Havergal Brian.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I have just listened to the Tenth (twice, with a score).


The sound of the recording is terrific. This CD can easily be added to the few that have really done Brian's orchestral wizardry justice.  The Leicestershire Tenth dates from 1972, it was the only recording available, and you almost thought that that WAS the Tenth... Now we get Brabbins' take on the work. Tempi are brisker, the music flows very naturally. I read along with a score and I noticed that Brian really does want this. Although I would in a few passages have wished for a marginally slower tempo, I find this new 'version' very compelling. At first I was slightly disappointed by the 'storm scene' (with the infamous wind AND thunder machines), because I found it too sober, not 'con fuoco' enough. But later on Brabbins amply makes amends after the great lyrical passage with solo violin: the music there is stormier than anything in the storm itself, as if this was the thing that wanted to emerge. Another great thing about this performance is the amount of detail you get to hear, the most striking being the subtle change in harmony in the tremolandi strings four bars before the end. I had never noticed that, and it gives a new colouring to the violin that sings above it. But there are many more tiny things that gave you the sense of an old painting being cleaned up and revealing new beauties. Chapeau to Dutton, Brabbins and his orchestra! And Brian.


UPDATE: My enthusiasm is growing after a few more listenings. I think Brabbins has done it. This Tenth is it  (as far as any performance ever can BE the work). And another thing is clear to me - this is music for this century, elemental, fearless, visionary. Long live Havergal Brian!

[Luke]

Lovely post, Johan. My copy of the 10th/30th disc came yesterday, too, along with the Cello Concerto disc. Have only had time to listen to the 10th and the English Suite so far - but I echo your thoughts and comments

The LSSO 10th will remain an important document in the history of HB, and one we can be grateful for (and as an ex-LSSO member who used to rehearse in the room in which the symphony was recorded, one I feel a connection to - strangely enough, Brabbins conducted me in the LSSO many years later, though in Kancheli and Woolrich, not in Brian!). But this new one is really, as Johan says, 'it'. There was nothing there that wasn't there incipiently in the LSSO recording, but so many passages revealed their true weight instantly listening through to this recording last night. The storm has never struck me as much as now; the violin solo and the music around it was never as powerfully, overwhelmingly lyrical and structurally vital as on this new recording. It's a really fine recording, and I can't wait to play it through again later.

[Guido]

How have I missed these?! Didn't know they'd released the cello concerto too...

[not edward]

Those with the disc with the 10th--I'm curious as to how the CforO and 30th come off. (I'll certainly be getting the disc, as the LSSO 10th has convinced me there's a lot in the work, but I'm curious as to the other two.)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Those with the disc with the 10th--I'm curious as to how the CforO and 30th come off. (I'll certainly be getting the disc, as the LSSO 10th has convinced me there's a lot in the work, but I'm curious as to the other two.)

Edward, after listening to the Tenth 5 times, the Thirtieth 3 times, and the Third English Suite and the Concerto for Orchestra once, I can safely say that in Brabbins we have a real Brian conductor. The man is completely at home in Brian's style, and this disc spans 40 years, from 'early mature' (Suite) to 'very late mature' (Thirtieth). I have heard four performances of No. 30, and this one is excellent. I can't compare the CfO, but knowing Brian's style in the symphonies that surround it (18-21 and 22-24), the work flows with effortless ease, though it is a demanding score (for both the orchestra and the listener). As for the Suite, it is a wonderful work, in its orchestral writing related to the opera 'The Tigers' - very colourful and inventive. So - the disc is warmly recommended. It's an essential addition to the Brian discography.


--Johan


(I have corrected the conductor's surname. The y goes into the Martyn, not into the Brabbins...)

