I bought the Spitfire Symphony Orchestra (on sale) in the summer and recently created new versions of the bulk of my symphonies using this orchestra with my own set up and Expression Maps in Dorico. I find for many orchestral works, it has a character and sound which are hard to match elsewhere despite a number of awkwardnesses. Initially i thought it was a shame that it’s no longer possible to buy the NotePerfomer plug-in for this orchestra but on comparing the results of that in demo mode with what I’ve managed, even with relatively little experience with this orchestra, I think there are advantages in doing things on my own – especially with the sound-staging. And it’s less than half the RAM required…..
With the exception of the overtly romantic no. 14, all of ones from 9 onwards are now to be heard with the SSO but actually perhaps my favourite is no. 6 - a fairly early work but with a quirkiness and emotional volatility from exuberant joy to tragedy which I feel marks it out. So it’s to this one, I’d particularity like to draw attention, even if the specific character of the SSO might be better heard to advantage in later works. Anyway, for anyone who wants to dip in, the works are all here