Havergal Brian.

[vandermolen]

I have both the Marco Polo and the Naxos recordings ( ). I have not noticed much difference in sound quality but will search them out for a direct comparison.

[snyprrr]

Sorry, I just bumped this to get that Mozart thread off the first page! I haven't read this thread yet. Is there a 1-31 list, with comments?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Sorry, I just bumped this to get that Mozart thread off the first page! I haven't read this thread yet. Is there a 1-31 list, with comments?

Bumping Brian is always welcome... If Brian is new to you, why not try these symphonies for starters and see what you make of them:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/0jf2yvnm2tj/Brian 8.mp3

http://www.mediafire.com/file/wijgqyozmjm/Brian Symphony No. 6 LPO Myer Fredman.mp3

http://www.mediafire.com/file/nn0axd1ichy/Brian 17 (BBC).mp3

They're all short. No. 8 is a battle between light and dark, yes and no, Brian at his most binary; No. 6 is Brian's most lyrical symphony; and No. 17 is fast, dramatic and violent.

[vandermolen]

My faves are nos 1,2,3,6,7,8, 9, 10 and 16. I increasingly like No 2 which I did not make much of at first. No 8 would be my recommendation as a starting point.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

From the latest Havergal Brian Society Newsletter, received more than an hour ago (click to enlarge)...

[Lethevich]

Incredible news! I thought that Toccata were restricted to chamber music only due to their shoestring budget. Thank goodness for the dedicated fans who have obviously been nagging away behind the scenes to help this project reach a conclusion rather than fall apart halfway through (as many Brian projects seem to do)...

[Dundonnell]

It is indeed fabulous news....although I do have one or two questions

First of all, the article says that the selection of music has been chosen not to conflict with the Naxos symphonic cycle, as if to suggest that this is an ongoing project. I wish!!

Secondly, I note that Toccata hope to issue the first cd by the end of this year. I very much hope that this will come to pass but Toccata's track record of keeping to planned release schedule is not good. The company recorded R.O. Morris's Symphony a long time ago now and it has still not seen the light of day.

And finally, while I applaud most of the choice of music to be recorded-particularly the Elegy and the Legend 'Ave atque vale', I am disappointed that the English Suite No.5(which is already available-with difficulty, admittedly) has been chosen rather than the Suites Nos. 3 and 4 or the Concerto for Orchestra. The English Suite No.4 includes the 'Ashanti Battle Song' and would have been particularly welcome.

Ok...I am being my usual curmudgeonly self(just back from the dentist )...so I will raise three cheers for the project 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I am also very glad to see some new Brian CDs appearing at last! I know Martin Anderson from Toccata (met him a few times) - he's a fiery soul, but can be rather chaotic and forgetful. I am glad the BBC will be broadcasting these concerts, too... But Colin, why not try to attend the recordings? Brian live is quite an experience!

Regarding the choice of pieces - I for one am glad the Fifth English Suite gets its first professional performance, although it would have been nice to have the other Suites recorded, too. Elegy is marvellous and deserves to be on CD. Ave Atque Vale is one of the last things Brian ever wrote and has (AFAIK) never been performed. The opera CD is very welcome, too. I am especially looking forward to the Turandot Suite (which I heard at St James's Church Piccadilly in 1995 - and I never forgot it) and the Night Ride from Faust, which has never been played.

Happy days are here again!

[karlhenning]

- he's a fiery soul, but can be rather chaotic and forgetful.

I am know the type! 

[Dundonnell]

I am also very glad to see some new Brian CDs appearing at last! I know Martin Anderson from Toccata (met him a few times) - he's a fiery soul, but can be rather chaotic and forgetful. I am glad the BBC will be broadcasting these concerts, too... But Colin, why not try to attend the recordings? Brian live is quite an experience!

Regarding the choice of pieces - I for one am glad the Fifth English Suite gets its first professional performance, although it would have been nice to have the other Suites recorded, too. Elegy is marvellous and deserves to be on CD. Ave Atque Vale is one of the last things Brian ever wrote and has (AFAIK) never been performed. The opera CD is very welcome, too. I am especially looking forward to the Turandot Suite (which I heard at St James's Church Piccadilly in 1995 - and I never forgot it) and the Night Ride from Faust, which has never been played.

Happy days are here again!

"Ave atque vale" has been performed, Johan. Once by the LPO under Fredman in 1973 in a recorded performance that was never broadcast(inexplicably) and again last year in Orange County, California by the Orange County High School for the Arts Symphony Orchestra!!!!!!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

"Ave atque vale" has been performed, Johan. Once by the LPO under Fredman in 1973 in a recorded performance that was never broadcast(inexplicably) and again last year in Orange County, California by the Orange County High School for the Arts Symphony Orchestra!!!!!!

I bow down in awe. I have found my master. 

[Guido]

I really want to hear the cello concerto. Has it ever been recorded non commercially (or braodcast?)

[karlhenning]

I really want to hear the cello concerto.

Well, I do call that a surprise! 

