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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Martinů: Symphony No. 2 & Symphony No. 6
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 apr. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6 & Tuba Concerto
Bryden Thomson, London Symphony Orchestra, Patrick Harrild
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 dec. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leighton: Cello Concerto & Symphony No. 3
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neil Mackie, Raphael Wallfisch
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 jul. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Cello Concerto, Improvisations on an Impromptu of Benjamin Britten, Passacaglia for Solo Cello & Partitia for Orchestra
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Raphael Wallfisch
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 mei 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 & The Lark Ascending
London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Davis, Bryden Thomson
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 sep. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphony No. 3, Dance of Wild Irravel & Paean
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 aug. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BAX, A.: Symphony No. 4 / Tintagel (Ulster Orchestra, B. Thomson)
Ulster Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 dec. 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphony No. 7, 4 Songs
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Martyn Hill, Bryden Thomson
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by Chandos on 1 aug. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fricker: Symphonies Nos. 1-4
BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, Albert Rosen, Sir Edward Downes, Maurice Handford
Klassiek - Released by Lyrita on 6 okt. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Brian Rayner Cook, Edith Wiens, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Cantates (wereldlijk) - Released by Chandos on 1 nov. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 , Piano Concerto No. 4 & Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 jun. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: A Pastoral Symphony (No. 3) & Oboe Concerto
Yvonne Kenny, David Theodore, London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 mei 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphony No. 4 & Tintagel
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 dec. 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold: Dances
Bryden Thomson, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 jun. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour piano & orchestre
Howard Shelley, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 jun. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Complete Symphonies
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Catherine Bott, Stephen Roberts
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 mrt. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 5)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Symfonische muziek - Released by Chandos on 1 sep. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les Illuminations, op. 18 - Quatre chansons Françaises - Sérenade, op. 31
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by Chandos on 1 jan. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: Symphony No. 2 & Nympholept
Malcolm Hicks, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bryden Thomson
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 apr. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bax: November Woods, The Happy Forest, The Garden of Fand & Summer Music
Bryden Thomson, Ulster Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 sep. 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ireland: Piano Concerto, Legend & Mai-Dun
Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eric Parkin
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 mei 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo