Peter Boyer - Balance of Power & other orchestral works

Information

Composer: Peter Boyer

1. Curtain Raiser
2. Balance of Power: I. A Sense of History
3. Balance of Power: II. A Sense of Humor (Scherzo politico)
4. Balance of Power: III. A Sense of Direction
5. Fanfare for Tomorrow
6. Rolling River (Sketches on "Shenandoah")
7. Elegy for English Horn, Harp & String Orchestra
8. In the Cause of the Free
9. Radiance
10. Fanfare, Hymn & Finale

London Symphony Orchestra

Peter Boyer, conductor

Date: 2022

Label: Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.559915

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Review

Bright, brash, breezy: attributes one often associates with American orchestral music and which Peter Boyer (b1970) delivers in spadefuls. Right from the outset of Curtain Raiser (2017, orch 2020), the ‘American’ qualities in Boyer’s writing – not least a vibrant dependence on tonality – are vividly, unapologetically displayed in a rattling good orchestral overture (conceived originally for wind band). So, too, in the concluding Fanfare, Hymn and Finale (2018, orch 2020), written to celebrate the 220th birthday of ‘The President’s Own’ US Marine Band and reworked to ‘revel in the virtuosity’ of the LSO for this recording two years later.

The triptych Balance of Power (2019) was commissioned to celebrate the 95th birthday of Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s controversial Secretary of State (the sole survivor of Nixon’s cabinet). In his booklet essay, Boyer remarks on his initial misgivings about the project but was won over after meeting the former politician and his wife. Kissinger requested the work be light, even humorous in tone, and Boyer duly obliged, especially in the central, bustling ‘Scherzo politico’ with its duet for contrabassoon and bass clarinet. The opening ‘A Sense of History’ is serious, owing something to Kissinger’s writings, while the form of the finale, ‘A Sense of Direction’, is, appositely, a clear-eyed toccata. With impeccable political balance, the succeeding track is the rousing Fanfare for Tomorrow, written for the inauguration of President Biden in 2021.

The remaining items are generally smaller-scale, such as Rolling River, a brief tone poem on the folk song ‘Shenandoah’. Two items look back to the Great War: the somewhat bland Elegy – with some lovely playing by Christine Pendrill on cor anglais – and In the Cause of the Free (2017, commemorating Veterans’ Day and the Great War Armistice), which features strong trumpet solos from James Fountain. The string-orchestral Radiance (2020) is overlong but its shimmering textures and intensity are highly evocative. Under the composer’s direction, the London Symphony Orchestra provide performances as committed as one could hope for.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/Classrev/2022/Aug/Boyer-balance-8559915.htm

https://www.allmusic.com/album/peter-boyer-balance-of-power-orchestral-works-mw0003723073

https://www.pizzicato.lu/die-effektvoll-brillante-musik-von-peter-boyer/

https://www.naxos.com/Review/Detail/?catalogueid=8.559915&languageid=EN

https://www.amazon.com/Boyer-Balance-Power-Orchestral-Works/dp/B0B18XTC5R

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Peter Boyer (born February 10, 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and professor of music. He received a Bachelor from Rhode Island College, as well as Master and Doctor degrees from The Hartt School of the University of Hartford. Boyer was Composer-in-Residence for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for the 2010–11 season. He is known primarily for his orchestral works, which have received over 500 performances, by nearly 200 orchestras. In addition to his work for the concert hall, Boyer is active in the film and television music industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Boyer

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