George Walker: Sinfonia No. 3 - Single

George Walker completed his Sinfonia No. 3 in 2002, the year he turned 80 and was enjoying a growing, if overdue, recognition, among orchestras. There is a hard-fought quality to the opening movement. Orchestral textures are rugged, even sculptural, full of chiselled chords and angular gestures. Gianandrea Noseda, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, hears echoes of 20th-century icons in its three movements. “When Walker makes clusters of orchestration, I think there is a memory of Shostakovich,” he tells Apple Music Classical, reflecting the portentous opening mood. “The more rhythmical passages are connected to Stravinsky.” Noseda cites the crunchy, machine-like brass figures that propel the turbulent third movement. “In the more lyrical, slow moments, I think he’s more connected with Bartók,” Noseda says. The second movement recalls the Hungarian composer’s self-styled “Night Music”, with its eerie stirrings and sudden outbursts. Noseda and the NSO bring bold colours to the music, with the brass in particular building to ferocious heights. “Walker writes incredibly well in terms of balance, dynamics and rhythm,” says Noseda. “He doesn’t leave a lot to interpretation, so you really have to try to get it right. In that sense, his music is very much like Stravinsky: If you perform Stravinsky and you get it right, it somehow sounds right. It’s the same with George Walker.”