Editing Robert Simpson (composer) (section)

===Symphonies===
"People who write symphonies do it because they feel able to: a lot of those who don't tell everyone else the symphony is dead ... The trouble is that the symphony as an abstraction does not exist: there may be exhausted symphonies and exhausted composers, but the response to a challenge to one's capacity for large-scale organisation and development&nbsp;– that can be exhausted only in individuals."<ref>Robert Simpson, ''The Listener'', 1973.</ref>

Robert Simpson is said to have written and destroyed four symphonies (one of which even used [[serialism|serial]] procedures) before his first published symphony. The official, published symphonies include the following:
* [[Symphony No. 1 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 1]] (1951), doctorate thesis for the [[University of Durham]]
* [[Symphony No. 2 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 2]] (1955–1956), dedicated to [[Anthony Bernard]]
* [[Symphony No. 3 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 3]] (1962), dedicated to [[Havergal Brian]]
* [[Symphony No. 4 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 4]] (1970–1972), commissioned by the [[The Hallé|Hallé Orchestra]]
* [[Symphony No. 5 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 5]] (1972), dedicated to the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]
* [[Symphony No. 6 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 6]] (1977), dedicated to the renowned gynaecologist [[Ian Craft]]
* [[Symphony No. 7 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 7]] (1977), dedicated to [[Hans Keller]] and his wife, the artist [[Milein Cosman]]
* [[Symphony No. 8 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 8]] (1981), dedicated to the painter [[Anthony Dorrell]]
* [[Symphony No. 9 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 9]] (1985–1987), dedicated to his wife, Angela
* [[Symphony No. 10 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 10]] (1988), dedicated to [[Vernon Handley]]
* [[Symphony No. 11 (Simpson)|Symphony No. 11]] (1990), dedicated to [[Matthew Taylor (composer)|Matthew Taylor]]

From 1987 to 1996 Vernon Handley recorded all but one of the symphonies for [[Hyperion Records]], with the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] (in 1, 3, 5 and 8), the [[Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra]] (2, 4 and 9) and the [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra]] (6, 7 and 10). The cycle was completed in 2003 when No. 11 was recorded by its dedicatee, Matthew Taylor, conducting the [[City of London Sinfonia]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}