Havergal Brian.

Started by Harry, June 09, 2007, 04:36:53 AM

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Renfield

Quote from: Lethe on July 19, 2009, 03:41:10 PM
Seems that they really are scraping the barrel with Giulini's Bruckner, though. How many live performances that don't in any way compare to the DG recordings do we need? :P

Well, they might be less unexceptional than the others. :P

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Renfield on July 19, 2009, 01:58:53 PM
In case this has not been noted elsewhere, Testament are soon 'officially' releasing (among other things) the 1966 Boult 'Gothic'!

[Bottom of this page.]

Just received the Havergal Brian Society Newsletter. The near future looks exciting indeed for Brianites, with two new CDs coming soon and a performance of the 'Gothic' in Brisbane later this year.

Also this:

Plans continue to advance for a recording of Cello concerto by Dutton Records, though currently it is not known who the cellist will be. Further there are also plans for recording of English Suite 3, Symphony 10 and the Concerto for orchestra also on Dutton for release in 2010.

And I intend, though I am by no means very rich, to put my money where my mouth is for this:


The Boult Gothic : Special appeal to members offers a chance for Glory and Fame!  


At a time when the fifth performance of the Gothic
Symphony is imminent in Brisbane, your Committee
are pleased to announce that we have come to an
agreement with the highly-regarded Testament label for the
reissue of the first professional performance of the Gothic
Symphony, under Sir Adrian Boult in 1966.  Testament are
licensing the original BBC stereo master tapes in order to
achieve the best quality reproduction of this landmark
recording. To fund this, the HBS has guaranteed between
£2000 to £3000 pounds to cover the costs of remastering,
notes and booklet design.  The reissue of this historic
performance has been a long-standing aim of the Society.
Although we have rarely made specific appeals to members, it
occurred to your Committee that this would be an excellent
project to offer for personal sponsorship and we have
therefore decided to launch a special appeal in its support.  
Accordingly, members are offered the opportunity to be
mentioned by name in the CD booklet as having contributed
to this prestige reissue, with the wording:

“Testament and the Havergal Brian Society are grateful to the
following individual members of the Society, whose generosity has
made this reissue possible : Principal Benefactors:  (names in
alphabetical order)  Benefactors: (names in alphabetical order)”.
 

We are suggesting that those contributing up to £49.99
should be listed in the booklet as “Benefactors” and those
contributing £50 or more as “Principal Benefactors”.  Should
the appeal result in an oversubscription, all who have sent
money by the deadline will be acknowledged as sponsors of
this project and any excess funding will be put towards the
Society’s next planned recording project of a new disc of
orchestral works. We hope that this appeal will fire
members’ enthusiasm as an innovative way of achieving a
wide personal involvement with this important project and
that it will therefore encourage a high number of you to
contribute.  Donors who have already signed a Gift Aid
Declaration will of course be bringing additional benefit to
the Society.
To take this opportunity of being one of the acknowledged
sponsors of the reissue of the Boult Gothic, please complete
the form below (or the same information on a piece of paper)
and return it to the Chairman at the address given.  Because
of the need to pass the list of names to Testament in good
time, the appeal will run for two months only, with a closing
date of ten days after the next Newsletter is sent out, to allow
for that to contain a final reminder.


I intend to contribute £50.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

John Copeland

Great news.   ;D

Nice piece of 'benifacting' there.   :D

karlhenning

Lovely!

Separately . . . I am imagining a Brian enthusiast who lives in Vermont, pronouncing his name like Hey, Virgil!  ;)

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 20, 2009, 11:02:41 AM
Lovely!

Separately . . . I am imagining a Brian enthusiast who lives in Vermont, pronouncing his name like Hey, Virgil!  ;)

;D
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

vandermolen

Quote from: Jezetha on July 19, 2009, 05:03:15 PM
Just received the Havergal Brian Society Newsletter. The near future looks exciting indeed for Brianites, with two new CDs coming soon and a performance of the 'Gothic' in Brisbane later this year.

