‘To me the symphonic ideal is one of ‘becoming’, of almost organic growth. It is a journey through a myria d of musical ideas that are as closely argued as any philosophical treatise.’ Philip Sawyers

This programme reveals Philip Sawyers as a composer at the height of his powers whose music ranges a cross a relatively wide spectrum of harmonic intensity, from the very direct and straightforward tonal language of the Fanfare to the twelve-tone pyrotechnics of the Third Symphony. However, regardless of whether we look to the modal harmonies of Songs of Loss and Regret or the multi-layere d serial counterpoint of the finale of the Third Symphony, we still find a unifying sense of a strong and individual artistic personality.