Maxopus - New Releases

13th December 2005

This December sees a number of major releases from maxopus.com, the pioneering site that allows customers to purchase or download recordings of works by Peter Maxwell Davies.

Resurrection, Max's 1987 opera satirising the follies of modern society, is perhaps the most significant release. This wickedly comedic work uses parody to relate the protagonist's brutal depersonalisation, destruction and demonic resurrection.

Two brand new works are also released - Beacons of Hope, a march for military band, and A Sad Paven for These Distracted Tymes, a transcription for string quartet of a Tomkins work from 1649. For Tomkins, the "distracted tymes" referred to the English Civil War; who can say what the phrase means for Max in 2005?

Also released are the recent large-scale ensemble work de Assumtione Beatae Mariae Virginis, the dramatic work Blind Man's Buff, and Strathclyde Concerto No 4 for clarinet and orchestra. There are three classic works for brass as well - the Brass Quintet, Sea Eagle for solo horn, and Max's quintet arrangement of Tallis: Four Voluntaries.