MATHIAS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. BBC...

MATHIAS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. BBC Welsh Symphony conducted by the composer. Nimbus Records NI 5260. The musical style of William Mathias, a leading Welsh composer, has been characterized as “civilized modernism.” The Symphony No. 1, which Mathias wrote in 1965 at age 30, balances youthfulness with tradition, its personal harmonic idiom nevertheless revealing the influence of Bartok and Stravinsky, its asymmetrical themes crafted into a comprehensible form. The bustling activity, rhythmic syncopation and acerbic orchestration of its scherzo and outer movements are set off by a spacious slow movement. The Symphony No. 2, “Summer Music,” which dates from 17 years later, is a more poetic affair, a slower-paced and evocative work with descriptive titles and orchestration prominently using a battery of bells, celeste, cymbals, harp, tambourine and gong. Mathias leads a merely competent but spirited BBC Welsh Symphony.