearted and instantly accessible scores.
; [[Flute Concerto (Simpson)|Flute Concerto]] (1989): A one movement work of twenty-five minutes duration, commissioned by and dedicated to the flautist [[Susan Milan]]. The work embraces a calmness in the manner of [[Symphony No. 11 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 11]].
; Cello Concerto (1991): A one-movement variation-form work of twenty-three minutes duration, commissioned by and dedicated to the cellist [[Raphael Wallfisch]]. The work begins vigorously and ends in an atmosphere of contemplative mystery.

===Quartets===
Simpson composed 15 numbered string quartets; a quartet preceding this sequence was written as part of his course at Durham University and still exists there. He regarded Quartets Nos. 1–3 as forming a natural sequence, and Nos. 4–6 are a clearly distinct group related to three Beethoven quartets, though they can all be performed as entirely independent compositions. The second movement of No. 8 has the label ''Eretmapodites gilletti'', and the quartet is dedicated to two people including the discoverer of the mosquito with that scientific name; the ninth quartet, from 1982, is a one-movement (but subdivided, with slow and scherzando sections) palindromic 32 Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Haydn; Number 10 is entitled "For Peace". (See the article by Malcolm MacDonald in the External Links.){{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

In programme notes for a recital consisting of quartets nos. 1–3 at the [[Arts Council of Great Britain]] building in London SW1 on 11 February 1955, Simpson wrote that "although they were not consciously designed as a group, they nevertheless seem to fall into a natural sequence". In construction and tonality there are elements of an overall symmetry encompassing the three works.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}
; String Quartet No. 1 (1951–52): is in two movements, quick and slow; the second movement is a set of variations on a palindromic theme stated by the viola. There is a power-struggle by the opposed tonal centres of E flat and A: E flat is the focus of the first movement and beats off the challenge of A, the second movement theme starts and ends in E flat with a central climax in A; the variations work round to A major, in which key the work ends. The quartet is dedicated to [[George Enescu]].
; String Quartet No. 2 (1953): is the shortest of all Simpson's quartets, playing for about 15 minutes. It is cast in a single movement and a single metronome mark, within which three themes (and three tempi) contest for dominance.
; String Quartet No. 3 (1953–54): is in two movements, slow and quick: an ''Adagio'' in C major and a pulsing ''Allegro deciso'' that works round to an affirmative E major. (Simpson made a transcription of this movement as an independent piece for full string orchestra.)

Simpson stated that String Quartets Nos. 4–6, which are on a much larger scale than Nos. 1–3, constituted "a close study of Beethoven's three Rasumovsky quartets, Op. 59; that is to say, the attempt to understand those great works resulted in, not a verbal analysis, but music". The three Simpson quartets offer, in his own idiom, "musical analogies" to the procedures of Beethoven's three quartets, but they can be performed without reference to the Beethoven and indeed without reference to each other.<ref name=":0" />
; String Quartet No. 4 (1973)
: is dedicated to [[Basil Lam]]. The four movements&nbsp;– an ''Allegro'', a ''Presto'' [[scherzo]], an ''Andante sosteunto'' slow movement joining on without a break to an ''Assai vivace'' finale&nbsp;– correspond to the layout of Beethoven's op.59 no.1.
; String Quartet No. 5 (1974)
: is dedicated to Angela Musgrave, who became the composer's second wife. The four movements&nbsp;– an ''Allegro molto'' with a written-out literal repeat of the exposition, an ''Adagio, sempre semplice'', an ''Allegretto vivace'' and a whirlwind ''Prestissimo'' finale&nbsp;– correspond to the layout of Beethoven's Op. 59, No. 2.
; String Quartet No. 6 (1975)
: is dedicated to the film-maker [[Barrie Gavin]] and his wife Jamila. Of the four movements, the first begins with an ''Adagio'' introduction exploring an enigmatic harmony, prefacing a large-scale ''Vivacissimo''; the second is an intermezzo-like ''Con moto; grazioso ed intensivo'', the third a complex [[Canon (music)|Canon]] marked ''Molto tranquillo'' with an ''Allegretto grazioso'' middle section, and the finale is marked ''Molto rapido''&nbsp;– these correspond to the layout of Beethoven's op.59 no.3, which begins with a slow introduction exploring a particular harmony and includes an archaic form (a [[Minuet]]) as its third movement.