Also this:

Plans continue to advance for a recording of Cello concerto by Dutton Records, though currently it is not known who the cellist will be. Further there are also plans for recording of English Suite 3, Symphony 10 and the Concerto for orchestra also on Dutton for release in 2010.

And I intend, though I am by no means very rich, to put my money where my mouth is for this:


The Boult Gothic : Special appeal to members offers a chance for Glory and Fame!  


At a time when the fifth performance of the Gothic
Symphony is imminent in Brisbane, your Committee
are pleased to announce that we have come to an
agreement with the highly-regarded Testament label for the
reissue of the first professional performance of the Gothic
Symphony, under Sir Adrian Boult in 1966.  Testament are
licensing the original BBC stereo master tapes in order to
achieve the best quality reproduction of this landmark
recording. To fund this, the HBS has guaranteed between
£2000 to £3000 pounds to cover the costs of remastering,
notes and booklet design.  The reissue of this historic
performance has been a long-standing aim of the Society.
Although we have rarely made specific appeals to members, it
occurred to your Committee that this would be an excellent
project to offer for personal sponsorship and we have
therefore decided to launch a special appeal in its support.  
Accordingly, members are offered the opportunity to be
mentioned by name in the CD booklet as having contributed
to this prestige reissue, with the wording:

"Testament and the Havergal Brian Society are grateful to the
following individual members of the Society, whose generosity has
made this reissue possible : Principal Benefactors:  (names in
alphabetical order)  Benefactors: (names in alphabetical order)".
 

We are suggesting that those contributing up to £49.99
should be listed in the booklet as "Benefactors" and those
contributing £50 or more as "Principal Benefactors".  Should
the appeal result in an oversubscription, all who have sent
money by the deadline will be acknowledged as sponsors of
this project and any excess funding will be put towards the
Society's next planned recording project of a new disc of
orchestral works. We hope that this appeal will fire
members' enthusiasm as an innovative way of achieving a
wide personal involvement with this important project and
that it will therefore encourage a high number of you to
contribute.  Donors who have already signed a Gift Aid
Declaration will of course be bringing additional benefit to
the Society.
To take this opportunity of being one of the acknowledged
sponsors of the reissue of the Boult Gothic, please complete
the form below (or the same information on a piece of paper)
and return it to the Chairman at the address given.  Because
of the need to pass the list of names to Testament in good
time, the appeal will run for two months only, with a closing
date of ten days after the next Newsletter is sent out, to allow
for that to contain a final reminder.


I intend to contribute £50.


Very exciting news Johan - I'm especially pleased to see Symphony No 10 at last having a CD release with a professional orchestra - it is one of the best.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

secondwind

Quote from: Jezetha on May 30, 2009, 01:40:49 AM
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.
I've just listened to Brian Symphony No. 6 via your link.  Thanks for sharing and thanks for an introduction to a new (to me) composer.  I'm looking forward to hearing more.

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: vandermolen on July 21, 2009, 02:31:48 AM
Very exciting news Johan - I'm especially pleased to see Symphony No 10 at last having a CD release with a professional orchestra - it is one of the best.

Yes, No. 10 is certainly one of the best and a work that is very special to me. It has been great having that Loughran performance ever since 1973, but after more than 35 years it is high time for another interpretation, in better sound and with, yes, a professional orchestra (at last).

Another quote from the HBS Newsletter (my italics):

There is a proposal, now that the part-songs are being type
set for a 2 CD with Mark Ford and the Purcell Singers to
record these complete for Toccata Classics.  He reflected that
currently things are looking very good in regards to the
quality and number of projects, funds available to support
these but that donations are always welcome. The committee
is also pursuing the historic Boult recording of The Gothic
being released on CD and specific donations towards this
project would be very welcome, and any direct sponsors may
be able to be listed and thanked within the CD. The Harry
Newstone 1959 recordings of Symphonies 11 and 12 and
Doctor Merryheart are hopefully going to be issued due to the
lapsing of the copyright after 50 years and Dutton are keen to
support this.
  In regards to Naxos there are three further
reissues (and they have been currently reissuing the Marco
Polo recordings at one a year). There are no current plans for
new recordings and that while new recordings will be
supported other companies will be pursued for non
symphonic works as well as supporting other companies who
show interest in recording Brian.

