Havergal Brian.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

It's there already!

I saw it, too! Am now reading a very enthusiastic review of Brian's Violin Concerto (and listening to it at the same time)...

http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2005/July05/Brian_Violin_concerto_8557775.htm

[vandermolen]

Have been listening again to the new Lyrita CD of Symphony 6 and 16: one of the best of the new Lyritas I think (along with Rootham Symphony, Cyril Scott Piano Concerto 1, Moeran Symphony with Boult, Bax No 5 Leppard, Hadley's 'Trees So High', Handley).

Any other admirers of these (Rootham for example?)

My favourite moment in Brian's 16th Symphony is the funereal march which begins approx 8 and a half minutes into the work. A great and entirely characteristic moment...wonderful.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Moeran - terrific.

Bax 5 - excellent.

Hadley - I have 'The Trees So High' still on an LP I bought in London in the 'eighties. Christopher Palmer mentioned Hadley (and another composer, Orr) in his Delius book Frederick Delius, Portrait of a Cosmopolitan, so that was recommendation enough. I think I'll download it from eMusic when my subscription is renewed in a few days' time and see what I make of it now.

Rootham - is on my wishlist.

Brian - I couldn't possibly comment. 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

My favourite moment in Brian's 16th Symphony is the funereal march which begins approx 8 and a half minutes into the work. A great and entirely characteristic moment...wonderful.

Yes, it is. An autumnal procession, very poignant.

I must add - my favourite part of the symphony is the coda. For sheer power I don't know many things that surpass it. Its sense of triumph is overwhelming.

[vandermolen]

Yes, it is. An autumnal procession, very poignant.

I must add - my favourite part of the symphony is the coda. For sheer power I don't know many things that surpass it. Its sense of triumph is overwhelming.

I also listened to the Arnold Cooke Third Symphony. The end of the slow movement is especially moving. I'd forgotten what a good work that is. I forgot to mention Arthur Benjamin's fine symphony; another great Lyrita discovery.

[Dundonnell]

I also listened to the Arnold Cooke Third Symphony. The end of the slow movement is especially moving. I'd forgotten what a good work that is. I forgot to mention Arthur Benjamin's fine symphony; another great Lyrita discovery.

Arnold Cooke is a composer who deserves much greater exposure(a la Alwyn or Arnell-not that his music sounds like theirs). I can't help feeling that he was a more natural symphonist-and a more interesting one-than Lennox Berkeley, for example. Chandos did give us a strange truncated Berkeley cycle, coupled with music by his son, Michael, which must have seemed a good idea on paper but did not work terribly well in practice, in my opinion. Far better to have coupled Lennox's symphonies with other examples of his own music. As you know, HB admired Cooke's music and thought him one of the most promising of the British symphonic composers. HB had good taste. We should be given the chance to evaluate the rest of Cooke's orchestral works.

I agree about Arthur Benjamin's Symphony No.1(there wasn't a second). I know it through both the Lyrita version and Christopher Lynden-Gee on Marco Polo.

[vandermolen]

Arnold Cooke is a composer who deserves much greater exposure(a la Alwyn or Arnell-not that his music sounds like theirs). I can't help feeling that he was a more natural symphonist-and a more interesting one-than Lennox Berkeley, for example. Chandos did give us a strange truncated Berkeley cycle, coupled with music by his son, Michael, which must have seemed a good idea on paper but did not work terribly well in practice, in my opinion. Far better to have coupled Lennox's symphonies with other examples of his own music. As you know, HB admired Cooke's music and thought him one of the most promising of the British symphonic composers. HB had good taste. We should be given the chance to evaluate the rest of Cooke's orchestral works.

I agree about Arthur Benjamin's Symphony No.1(there wasn't a second). I know it through both the Lyrita version and Christopher Lynden-Gee on Marco Polo.

Yes, the Chandos Berkeley pere/fils series was a misfire (rather like Colin Matthews adding a completely inappropriate "Pluto" to Holst's The Planets just before Pluto was downgraded as a planet anyway.)  I wish that Lyrita had coupled Berkeley's (Lennox that is) 1st Symphony and Concerto for Two Pianos on CD (as they had done on LP) as these are easily (in my view) his best works (+Serenade for Strings). I feel that I have wasted quite a lot of money on collecting Michael Berkeley's works which I did not enjoy at all. I may yet, however, get "Or Shall We Die" on EMI, which despite a kitsch ending where the whole thing lapses into bathos, has moments of interest. The Benjamin Symphony is great.

[Dundonnell]

Six CDs devoted exclusively to Lennox Berkeley would have given Chandos the opportunity to record and for us to hear works like his
Cello Concerto
Dialogues for Cello and Chamber orchestra(both of which I hve heard courtesy of Guido on this forum)
Flute Concerto
Concerto for Piano and Double String Orchestra
Suite "A Winter's Tale"
not to mention choral/vocal works like the Ronsard Sonnets or the Oratorio "Jonah".

Dear, dear...always greedy for more

There was one Michael Berkeley piece I quite liked. I think that it might have been the Gregorian Variations but I am not sure now.

