Bryden Thomson
During his extensive conducting career spanning nearly five decades, Bryden 'Jack' Thomson was recognized as a leading interpreter of music from the British Isles. His legacy includes nearly fifty recordings made for the Chandos label, including pioneering recordings of both William Walton's Symphony No. 2 and the Complete Symphonies by Sir Arnold Bax.
Born in Ayr, Scotland in 1928, Thomson began his studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow. In an effort to further his education, he traveled to Germany and Austria; first to the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, where he studied with Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt beginning in 1954, and later to the Salzburg Mozarteum where he worked with conducting virtuoso Igor Markevitch.
Upon his return to home in 1958, Thomson received his first major appointment with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, where he served as the assistant conductor to music director Ian Whyte. As fate would have it, Whyte became stricken with a terminal illness and was forced to delegate a number of performances to Thomson, who commanded great praise from musicians, audiences, and critics alike. Within months of these successful concerts, Thomson's guest conducting appearances grew more and more frequent, with orchestras both at home and abroad, including Canada, Scandinavia, and South Africa. He left the Scottish Symphony in 1962, in order to focus on his guest conducting. He was appointed as the associate conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra in 1966.
In 1968, only two years after his first major music director appointment, Thomson became the music director of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra in Manchester (since 1982 this orchestra has been known as the BBC Philharmonic). He also assumed the post of music director with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, Ireland, which he held until 1985.
From 1970 to 1988, Thomson recorded nearly fifty compact discs for Chandos records, most of which feature composers from the British Isles, although his notable affinity for Nielsen and Martinu spawned several fine recordings of works by these composers. In addition to his set of Bax symphonies, Thomson also recorded the Symphony cycles of Martinu, Elgar and Vaughan Williams, in addition to a number of works by lesser-known composers.
In 1988, Thomson returned to the (now Royal) Scottish National Orchestra, where he was invited to succeed Neeme Järvi as music director. Always active as a commissioner of new works, Thomson commissioned fellow Scottish composer John Maxwell Geddes for his Symphony No. 2. Unfortunately, Thomson died before the work could be completed. Once finished, Geddes added the subtitle 'In memoriam Bryden Thomson'.
© TiVo
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Hoddinott: Symphony No. 6, Lanternes des morts, A Contemplation upon Flowers & Scene for Strings
BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Lillian Watson, Bryden Thomson
Classical - Released by Chandos on Mar 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
HARTY: Orchestral Works
Ulster Orchestra, Pan Hon Lee, Colin Fleming, Bryden Thomson, Denise Kelly
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Feb 1, 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harty: Violin Concerto in D Minor & Variations on a Dublin Air
Ralph Holmes, Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Jan 1, 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Butterworth: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 4 (Live)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Adey, Bryden Thomson, Arthur Butterworth
Classical - Released by Lyrita on Jun 10, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martinů: Symphony No. 3 & Symphony No. 4
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harty: An Irish Symphony & A Comedy Overture
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Dec 1, 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Violin Concerto, A Legend, Romantic Overture & Golden Eagle
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lydia Mordkovitch
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Nov 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Winter Legends & Saga Fragment
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Margaret Fingerhut
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Jan 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto pour violoncelle & orchestre - Improvisations - Passacaglia pour violoncelle - Partita pour orchestre
Raphael Wallfisch, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Cello Concertos - Released by Chandos on May 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Façade Orchestral Suites Nos. 1, 2 and 3, Siesta, Sinfonia Concertante, Portsmouth Point - Arnold: Popular Birthday
Bryden Thomson, Jan Latham-Koenig, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eric Parkin
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Mar 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Variations "Enigma" - The Sanguine Fan - Froissart - Grania & Diarmid
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jenny Miller, Bryden Thomson
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Jun 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 4)
Ulster Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, Vernon Handley
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Oct 6, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Enigma Variations, The Sanguine Fan & Grandia and Dairmid
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jenny Miller
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Jan 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphony No. 2 & Nympholept
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Malcolm Hicks
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Apr 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 9)
Ballets - Released by Chandos on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Cello Concerto and other Orchestral Works
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Raphael Wallfisch
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Aug 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: The Tale the Pine-Trees Knew, Into the Twilight, In the Faery Hills & Rosc-Catha
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on May 1, 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 6)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Martyn Hill, Richard Nunn, Margaret Fingerhut, Bryden Thomson
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Nov 1, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 - Mendelssohn: Capriccio Brilliant
Bryden Thomson, London Symphony Orchestra, Israela Margalit
Concertos - Released by Chandos on Jun 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
HARTY, H.: Irish Symphony (An) / A Comedy Overture (Ulster Symphony, Thomson)
Ulster Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Classical - Released by Chandos on Dec 1, 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams (An Introduction To)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Davis, Vernon Handley, Bryden Thomson
Classical - Released by Chandos on Aug 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo