Symphony No. 6 (Simpson)

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The Symphony No. 6 by Robert Simpson was completed in 1977 and dedicated to the renowned gynaecologist Ian Craft. It was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra who gave the premiere under Sir Charles Groves on 8th of April, 1980.

Ian Craft, the symphony dedicatee, suggested that the emergence of life from a fertilized cell could be paralleled in symphonic form, with motives developing by thematic metamorphosis. This idea appealed to Simpson who took it even further by dividing the one-movement work into two parts: the first a steady build up to an enormous climax which symbolises birth, the second representing the rapid growth of the newly-born individual.

At the beginning, two germinal elements are exposed; static and mobile. These include triadic shapes in the violins, and a chord which has potential to open out into a chain of fifths which Simpson likened to a DNA molecule. The material is always growing and proliferating into polyphonic lines, canons, inversions and retrogrades which representing cells dividing, multiplying and grouping. Eventually a central climax is reached after graphical ‘contractions’ from the orchestra; this represents the moment of birth and brings about an unspeakable sense of release.

The second half of the work symbolises the rapid development of the new-born and suggests the sequence of an intermezzo, scherzo and finale. After a long oboe tune, there is a quiet fugue before a triumphant and energetic conclusion. The work ends triadically (an unusual occurrence in Simpson’s music) on a resounding D major chord.