Boyer Orchestral Works
Crowdpleasing‚ tuneful music‚ confidently realised and sumptuously engineered
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Peter Boyer
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: International Classics
Magazine Review Date: 13/2001
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 69
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 3-7523-2

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Celebration Overture |
Peter Boyer, Composer
London Symphony Orchestra Peter Boyer, Composer Peter Boyer, Conductor |
Titanic |
Peter Boyer, Composer
London Symphony Orchestra Peter Boyer, Conductor Peter Boyer, Composer |
(3) Olympians |
Peter Boyer, Composer
London Symphony Orchestra Peter Boyer, Conductor Peter Boyer, Composer |
(The) Phoenix |
Peter Boyer, Composer
London Symphony Orchestra Peter Boyer, Conductor Peter Boyer, Composer |
Ghosts of Troy |
Peter Boyer, Composer
London Symphony Orchestra Peter Boyer, Composer Peter Boyer, Conductor |
New Beginnings |
Peter Boyer, Composer
London Symphony Orchestra Peter Boyer, Composer Peter Boyer, Conductor |
Author:
Born in Providence‚ Rhode Island in 1970‚ Peter Boyer can boast Elmer Bernstein and John Corigliano among his teachers‚ and‚ like both those figures‚ his output straddles the concert hall as well as film and television.
A burgeoning cinematic and theatrical flair informs the earliest piece here‚ the 1995 tonepoem Titanic (completed nearly three years before James Cameron’s blockbuster‚ in case you were wondering). Ecstatically received by American audiences‚ it exhibits a formidable technical assurance‚ though its incorporation of two tunes played by the ship’s band during the mass evacuation (‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’ and ‘Nearer‚ My God‚ to Thee’) may well strike some as uncomfortably manipulative. By its side‚ the 1997 Celebration Overture is bright and breezy‚ uncomplicated to a fault‚ an observation which applies equally to Three Olympians (2000) for string orchestra. Indeed‚ the composer’s description of the latter work (‘unabashedly tonal‚ straightforward and hopefully a good deal of fun’) effectively sums up the remaining three items‚ all of them readily approachable and expertly scored (on this evidence‚ a career in Hollywood surely beckons).
Whether Boyer’s is as yet a truly distinctive voice is a moot point‚ but his versatility and skill are not in doubt. Fans of music for the big screen may care to give this collection a try. They can‚ moreover‚ rest assured that the LSO (and their superb brass in particular) have a field day under the composer’s lead (recent live concerts under Jerry Goldsmith have confirmed this band’s unmatchable prowess in the world of film music). Spectacularly vivid sound‚ too.
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