Posted 28th August 2009

Vic Hoyland — Vixen, Qibti and Phoenix

2009 has been a busy year for Vic Hoyland. It began with the BBC Symphony Orchestra performance of Phoenix. Andrew Clements commented that "Hoyland's language, which has always been unapologetically — but there are connections with late Boulez, in the toccatas of high woodwind and tuned percussion that punctuate both sections, and with Messiaen, whose joyous rampagings in the Turangalîla Symphony surely lie behind the ecstatic closing pages. Above all, though, this is an entirely personal piece of virtuoso orchestral writing, full of luscious textures, which Litton and the BBCSO delivered with great panache."

The performance of Phoenix marks the end of a decade long project with the BBC and the completion of a triptych of extraordinary orchestral works: Vixen (1997), Qibti (2003) and Phoenix (2008). Recordings of Vixen and Qibti works are available from NMC.

More recently Hoyland wrote a short work, Token, as a gift for Endymion Ensemble in celebration of their 30th birthday and will be released on NMC in early 2010.

His latest commission is from the BCMG, a ensemble with which he has a long and fruitful history. Hoyland's first piece for them, Of Phantasy, was composed in 1989 and since then they have been close collaborators. In 2008 they premièred Pierrot, a tribute to Pierre Boulez that was performed on the occasion of his visit to Birmingham.

Hoyland's new work is entitled Hey Presto! and is for 10 players. As with his recent orchestral music, Hey Presto! is innovative in its orchestration, and makes the most of the BCMG's fantastic performers. He discusses the work in more detail here.

You can hear In Transit and Vixen on Spotify.

Vic Hoyland — Vixen, Qibti and Phoenix

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