[vandermolen]

Very good news indeed but I note that the blurb says that the releases are designed not to conflict with the 'Naxos Brian Cycle'. What Naxos Brian Cycle? AFAIK Naxos have simply reissued the old Brian Marco Polo releases, with nothing new for years. I have an interesting old CBS LP with the Leicestershire Schools SO performing (very well) Symphony No 22 ('Sinfonia Brevis') one of the English Suites etc. I'd love to see that released on CD and we need a professional recording of one of Brian's greatest works - the Symphony No 10.

[Dundonnell]

I really want to hear the cello concerto. Has it ever been recorded non commercially (or braodcast?)

It has been performed twice, Guido-first by Thomas Igloi in 1971 in a performance conducted by Sir Adrian Boult(which was broadcast) and again in 1991 by Moray Welsh(not broadcast).

[Guido]

I was vaguely aware of those performances somehow* - Was the Igloi performance recorded by anyone (as in can I get it from anyone)?

*ah yes from here: http://www.havergalbrian.org/celloconcerto.htm

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I was vaguely aware of those performances somehow* - Was the Igloi performance recorded by anyone (as in can I get it from anyone)?

*ah yes from here: http://www.havergalbrian.org/celloconcerto.htm

Can't help. I have it on a very old tape cassette somewhere, which I got from a fellow HBS member in the 1980s (can't do a transfer to mp3). Bad recording, bad sound, and I don't think the Cello Concerto is one of Brian's greatest utterances. His Violin Concerto, on the other hand, is, but you don't play the violin...

[schweitzeralan]

I have a question regarding the Lenard performance of the first symphony. An Amazon reviewer swears blind that the Naxos reissue of the Marco Polo recording sounds a lot better (ie. remastered in some way). This seems a little unexpected, given Naxos' usual policies, but I suppose this symphony is a rather "special" case, so they may have made the effort. Can anyone confirm whether this is true?

I ask because while I prefer the Boult live recording, I feel I should own a proper copy of it - and I don't want the crap one, even if the Marco Polo version is cheaper.

I should perhaps know this, but I never studied all the technical aspects of harmony.  When I listen to The Scriabin/Nemptin "Mysterium," I noticed the subtle, sensuous (in places), the wonderful harmonic intricacies that define the overall, "advanced tonality" typical of many composers before the onrush of Modernism, atonality, serial music, and whatnot.

My question is: is Brian's symphony, the "Gothic," the one that I compared to "Mysterium" conceived and involved in some form of "post tonality?"  I realize it is not atonal nor serial.  That's obvious.  But is it some form of bi tonal, multitonal, or what?  I don't recognize melodic minor passages as I do in the "Mysterium," or in those Scriabinist passages which involve the "Mystic Chord"? 

Much modernist music avoids the diatonic, the major/minor sequence, etc.  Notes and chords recognizable in Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Hanson, Barber, Shostakovitch, plus others have their slight dissonances. Many American composers, too many to mention here, create, I believe (but am not sure) in the polytonal mode; and, I  appreciate much of the neoclassical, "modernist" flavor in many 20th century works, American and European alike.  I'm having a hard time with Havregal. There are many modes, to be sure.  I just know so little about them.  My question involves the very basic concept of Brian's technical differences between his "Gothic Symphony," and the "Mysterium," which I prefer despite the depth of Brian's achievement."

[Guido]

Can't help. I have it on a very old tape cassette somewhere, which I got from a fellow HBS member in the 1980s (can't do a transfer to mp3). Bad recording, bad sound, and I don't think the Cello Concerto is one of Brian's greatest utterances. His Violin Concerto, on the other hand, is, but you don't play the violin...

Fair enough (though its a shame that its not so good). Just cos I don't play the violin, doesn't mean I can't hear the work... is there a recording you recommend?

What rhyme or reason is there to Brian's good or bad utterances - was there a tailing off of quality, or why was he sometimes more inspired than other times? (if this is even an answerable question!)

[Dundonnell]

Fair enough (though its a shame that its not so good). Just cos I don't play the violin, doesn't mean I can't hear the work... is there a recording you recommend?

What rhyme or reason is there to Brian's good or bad utterances - was there a tailing off of quality, or why was he sometimes more inspired than other times? (if this is even an answerable question!)

If I can answer your first question There is a recording of the Violin Concerto on Naxos with Marat Bisengaliev and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Lionel Friend. Good performance, not quite so good recording. It is actually Brian's Second Violin Concerto. The First was stolen at Victoria Railway Station in London on June 8th 1934 and never recovered. Brian composed a new concerto incorporating those themes he could remember from the lost work.

As to your second question.....I don't think that Brian composed any 'bad' music Malcolm MacDonald-the Brian expert-regards the 14th and 26th symphonies as the weakest but I actually like the 14th's grand gestures There is an unevenness of inspiration...but that is inevitable for most if not all artists surely? But there was no 'tailing off'...Symphony No.30, written when Brian was 91, is a masterpiece.

I am sure however that Johan will wish to reply and will do a much better job than I