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The CD opens with The Flight of Icarus (1990), premiered in Cardiff in January 1991; it gained wider currency when played at the Proms five years later, helping to establish Pickard's reputation. It takes the form of a 20-minute tone poem conceived in one unbroken arc, but divisible into three distinct sections. Whilst not strictly programmatic, the work's narrative structure is influenced by the Greek myth of Icarus, with reference to the disasters of early space exploration; the underlying message behind the piece is the catastrophe that human endeavour generates. A ceaseless rhythmic drive creates considerable energy, and this is coupled with a ravishing array of orchestral colours and a profusion of striking ideas. The large forces are deployed with skill and imagination, with key roles for tuba and timpani, who together introduce an important motto theme right at the start of the work. Thick sonorities of multi-layered density as catastrophe strikes are offset by gentle, translucent textures evoking the sea and graceful, soaring episodes capturing the feeling of flight. In a gripping performance such as the one captured on this disc, it is easy to see why this dramatic, superbly-scored piece remains the composer's most celebrated and often played work for orchestra.
The Spindle of Necessity (1998), based on Plato's description of the workings of the universe and his model of the afterlife, is a one-movement concerto for trombone accompanied by strings and percussion, also lasting about 20 minutes. It's a calm, reflective work in which the solo lines domi¬nate, though often supported by richly divided, inventively deployed strings studded with delicate percussion. The opening and closing sections have something of the feel of a soliloquy for the soloist and Christian Lindberg rises to the challenge with both technical prowess and eloquent lyricism.
The CD saves the best until last with Channel Firing (1993), dedicated to the memory of Pickard's composition teacher, William Matthias, who commissioned it for the 1993 North Wales Music Festival. It was inspired by a Thomas Hardy poem, written just before the Great War, set in a churchyard on the south coast of England at night as gunfire causes the dead to rise up, thinking it is the last judgement. (The poem itself was famously set by Gerald Finzi.) Like The Flight of Icarus, this symphonic poem is connected with the sea, but the tone is infinitely darker, with the character of a solemn, processional, whose progress is brutally disrupted in the faster cen¬tral section. A fateful chord taken from Wagner's Gotterdämmerung permeates the work. Though not as technically virtuosic as The Flight of Icarus, Channel Firing is more diverse in character, more rigorous in its thematic development and more emotionally engaging. It is one of Pickard's most English-sounding scores: the brass writing in the central skirmishes is not far removed from that of Havergal Brian and the deeply affecting aftermath recalls the visionary post-nuclear laments of Vaughan Williams' Sixth and Ninth Symphonies: these associations, together with a scrupulous working-out of the material, prompts the feeling that Channel Firing is less a tone poem and more a one-movement symphony, and a particularly fine example.
Brabbins and his Swedish players make the best possible case for these works, with dynamic but polished performances in splendid sound from BIS. It is good news that a further Pickard disc is planned from the same sources, featuring the first in his seascape trilogy, Sea Change (1989), the Piano Concerto of 2000 and a new orchestral piece to be premiered in September 2009. It is to be hoped recordings of his fiercely compelling Second and Third symphonies will follow in due course.
Paul Conway
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