[vandermolen]

Six CDs devoted exclusively to Lennox Berkeley would have given Chandos the opportunity to record and for us to hear works like his
Cello Concerto
Dialogues for Cello and Chamber orchestra(both of which I hve heard courtesy of Guido on this forum)
Flute Concerto
Concerto for Piano and Double String Orchestra
Suite "A Winter's Tale"
not to mention choral/vocal works like the Ronsard Sonnets or the Oratorio "Jonah".

Dear, dear...always greedy for more

There was one Michael Berkeley piece I quite liked. I think that it might have been the Gregorian Variations but I am not sure now.

Many years ago there was a festival of British music at the Festival Hall in London. I went up to Lennox Berkeley after a concert which featured some of his music to get his autograph. He couldn't have been more pleasant; chatting to me whilst signing the programme.

[Lilas Pastia]

What downloads are out there ? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything... 

[Lethevich]

What downloads are out there ? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything... 

Jezetha's epic Mediafire account index is here.

Edit: I am getting Vietnam-style flashbacks of how long it took to rename/retag all these...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Jezetha's epic Mediafire account index is here.

Edit: I am getting Vietnam-style flashbacks of how long it took to rename/retag all these...

Suffering for art isn't an uncommon experience... 

Sorry I put all necessary information under the heading File Info in the Mediafire map and not in the files themselves... Argh! Now I am getting 'Vietnam-style flashbacks' myself, thinking of all those descriptions I had to enter... 

What downloads are out there ? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything... 

André, I suggest you download Elegy and symphonies 8, 9, 12, 19, 24, 27, 28 and 30. If you can cope with those, you are ready for anything... Take your time, but do try HB. The Gothic isn't all there is to Brian.

[Renfield]

The Gothic isn't all there is to Brian.

"But sir, I liked the Gothic!"

Incidentally, your joint flashbacks led to a "Vietnam-style" one of my own, over the ripping of the EMI (orchestral) complete Karajan box set. I haven't even attempted the opera & vocal one, for that exact reason. (Although I've ripped around 520GB of music already, I suppose...)


And let me end this post on an on-topic note in saying that I really was delighted by the Gothic, and even gave its first movement a spontaneous second listen this morning; I'm listening to the third movement as I'm typing this.

Edit: Which one would you suggest I go for next, wise Brianic lore-keeper Johan?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

"But sir, I liked the Gothic!"

Lilas Pastia didn't much care for the Te Deum, Renfield, but he likes the First (purely orchestral) Part. I just wanted to make it clear that Brian isn't only mammoth orchestras and half the population of Bratislava singing... 

And let me end this post on an on-topic note in saying that I really was delighted by the Gothic, and even gave its first movement a spontaneous second listen this morning; I'm listening to the third movement as I'm typing this.

Edit: Which one would you suggest I go for next, wise Brianic lore-keeper Johan?

Well, for some short, sharp shocks - try Elegy and 12 and 17. For a longer, powerful one-movement edifice, listen to 8 (and well-recorded, too!)

See what you make of those...

[Renfield]

I just wanted to make it clear that Brian isn't only mammoth orchestras and half the population of Bratislava singing... 

Ha. Point conceded.

I think I'll investigate the 8th.

[Lilas Pastia]

Merci, Messieurs !

I already have 8, 9, 10 and 21 (the EMI and Unicorn discs) and 17 (the recent dowlnoad, which I haven't heard yet). I wasn't sure what else could be obtained. I'll embark on a Havergalothon in the coming weeks.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Merci, Messieurs !

I already have 8, 9, 10 and 21 (the EMI and Unicorn discs) and 17 (the recent dowlnoad, which I haven't heard yet). I wasn't sure what else could be obtained. I'll embark on a Havergalothon in the coming weeks.

Havergalothon - that's an Olympic sport I have excelled at since I was 17.

Meet you in Beijing!

[Lilas Pastia]

Caramba ! Just had a look at Johan's files 

I'll make this a long term project and follow his advice: I suggest you download Elegy and symphonies 8, 9, 12, 19, 24, 27, 28 and 30.

So much Brian, so little time...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Caramba ! Just had a look at Johan's files 

I'll make this a long term project and follow his advice: I suggest you download Elegy and symphonies 8, 9, 12, 19, 24, 27, 28 and 30.

So much Brian, so little time...

What I sincerely hope, André, is that you'll discover what makes Brian such an interesting and worthwhile composer. Once you get into his style, there is no turning back. I know, of course, which pieces are the strongest (or I think I know, with often only one performance to base my judgement on). But even in his lesser things, there is always something that you won't hear anywhere else. But that's love for you, perhaps. Brian is, quite simply, nearest to my heart.

[Lilas Pastia]

Thanks, Johan. Listening to the Gothic was a daunting enterprise, not so much because of its size but the sheer diversity and downright weirdness of the work. Including the decidedly strange decision to end it all quietly. Talk about non-conformism! But I certainly discovered fascinating things and might acquire the Naxos discs for the sake of hearing it in 'normal' studio sound.

As I recall it, I enjoyed the symphonies I have (8 and 9 in particular), but it's been too long since I last listened to them. So, given the right advocacy (yours and the artists who recorded it) I will probably get to a better level of understanding. Mind you, before Maciek so zealously put forth all kind of polish music on these pages I had no idea who else there was other than Szymanowski, Lutoslawski and Penderecki. I now have about 75 discs worth of material and immensely enjoy and respect that corner of the classical repertoire.