Peter Maxwell Davies

Peter Maxwell Davies was one of the most significant figures in post-War European music * Rose to prominence in late 1960s with neo-expressionistic music-theatre pieces Eight Songs for a Mad King and Vesalii Icones, orchestra scores Worldes Blis and St Thomas Wake, and opera Taverner * Many works composed for distinctive chamber sextet of Fires of London * Since the 1970s, worklist included Trumpet Concerto, 10 Symphonies, and 10 Strathclyde Concertos written for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra * Many works for young performers * Was active as conductor, both of his own works and standard repertoire * Master of the Queen's Music 2004-14

Works by Peter Maxwell Davies include:
Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969) Music-theatre work for male singer and ensemble
An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise (1985) for orchestra or chamber orchestra and Highland pipes
Symphony No.5 (1994) for orchestra

Looking Ahead: 90th anniversary of birth in 2024 - explore our anniversary web page; performances of An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise in Leverkusen (8 Sep), Helsinki (27 Nov), Glasgow (12 Oct), Brighton (1 Dec) and Sheffield (8 Feb).

"...vivid theatricality and a musical idiom that combines medieval mysticism, modernist rigour and happy accessibility." — New York Times

> Read the announcement of the death of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
> Read a tribute to Maxwell Davies by Paul Griffiths