Opera Scotland

Chisholm's Simoon to be given orchestral premiere

Posted 16 Mar 2015

"Scotland's forgotten composer", Erik Chisholm, wrote a number of operas and one of these, Simoon, a psychological murder thriller, is being given its world orchestral premiere in Glasgow in June.

In 1930 The Active Society for the Propagation of Contemporary Music was set up in Glasgow, led by composer Erik Chisholm. He invited friends to come and perform their own works, including internationally known composers such as Bartók, Hindemith, Walton and Bax.

Chisholm lived in the West End (on University Avenue) for many years, before moving to South Africa, where his trilogy of murder mystery operas, Murder in Three Keys, was written. The final one of these works, Simoon, was last performed in New York during 1954, where the run was extended to last for six weeks, Simoon has until now only ever been performed in a reduced orchestration for two pianos.

Supported by the Erik Chisholm Trust and the Western Baths, Music Co-OPERAtive Scotland perform the world première of the full orchestral version on 8 June at Western Baths.

[More information is to be added soon.]