Gunning: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 & Oboe Concerto Verity Gunning, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & Christopher Gunning

• Christopher Gunning (b. 1944): Symphony No. 3 in One Movement:
• 1 Gunning: Symphony No. 3 in One Movement: Part 1, Crotchet = 80 04:49
• 2 Gunning: Symphony No. 3 in One Movement: Part 2, Crotchet = 110 01:39
• 3 Gunning: Symphony No. 3 in One Movement: Part 3, Crotchet = 120 06:07
• 4 Gunning: Symphony No. 3 in One Movement: Part 4, Crotchet = 60 04:33
• 5 Gunning: Symphony No. 3 in One Movement: Part 5, Crotchet = 136 05:52
• Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra:
• 6 Gunning: Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra: I. Allegro 07:51
• 7 Gunning: Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra: II. Lento 06:45
• 8 Gunning: Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra: III. Vivo 05:26
• Symphony No. 4 in One Movement:
• 9 Gunning: Symphony No. 4 in One Movement: Part 1, Crotchet = 60 04:58
• 10 Gunning: Symphony No. 4 in One Movement: Part 2, Crotchet = 100 04:47
• 11 Gunning: Symphony No. 4 in One Movement: Part 3, Crotchet = 112 03:29
• 12 Gunning: Symphony No. 4 in One Movement: Part 4, Crotchet = 60 04:42
• 13 Gunning: Symphony No. 4 in One Movement: Part 5, Crotchet = 120 05:56
• Total Runtime 01:06:54

Info for Gunning: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 & Oboe Concerto

Christopher Gunning is best known for his film and television work, for which he has won four BAFTA awards (for La Vie en rose, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Middlemarch, and Porterhouse Blue) and three Ivor Novello awards (for Rebecca, Under Suspicion, and Firelight).

Born in 1944 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Gunning attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where his tutors included Brian Trowell, James Gibb, Edmund Rubbra and Richard Rodney Bennett. His compositions for the concert hall include four symphonies and a number of concertos.

Here the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs the premiere recording of Symphonies No. 3 and No. 4, coupled with Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra. Symphony No. 3 was composed in the aftermath of a turbulent 2005. The work is an expression of this anxiety and the result is a chaotic, colourful musical landscape inspired by the Welsh countryside to which he escaped. While Symphony No. 3 is predominantly turbulent, Symphony No. 4 offers a different view of Gunning’s world. Here the listener is treated to a sense of triumph over adversity, and herein the work is more direct and tonal. Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra was composed as a Christmas present for his daughter Verity, who here performs her Concerto. Middle Eastern influences are evident in the central movement for it was composed on the day which Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died and reflects Gunning’s sense of sorrow for the region.

The works are conducted by the composer, and thus can be considered definitive performances.

"The piquant Concerto for oboe and strings, for me, takes the palm. Light on its feet, with some lovely moments for individual players in the first movement, it acquires a more ruminative, melancholy feel in the second where the soloist appears to be lost in her own thoughts. The quasi moto perpetuo finale brings out the youthful and spirited character of its dedicatee. This is a charming composition, winningly played." (Gramophone Magazine)

Verity Gunning, oboe
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Christopher Gunning, conductor

Verity Gunning
is a freelance oboist living in Stockholm where she frequently performs as guest principal oboe with such orchestras as the Orchestra of the Royal Swedish Opera, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. She is currently on trial for the position of principal oboe with the London Symphony Orchestra and contracted Principal Oboe with Västerås Sinfonietta. A student at the Royal Academy of Music and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Verity received her Soloist's Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hannover. In 2008 Verity recorded and performed her father, Christopher Gunning's Oboe Concerto for Chandos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Verity is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and features as a selected online tutor on the newly launched website, Musical Orbit.

Booklet for Gunning: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 & Oboe Concerto