Beautiful Passing, Music for Violin and Orchestra by Steven Mackey Anthony Marwood, Sydney Symphony Orchestra & David Robertson

• Steven Mackey (b. 1956): Beautiful Passing:
• 1 Mackey: Beautiful Passing 24:33
• Mnemosyne's Pool:
• 2 Mackey: Mnemosyne's Pool: No. 1, Variations 09:12
• 3 Mackey: Mnemosyne's Pool: No. 2, Déjà vu (Medley) 10:01
• 4 Mackey: Mnemosyne's Pool: No. 3, Fleeting 04:53
• 5 Mackey: Mnemosyne's Pool: No. 4, In Memoriam A.H.S 05:51
• 6 Mackey: Mnemosyne's Pool: No. 5, Echoes 12:49
• Total Runtime 01:07:19

Info for Beautiful Passing, Music for Violin and Orchestra by Steven Mackey

Memory is at the forefront of this program, which pairs Steven Mackey's moving, evocative violin concerto, Beautiful Passing, with Mnemosyne's Pool, his expansive symphonic saga, to explore the different ways in which we engage with that most human of experiences. These performances capture the enduring relationship between David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, in a stunning rendering of works by a composer Robertson has long championed. Anthony Marwood brings a performance that is lyrical, touching and thrilling in equal measure.

Works include Mackey's violin concerto Beautiful Passing (2008), with soloist Anthony Marwood, and his symphony, Mnemosyne's Pool (2014), both recorded live by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra led by conductor David Robertson. Mackey shares deeply personal accompanying notes in the booklet, followed by a conversation with longtime collaborator of more than 15 years, David Robertson. The conductor leads the National Symphony Orchestra in performances of Mnemosyne's Pool on December 1, 2, and 3, 2022 at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The NSO, alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony, commissioned the symphony.

Mackey introduces the album, "All of the music on Beautiful Passing engages with memory, albeit in different ways. Mnemosyne's Pool deals with memory within the music itself, and in so doing it deals with our memory, the human capacity for memory and the act of remembering. Beautiful Passing deals with my memory, a particular memory from my personal experience which gave rise to the music and may in turn invite related memories from the listener."

Anthony Marwood, violin
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson, conductor

Anthony Marwood
enjoys a wide-ranging international career as soloist, director and chamber musician. Recent solo engagements include performances with the Boston Symphony, St Louis Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, New World Symphony, London Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Spain, Adelaide Symphony and Sydney Symphony. He has worked with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Sir Andrew Davis, Thomas Søndergård, David Robertson, Gerard Korsten, Ilan Volkov, Jaime Martin and Douglas Boyd. ​

Highlights in 2021 included his debut at the Tanglewood Festival in the USA, playing Ligeti’s violin concerto, conducted by Thomas Adès. In the next 18 months he will return to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, National Orchestra of Spain, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Trondheim Soloists, Les Violons du Roy in Canada and the Adelaide Symphony, as well as performing at the Yellow Barn, Portland and Bridgehampton Festivals in the USA, and Ilumina Festival in Brazil. ​

Many leading composers have written concertos for him, including Thomas Adès, Steven Mackey, Sally Beamish and Samuel Carl Adams. ​

Anthony is a prolific recording artist, and has recorded 50 CDs for the Hyperion label, alongside many recordings for other labels. His next project is to record Elgar’s violin concerto. ​

He was the violinist of the Florestan Trio for sixteen years and won the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award in 2006. ​

In April 2022 he returned to the International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove, Cornwall to teach a week of masterclasses. ​

As a chamber musician he has a wide circle of regular collaborators including Steven Isserlis, Aleksandar Madžar, Inon Barnatan, Alexander Melnikov, Denes Varjon and James Crabb.

Many leading composers have written concertos for him, including Thomas Adès (Anthony also made the first recording of the work, for EMI) Steven Mackey, Sally Beamish and Samuel Carl Adams. Anthony is a prolific recording artist, and his most recent release – his 50th on the Hyperion label – is a recording of Walton’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins. The disc received wide critical acclaim, including a 5-star review in The Guardian and a ‘Recommended Recording’ in The Strad Magazine, whilst the Sunday Times described him as “a thrilling, virtuosic soloist”.

Anthony studied with Emanuel Hurwitz and David Takeno in London. He has collaborated with numerous actors, Indian classical dancer Mayuri Boonham, Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor, sculptress Nicole Farhi and South African guitarist Derek Gripper. He was the violinist of the Florestan Trio for sixteen years and won the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist award in 2006.

Anthony, who resides in Sussex and Amsterdam, is co-Artistic Director of the Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival in East Sussex, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018.

He performs annually at the Yellow Barn Festival in Vermont and enjoys a close association with the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne.

He was appointed an MBE in the 2018 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List and was made a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music in 2013.

He uses a bow by Joseph René LaFleur and plays a 1736 Carlo Bergonzi violin, kindly bought by a syndicate of purchasers, and a 2018 violin made by Christian Bayon.

Booklet for Beautiful Passing, Music for Violin and Orchestra by Steven Mackey