Quote from: secondwind on July 21, 2009, 04:03:39 AM
I've just listened to Brian Symphony No. 6 via your link.  Thanks for sharing and thanks for an introduction to a new (to me) composer.  I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Good news. Please report back after listening to the others - these three are quite different, though they are all as Brianic as they come.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Lethevich

All these happenings in the past year have been incredible. Just before the Lyrita reissue of 6 and 16, pretty much the only thing on the Brian horizon for the forseeable future was a dubiously likely Australian performance of No.1 - but now all this! :D
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Guido

This is fantastic news! Really looking forward to the cello concerto, and all the symphony releases. Exciting.  :)
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

vandermolen

#350
Released this month (Boult's performance of The Gothic Symphony). Johan/Jezetha will be delighted!

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Guido

Hmm... Just got the Naxos recording of the violin concerto and am not sure that it is as immediately likeable and accessible as people are making out here... Obviously I'll need to listen a few more times, but it's just not what I was expecting!
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: vandermolen on October 26, 2009, 06:37:40 AM
Released this month (Boult's performance of The Gothic Symphony). Johan/Jezetha will be delighted!

Do you mean released already? I don't see it listed at either amazon or JPC.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

listener

Quote from: Jezetha on March 03, 2008, 08:50:51 AM
That double LP - is that the pirated recording of the Boult 'Gothic', on Aries?

yes, according to MacDonald's "Symphonies of H.... vol.1"   (appendix 3)
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

listener

#354
Quote from: lukeottevanger on June 10, 2007, 04:59:59 AM
The bird-scare, long drum and thunder sheet are marked in the instrumentarium, but don't appear in the score; it's conjectured that they are to be played in the final climax[es] of the piece.

A relatively common instrument like the celesta, believe it or not, only has a very brief appearance in the score, too.

The bird scare is in the score, 2 bars before cue 421 (Lento Adagio - "Non confundar" a cappella ) and the bar before 427.   The first appearance is marked "bird scares"  (plural!  need more than one player??)

That's it, above the organ chord.  Sorry, I was worried about cracking the binding so I did not force it open more to show the left side with the instrumentation.
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

vandermolen

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on October 26, 2009, 08:33:12 AM
Do you mean released already? I don't see it listed at either amazon or JPC.

Sarge
In 3-4 weeks time.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: Guido on October 26, 2009, 07:29:02 AM
Hmm... Just got the Naxos recording of the violin concerto and am not sure that it is as immediately likeable and accessible as people are making out here... Obviously I'll need to listen a few more times, but it's just not what I was expecting!

I'm not that keen on the VC either - but have you tried symphonies 8 or 9? These ARE great works IMHO.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Christo

Quote from: vandermolen on October 26, 2009, 06:37:40 AM
Released this month (Boult's performance of The Gothic Symphony). Johan/Jezetha will be delighted!

The other Johan will be delighted, too! (Back again after four months of reclusion - moved into a new house ;-)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

Quote from: Christo on October 27, 2009, 11:51:48 PM
The other Johan will be delighted, too! (Back again after four months of reclusion - moved into a new house ;-)
Of course, I forgot that the two of you constituted the entire membership of the Havergal Brian Society  ;D

Actually, I'm delighted too - so there are at least three members - almost as big as the JBS Society  ;)

Nice to see you back in circulation again.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Guido

Quote from: vandermolen on October 27, 2009, 12:57:41 AM
I'm not that keen on the VC either - but have you tried symphonies 8 or 9? These ARE great works IMHO.

No.8 is the first Brian I heard and remains my favourite. Great piece with a capital G.
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away