Quartets Nos. 7 and 8 both explore the possibilities of the perfect fifth in shaping their themes, harmonies and tonalities.
; [[String Quartet No. 7 (Simpson)|String Quartet No. 7]] (1977)
: is dedicated to the organist [[Susi Jeans]] and written in celebration of the birth-centenary of her husband, the astronomer Sir [[James Jeans]]. The work is in a single movement and makes much use of the open strings of the instruments, whose tuning Simpson likened to the forces of [[gravity|gravitation]]. This leads the work to revolve around the circle of fifths. The slow opening ''Tranquillo'' and closing ''Tempo primo'' enclose a fast section, ''Vivace'', intended to represent the pulsing energy of the universe.
; [[String Quartet No. 8 (Simpson)|String Quartet No. 8]] (1979)
: is dedicated to the biologist and entomologist [[J.D. Gillett]] and his wife. There are four movements, the tonality of each being a fifth higher than that of its predecessor. The first is a large-scale fugue, ''Grave, molto intensivo'', the second is a brief scherzo (''Molto vivace''), 'suggesting the formidable delicacy' of the mosquito ''Eretmapodites Gilletti''. The third is an intermezzo, ''Allegretto grazioso'', played with mutes. The finale is a strenuous ''Risoluto e concentrato'' to balance the first movement.
; [[String Quartet No. 9 (Simpson)|String Quartet No. 9]] '''(1982)'''
: is subtitled ''32 Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Haydn'' and was dedicated to the [[Delmé Quartet]], who commissioned it, on their 20th anniversary, which was also the 250th anniversary of the birth of Haydn. At about 57 minutes' duration, it is one of the longest continuous movements for string quartet ever written. The theme is the [[palindrome|palindromic]] [[minuet]] which Haydn used in his Symphony No. 47 and Piano Sonata No.26. Simpson had already composed a set of piano variations on this minuet in 1948, and three of those variations are transcribed as variations I-III of the quartet. The 32 quartet variations take Simpson's fascination with formal symmetry to a new extreme, though they are grouped to correspond to first movement, scherzo and slow movement. The free-form fugue forms the finale, gaining energy and speed as it proceeds.
; String Quartet No. 10 (1983)
: bears the title ''For Peace'' and was composed for the tenth anniversary of the [[Coull Quartet]]. Simpson said that the title "refers to its generally pacific character ... The music ... tries to define the condition of peace. This excludes aggression but not strong feeling." The three movements are a serene ''Allegretto'', a very short ''Prestissimo'' scherzo and a concluding ''Molto adagio'', longer than the other two movements combined, which climaxes in a fugue and ends in a peaceful epilogue.
; String Quartet No. 11 (1984)
: was also written for the Coull Quartet and shares some material with No. 10, but is much more turbulent and intense in character: Simpson said he was conscious of the influence of Beethoven's F minor Quartet, Op.95 in this work. Quartet No. 11 is in a single large movement and is concerned with salient intervals including the tritone and the major third. An opening ''Allegro molto'' is followed by a polyphonic ''Adagio'', a large-scale Scherzo (''Presto'') and a concluding ''Molto adagio'' played ''pianissimo'' throughout.
; String Quartet No. 12 (1987)
: was commissioned for the 1988 Nottingham Festival. This work is in two large movements, a meditative and polyphonic ''Adagio'' and a ''Molto vivace'' combining the characters of scherzo and finale.
; String Quartet No. 13 (1989)
: was commissioned for the 1990 [[Cardiff]] Festival and was premiered there by the Delmé Quartet. It is dedicated to the BBC producer [[Graham Melville-Mason]] and his wife Alex. This is the shortest of Simpson's later quartets (only No. 2 is shorter) and is in four concise movements, played without any break, in a fast-slow-fast-slow pattern.
; String Quartet No. 14 (1990)
: is a large-scale work in the traditional four movements. The slow movement has been particularly praised for its meditative beauty.
; [[String Quartet No. 15 (Simpson)|String Quartet No. 15]] (1991)
:  is a shorter work in one movement with three contrasting sections, an Adagio introduction and an Allegretto finale framing a large central scherzo, marked ''Severo''. The character of this quartet is turbulent and granitic, rather in the manner of String Quartet No. 11.

===Other chamber music===
; Clarinet Quintet (1968)
: This is a large-scale work in five movements forming an arch shape&nbsp;– a central scherzo of some 800 bars is framed by two slow movements, which themselves are framed by two outer fast movements. The arch shape is completed by a slow introduction and a slow coda. The entire basis of the material for the work is outlined in the opening introduction, with the main theme having some sort of parallel with Beethoven's C sharp minor quartet. It is one of Simpson's more subtle and enigmatic scores, with an epilogue of almost naive, diatonic fluidity and rising scales.
; Violin Sonata (1984)
: This is a two movement structure, the first movement a vigorous Allegro, and the second combining the characters of a slow movement, scherzo and finale. Throughout there is a conflict between G major and G minor&nbsp;– particularly guided by the intervals of a major third and a minor third, which are often combined and pushed against each other to create strange resonances&nbsp;– for example G to B flat in the low register of the piano, and B natural to D in the upper register.
; String Trio (1987)
: A three movement work. An opening Prelude (Presto) and a concluding Fugue (Volante) are separated by a central Adagio. It is dedicated to Jillian White of BBC Bristol.
; String Quintet No. 1 (1987)
: A long one-movement work alternating slow and fast sections. It contains some of the most peaceful music the composer ever wrote.
; String Quintet No. 2 (1995)
: This was Simpson's final work. Most of it was completed in 1991, before Simpson was paralysed with a stroke that left him in permanent pain, but the final coda was dictated to his wife several years later. It is one of Simpson's most severe and dark scores, its structure is built on a minimal amount of material and there is an alternation between two tempo types&nbsp;– an austere, lyrical moderato and a knotty allegro. The slow, final coda is one of the darkest endings in all string chamber music literature.

===Compositions for brass band===
* ''Energy'' (1971), Test Piece, Brass Band World Championships
* ''Volcano'' (1979), Test Piece, National Brass Band Championships of Britain
* ''The Four Temperaments'', Suite for Brass Band (1983). The composer also re-orchestrated this work for orchestral brass.
* ''Introduction and Allegro on a Bass of Max Reger'' (1987)
* ''Vortex'' (1989)

===Compositions for keyboard instruments===
* Piano Sonata (1946)
* Variations and Finale on a Theme of Haydn for solo piano (1948)
* ''Michael Tippett, His Mystery'' for solo piano (1984)
* ''Eppur si muove'', Ricercar and Passacaglia for organ (1985)
* Variations and Finale on a Theme by Beethoven for solo piano (1990)
* Sonata for Two Pianos (1980 rev. 1990)