Eddie McGuire: Entangled Fortunes (2015)

Composer Eddie McGuire is not much known outside his native Scotland, but this Delphian release may attract a wider audience for his music. The five works here, all receiving their recorded premieres, were composed over a period of several decades and may weight their individual elements differently, but there's a consistent voice across all five. McGuire's music is generally tonal in orientation, but that voice is only deceptively late Romantic. Scots folk tunes are its basis, but they are never really quoted. Instead they ... Read More

Composer Eddie McGuire is not much known outside his native Scotland, but this Delphian release may attract a wider audience for his music. The five works here, all receiving their recorded premieres, were composed over a period of several decades and may weight their individual elements differently, but there's a consistent voice across all five. McGuire's music is generally tonal in orientation, but that voice is only deceptively late Romantic. Scots folk tunes are its basis, but they are never really quoted. Instead they serve as an organic basis for not only melodic material, but also pitch classes and even textures, developing as rigorously as any serial composer could wish. McGuire also shows the impact of the minimalist movement and of new Scandinavian symphonic writing without creating music that really resembles either source. Finally, odd as it may seem, McGuire is a committed Marxist, and some of the music (the title track in particular) is intended to represent economic forces and theories.... Read Less