Classical Music: Mike Batt Symphony No. 1 'Ukraine'

Mike Batt: Symphony No. 1 'Ukraine'

London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer

Dramatico Records CD-DRAMCD0112

https://www.mikebatt.com/news/symphony

Mike Batt—composer, lyricist, conductor, and writer—has waited until his seventy-seventh year to deliver his first symphony, and the biographical arc that leads here is as improbable as it is compelling. Born into a non-musical family, he was secretly conducting a pile of furniture to Schubert's Ninth at the age of eleven, convinced he knew every instrumental entry; months later, the arrival of the Beatles derailed those earnest ambitions entirely. Entirely self-taught—no formal lessons in composition, orchestration, or conducting—he learned instead through rehearsals and recording sessions, guided by musicians who were, he recalls, "either kind or brutally honest."

What followed was a career of joyful turmoil: the Wombles, hit records, concept albums with the London Symphony Orchestra (Schizophonia, Tarot Suite, Six Days in Berlin), film and television scores, a commissioned work for the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip performed by the massed bands of the Household Guards with a hundred pipers, and recording sessions with artists ranging from Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne to Shane MacGowan and Billy Connolly. He has long collaborated with the LSO, the Philharmonia, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 1993 conducted what is believed to be the first 20-bit digital recording of The Planets with the RPO.

Throughout all of this, his "abiding passion"—his own phrase—remained the orchestra. Symphony No. 1, Ukraine, dedicated to and inspired by the people of that country and intended more broadly as a reflection on the conflict and suffering that persist in modern world affairs, is the fulfilment of that long-held ambition. Cast in four movements—Prelude, Blitzdream, Love and Loss, and Hope with Strength—and running to thirty-eight minutes, it is, Batt writes, "a purely orchestral palette" in which he has "trusted my own instincts, aiming for a balance of clarity, expression, and individuality."

The result is a marvellous testament to what a self-taught composer of formidable instinct can achieve. The Prelude establishes the world of the symphony with care, the orchestra painting everyday Ukrainian life with an orchestral language that is warm but watchful. Within the movement, the violin emerges at telling moments with quiet eloquence—its particular timbre speaking not of abstraction but of lived experience, the line carrying both tenderness and unease, capturing precisely what Batt describes as the ups and downs of ordinary life.

Blitzdream dispenses with that intimacy entirely. Sirens herald the arrival of war, and the percussion unleashes something close to shock and chaos—rhythmically driven, almost merciless, as though drones, bombs, and ricocheting bullets are directed at the listener. The strings are deployed to superb atmospheric effect at those moments when the music seems to call, however briefly, for a halt to the onslaught; the broad, cacophonous sound darkens further through the resonance of cellos and basses, the aural landscape one of barely contained violence and fright.

The third movement, Love and Loss, opens with low strings that conjure—as Batt intends—the depth and gravity of Eastern European choral sonorities. Bell and woodwind complement each other with sensitivity, the orchestral techniques combining to evoke sadness that nonetheless carries within it a thread of resilience. As the movement progresses, Batt's orchestration becomes exceptional in its narrative power: the pizzicato upper strings over the lower string section are a storytelling of remarkable economy, and the cornet's voice within a small brass ensemble, closing the movement, lands with quiet but considerable force.

The finale, Hope with Strength, builds momentum through its strings before other sections enter and the music moves towards a climactic explosion of optimism. The woodwind timbre throughout is particularly telling—warm, forward-looking, and an effective counterweight to the darkness that has preceded it.

Across all four movements, the London Symphony Orchestra plays with genuine commitment, reaching the emotional heart of what is, for a debut symphony, a monumental undertaking. This is music of vivid, strongly compelling sketches that covers the full gamut of human emotion—rage, despair, grief, resilience, and hope—expressed through tempi, expressive crescendos and diminuendos, and outbursts of passion that feel entirely authentic to their subject. It is an album that will reward repeated listening, and it is a deeply impressive arrival, however long in the making.