Nicholas Maw - Compositions

Compositions

Maw is best known for the orchestral pieces Odyssey (1987) and The World in the Evening (1988), the guitar work Music of Memory (1989) and a violin concerto (1993) written for Joshua Bell. His music has been described as neo-romantic but also as modernist and non-tonal (for instance Personæ, his ongoing cycle of piano pieces).

In 2002 an opera, Sophie's Choice (based on William Styron's novel), was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was premièred at the Royal Opera House under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, and afterwards received a new production by stage director Markus Bothe at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Volksoper Wien, which had its North American premiere by the Washington National Opera in October 2006. Mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, who sang Sophie in London, reprised the title role at the National Opera, joined by American baritone Rod Gilfry as Nathan Landau, the schizophrenic man who initially rescues Sophie and then persuades her to join him in a suicide pact. Maw also prepared a concert suite for orchestra based on the music.

A performance of Odyssey took place in BBC's Maida Vale Studios on 9 December 2005, and was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 two days later. Simon Rattle has also conducted a recording of the work by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.