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Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's The Hogboon Debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra

Jun. 01, 2016

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's <i>The Hogboon</i> Debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra

On June 26, Sir Simon Rattle leads the London Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of the concert version of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s last large-scale work, The Hogboon. The performance takes place at London's Barbican Centre.

The Hogboon is the result of a joint commission by the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and Philharmonie Luxembourg. The work is a children’s opera based on a Scottish folktale of guardian spirits that belong to families, serving to protect the homes of those passed on. The tale originates from the Orkney Isles, where Davies himself lived the last four decades of his life. In an interview with The Telegraph, Davies elaborated on the “spirits” of the Orkney Isles:

Every home in Sanday has one - and things get moved about by them. They are quite benign though certainly not adverse to mischief, if they feel they are not properly cared for or respected.

The Hogboon was written to include young musicians. It was Davies's desire to create a work that enabled young, professional, and amateur musicians to collaborate. The premiere features the young people of the LSO Discovery children's choirs and students from the Guildhall School alongside the London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra. Additional performances take place in 2017 by the Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg and Orchestre Philharmonique Chorus.

For more details on the performances, visit barbican.org.uk.

More information on Sir Peter Maxwell Davies can be found at schott-music.com.

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
The Hogboon (2015)
Children’s Opera, op. 335
libretto (Eng) by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
for 6 sopranos, 3 altos, contralto, boy soprano, 4 tenors, baritone and 3 basses
2(2.pic).2.2(2.bcl).2(2.cbsn)-2.2.2.0-timp.1-2perc-Scottish Piper(optional)-str
off-stage: 3tpt-2perc(2s.d., 2tenor drums)
"Hogboon Band" (mixed instruments played by children: recorders, woodwinds, etc.)
55’

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