Havergal Brian.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Forgot also to recommend Symphony no.6. 

Tragic.

[calyptorhynchus]

Tragic.

[DaveF]

BBC Radio 3 had a piece about Brian in its "Essential Classics" programme on Tuesday morning (so now HB is "Essential"!).  I caught the beginning of it, starting about 10:00, and will get the rest on catch-up:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bmtk

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

That's progress! Thanks for spotting this .
Update: I don't see Brian in the tracklist...

[Maestro267]

I've found it. It's a section called "Musical Time Traveller", and it's a short featurette rather than a full playthrough. Still interesting though. It starts around 1:10:15 into this programme: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000bmtk

It's a fascinating little bit, including a brief extract of the composer talking about the symphony.

[Hattoff]

Of slight interest but amusingly, Brian is clued in today's Times Crossword.

Faust Brian put together without leading notes, like Berg.

8 letters.

Thumbs up to anyone who gets it.

They don't name the compiler in the Times unfortunately.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Of slight interest but amusingly, Brian is clued in today's Times Crossword.

Faust Brian put together without leading notes, like Berg.

8 letters.

Thumbs up to anyone who gets it.

They don't name the compiler in the Times unfortunately.

The compiler is... John Grimshaw, Chairman of the Havergal Brian Society!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/when-your-life-is-always-puzzling-john-grimshaw-times2-crossword-compiler-marks-a-milestone-rntgj3tpl

[Hattoff]

Excellent, I knew Brian fans were clever.

[krummholz]

So I have been trying to figure out what is the proper tempo for the introduction to the first movement of the 27th Symphony. It's apparently marked Lento, but the three recordings I've heard of it seem to have drastically different ideas of how slow to play it. Brabbins takes that introduction at a rather jaunty pace, more like an Allegretto (assuming the flute's first two notes are quavers). There's a recording online of a California student orchestra that takes it exceedingly slowly indeed, to my ears way too slowly (but then I heard the work first in the Brabbins). On the other hand, Mackerras's venerable reading takes it at somewhere between Brabbins and the student orchestra, and sounds just right to me.

Has anyone seen the score? Does Brian use metronome markings? (I assume not, otherwise the rather extreme differences between the three performances would be hard to justify.) What does the group think?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

See for yourself... From volume 2 of MacDonald's classic series. I think Mackerras nails the tempo, too.

[krummholz]

Thanks Johan! So they're semiquavers not quavers, and maybe Brabbins's tempo isn't wrong either then. I still prefer Mackerras's though.

One very odd thing: all three recordings play the flute's fourth note as an A-flat, but MM's excerpt has it as a B-flat! A misprint somewhere?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Well-spotted! It's a misprint. Look at the start of the Allegro...

[krummholz]

Yep! I love how Brian turns that rather plaintive flute theme into something like a Handelian bourree... and then of course, the theme never returns in its original form!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Indeed, always varying and voyaging onward! And that in his nineties...

[relm1]

Any news about the Faust recording?  It recorded a while ago so just wondering when we'll hear something about a major new premiere recording?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Well, the release date has not yet been announced. The latest issue of the HBS Newsletter contained extensive reports by Committee members about the recording sessions at the famous Abbey Road studios. If they are to be believed (and I have no reason not to), we're in for a treat.

[Klaatu]

Here's a couple of interesting YouTube videos about the Gothic Symphony by composer Bret Newton:

https://youtu.be/j9wy0NgmRWc

https://youtu.be/YtvhoT9tWKk

Perhaps the most interesting comment by Bret is this remarkable statement:

"The more I dig into this piece, the more I uncover and the more I understand about this piece, the more I realise it is an ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE, maybe one of the greatest symphonic pieces of the 20th century."

High praise indeed!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Here's a couple of interesting YouTube videos about the Gothic Symphony by composer Bret Newton:

https://youtu.be/j9wy0NgmRWc

https://youtu.be/YtvhoT9tWKk


Perhaps the most interesting comment by Bret is this remarkable statement:

"The more I dig into this piece, the more I uncover and the more I understand about this piece, the more I realise it is an ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE, maybe one of the greatest symphonic pieces of the 20th century."

High praise indeed!

That's a great find, Klaatu! Of course, I agree with his assessment. I have been living with that beast for almost forty years, and I haven't fallen out of love with it.

[hbswebmaster]

Something of great interest in the news section on the HBS website.