Havergal Brian.

[Christo]

HI Christo. I never realised you were a Scot

Hard to imagine, perhaps, but there are more foreigners than just Scots. 

[John Whitmore]

Hard to imagine, perhaps, but there are more foreigners than just Scots. 

Oh no, is this true? We will be getting Dutch people on here next. 

[cilgwyn]

Dundonnell sounds like an interesting place to explore,if you enjoy travel! I must admit,I actually thought it might be a character from the Harry Potter books,at first,which,incidentally,I can't stand! I then found it was a real place (unlike Middle Earth!) from reading you're posts. As to Cilgwyn,it's just a place I lived near,in North Pembrokeshire & of which I have particularly happy memories.
Haven't been back to the place in years,alas. From what I gather,it has changed,but not for the better!
I'm also a bit too old for tree houses,now!

NB: It's a good job I didn't live near Bognor Regis. 'Bognor' would be a terrible user name. People would call me 'Bog',for short!

[cilgwyn]

Is this self deprecatory week,or what?!!!

[kishnevi]

Dundonnell sounds like an interesting place to explore,if you enjoy travel! I must admit,I actually thought it might be a character from the Harry Potter books,at first,which,incidentally,I can't stand! I then found it was a real place (unlike Middle Earth!) from reading you're posts. As to Cilgwyn,it's just a place I lived near,in North Pembrokeshire & of which I have particularly happy memories.
Haven't been back to the place in years,alas. From what I gather,it has changed,but not for the better!
I'm also a bit too old for tree houses,now!

NB: It's a good job I didn't live near Bognor Regis. 'Bognor' would be a terrible user name. People would call me 'Bog',for short!

Or even worse, see Regis, assume the proper nickname is "Reeg" (that's phonetical to show the long e) and assume you're a fan of Regis Philbin.  (Do you folks on the other side of the pond even know who he is?)

[Winky Willy]

Havergal Brian

[Dundonnell]

Havergal Brian

What about him

He has no place in this thread

[cilgwyn]

  Recent or new members,please note,Dundonnell is joking,of course!
Delius,the Nicks (?),Rider Haggard,Seinfeld,Messiaen,Bruckner & Tolkein,maybe;but Havergal Brian in the Havergal Brian thread?!!!! The very thought!
Oh,and Rubbra in the Roy Harris thread (it makes his thread look longer,anyway! )
(What is this? Alice in Wonderland?!)

You were joking,weren't you,Dundonnell?!!

[Dundonnell]

I have been known to make jokes

Usually only one a year though

[cilgwyn]

The next BIG HB news will be Mark Stone's complete recording of Havergal Brian's songs,I presume?!

[cilgwyn]

I have been known to make jokes

Usually only one a year though

So,no more this year?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

The night train is bringing me back to Delft, and I see there has been some life in this thread again. I may have been away as I am rather busy at the moment, but for me Brian hasn't been absent.

It's fascinating to listen to the historic performances of symphonies 8-12 consecutively. The chief glory of the Schwartz (spelling?) recording of the Eighth is a violent outburst in Passacaglia I, where you can hear the trombones much better than in the Groves. The concluding bars of the Ninth are taken slightly slower than in, again, the Groves, which works very well. About the Tenth I have already said a lot - I think everything after the storm is excellent. No. 11 under Newstone is the best performance we have. And the Twelfth has the best funeral march, very slow and frighteningly inexorable.

As for new recordings, the latest HBS Newsletter promised us exciting news from the recordings front...

[cilgwyn]

I was wondering where you were. It was like the Landlord of the pub had gone missing! Are you in the 'night train',now? That sounds very evocative!
I prefer the Stanley Pope tenth to the Dutton performance,in a way. I finally got to listen to it after I got a big load of cd-r's off a nice seller on ebay! It was well worth the wait. The coupling I chose was No 27,by the way.
I'll need to listen to it a bit more before I can say more,but this is,in my untutored opinion,my favourite performance after the LSSO one. It may be a bit rough in places,perhaps,but that just seems to add to the effectiveness of it.

I must make a cd-r of the others now. But not right before bed,maybe!
(Dundonnell's been getting me 'into' Rubbra!)

[cilgwyn]

Actually,comparing you to a pub landlord sounds a bit impolite! I WAS thinking of the sort of nice,quiet village hostelries we had in Wales,years ago,not the boozed up dives of today,rest assured! And I have a can of Belgian lager in one hand (it IS the weekend!). I have no idea how it got there!
  The Pope tenth has an elemental power to it. I love it!

