Symphonien Nr.2 & 6

John Pickard is best known for his powerful orchestral and instrumental works and his music is widely praised for its large-scale sense of architecture and bold use of an extended tonal language. This recording brings together three works composed over a period of almost forty years and provides insight into the composer's creative range. The Second Symphony, which Pickard completed at the age of 23, is an extremely impressive and focused work. The starting point was John Hersey's book Hiroshima, which describes how vegetation quickly became important again amid the ashes of the city. The Verlaine Songs contain six poems by French poet Paul Verlaine. The poems were chosen for their broad range of expression and grouped in an order that offers a dramatic contrast of moods. The cycle was composed for soprano Emma Tring, with her specific vocal qualities in mind. The Sixth Symphony, which closes this recording, was composed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and is dedicated to Robert von Bahr, the founder of BIS Records. After a first section dominated by a sense of unease, the second section offers an escape from darkness. This recording was the first performance of the work.