[Dundonnell]

I was wondering where you were. It was like the Landlord of the pub had gone missing! Are you in the 'night train',now? That sounds very evocative!
I prefer the Stanley Pope tenth to the Dutton performance,in a way. I finally got to listen to it after I got a big load of cd-r's off a nice seller on ebay! It was well worth the wait. The coupling I chose was No 27,by the way.
I'll need to listen to it a bit more before I can say more,but this is,in my untutored opinion,my favourite performance after the LSSO one. It may be a bit rough in places,perhaps,but that just seems to add to the effectiveness of it.

I must make a cd-r of the others now. But not right before bed,maybe!
(Dundonnell's been getting me 'into' Rubbra!)

R...U...B...B...R...A

It's time Johan listened to more music by OTHER British Composers, anyway

[John Whitmore]

The night train is bringing me back to Delft, and I see there has been some life in this thread again. I may have been away as I am rather busy at the moment, but for me Brian hasn't been absent.

It's fascinating to listen to the historic performances of symphonies 8-12 consecutively. The chief glory of the Schwartz (spelling?) recording of the Eighth is a violent outburst in Passacaglia I, where you can hear the trombones much better than in the Groves. The concluding bars of the Ninth are taken slightly slower than in, again, the Groves, which works very well. About the Tenth I have already said a lot - I think everything after the storm is excellent. No. 11 under Newstone is the best performance we have. And the Twelfth has the best funeral march, very slow and frighteningly inexorable.

As for new recordings, the latest HBS Newsletter promised us exciting news from the recordings front...

It's Rudolf Schwarz. Very decent conductor indeed.

[John Whitmore]

I was wondering where you were. It was like the Landlord of the pub had gone missing! Are you in the 'night train',now? That sounds very evocative!
I prefer the Stanley Pope tenth to the Dutton performance,in a way. I finally got to listen to it after I got a big load of cd-r's off a nice seller on ebay! It was well worth the wait. The coupling I chose was No 27,by the way.
I'll need to listen to it a bit more before I can say more,but this is,in my untutored opinion,my favourite performance after the LSSO one. It may be a bit rough in places,perhaps,but that just seems to add to the effectiveness of it.

I must make a cd-r of the others now. But not right before bed,maybe!
(Dundonnell's been getting me 'into' Rubbra!)

Do you mean the Pope is rough? I think it is absolutely top class in terms of orchestral playing. It's the sluggish tempi that let it down for me. The LSSO is certainly rough in places but has a good feel to it and bags of atmosphere.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Barliman Butterbur here...

@Dundonnell I didn't report it, but I have been listening to Simpson lately, symphonies 1-5. I intend to do the whole cycle. Though I will never love his music as much as I do Brian's, I do like what I hear. There is something Bach-like about his music, in the severity, and in the intellectual power. His music deserves (and repays) many hearings.

@John, cilgwyn The LSSO remains unbeaten in the Tenth, but Pope is a close second. The 'problem' with Brabbins in this symphony (and in the first movement of No. 30, too) is that he is too no-nonsense. I think a Brian conductor must have a feel for what is weirdly wonderful and visionary about his music. Also, the right tempo is of the essence. The opening of the Tenth is perfect in the LSSO performance, whereas Brabbins is too fast and Pope too slow. Very tricky business, this. It can ruin everything, when you get it wrong.

[Dundonnell]

Delighted to hear that you have been listening to Robert Simpson, Johan

You "will never love his music as much as I do Brian's"   I suppose that IS very improbable but "never" is always a dangerous word to use   However, "love" and Simpson are tricky things perhaps to reconcile anyway

Listening again to all the Rubbra symphonies-thanks Cilgwyn - now these ARE symphonies to love. No.6 is on at the moment and I am just dumbfounded at its mystical beauty...and NO.. Havergal never gets there

When I recall that dreadful, dreadful comment of Malcolm's in Volume 2 I positively seethe with anger and indignation

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

When I have finished listening to Simpson, Edmund Rubbra's symphonies will get the same treatment. I know the Fifth very well, with its haunting slow movement (which I still think comes off best in the Schönzeler recording). The others still remain to be discovered, though. I listened to the Seventh once, and the Overture Resurgam. But Rubbra deserves better.