[cilgwyn]

I second that. It is certainly one of the best Brian cd's I've ever heard. I do think the Leicestershire Schools symphony brought a bit more ferocity,or perhaps I should say gusto, to that strange storm sequence & that wierd stillness that follows has oodles more atmosphere in the LSSO performance. Some of that of course is probably because I'm so used to the older recording,but I do think it's a tribute to their abilities that their performance stands up so well after all these years. Having said that,taken as a whole, the new performance is much tauter & it is definately the one I will choose to play from now on. Well,most of the time anyway! In fact,churlish,quibbles aside,it is definately one of the best performances of a Brian symphony I have ever heard,and one of the finest Brian cd's. Like the cover design too! So much better than some of those Naxos cd's which were so awful they nearly put me off one of my favourite composers for good!
Must mention the interpolation of the organ in the suite. As soon as I heard that I just had to order the Toccata cd! More Brian please. The strange thing about Brian is,that even the things that he wrote that I'm not sure I really like, intrigue me so much I have an overwhelming urge to listen to them again...and again,if only to work out why they still fascinate me.
I will report back when I get the Hull Youth so cd set. Hopefully it will be free of scratches!

[Luke]

Listened to the Cello Concerto this afternoon. My immediate thought (not dispelled as I listened further) was - this may well be the best way into late Brian for the uninitiated. Because, as even us arch-Brianites know, the late pieces are generally hard nuts to crack, so compressed and elliptical is their thought. Well, here, in the concerto, all the hallmarks of late Brian are there, but in a most genial form - harmony is simpler, less thorny, lines are clear and lucid, motivic play is really a delight to follow. Above all, the addition of a soloist is the simplest way possible of delineating form - passages which out of context might sound like typically baffling late Brian are here heard as 'preparation for soloist', 'reaction to soloist' etc. etc. It's a very clear, charming piece. This is a great time to be a Brianite - an embarass de richesse indeed!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I hope that other Dutton disc arrives here soon. Your description of the Cello Concerto makes it sound very enticing indeed, Luke! Malcolm MacDonald, in vol. 2 of his study, calls it 'not major Brian'. Neither is the Third English Suite, perhaps, which I am enjoying at the moment. But it's Brian at his most approachable, and even in that more welcoming guise, he is his own man.

[vandermolen]

I think that the photo on the old Unicorn CD is somewhere in the Alps (well, this is what someone told me once).

Like others here I'm thrilled with the new Dutton CD of Symphony No 10 - this is just the sort of craggy, uncomromising and defiant music that I need to hear! Like cilgwyn I was also surprised by how well the Loughran LSSO Unicorn version stands up against it and I too, at first, thought that sections of the new recording sounded 'wrong' as I'm so familiar with the earlier recording. However after a second hearing I was won over to the new version - a wonderful performance of a great Symphony (if you like it you might also like Robin Orr's  one movement Symphony on an EMI CD). The LSSO clearly did a terrific service to Brian with that earlier version. I found the end with the brief lovely violin solo followed by those epic chords to be very moving in the new version - but maybe I'm just getting more sentimental as I get older!

I haven't yet ordered the Cello Concerto and I'd be very grateful to hear what other think of it - and the other works on the CD.  So far I've been rather disappointed with York Bowen, but I'm tempted by that CD. I also enjoyed the Symphony 30, more than I do most of the very late Brian symphonies - certainly I wanted to listen again and there are some interesting sonorities.

[vandermolen]

Listened to the Cello Concerto this afternoon. My immediate thought (not dispelled as I listened further) was - this may well be the best way into late Brian for the uninitiated. Because, as even us arch-Brianites know, the late pieces are generally hard nuts to crack, so compressed and elliptical is their thought. Well, here, in the concerto, all the hallmarks of late Brian are there, but in a most genial form - harmony is simpler, less thorny, lines are clear and lucid, motivic play is really a delight to follow. Above all, the addition of a soloist is the simplest way possible of delineating form - passages which out of context might sound like typically baffling late Brian are here heard as 'preparation for soloist', 'reaction to soloist' etc. etc. It's a very clear, charming piece. This is a great time to be a Brianite - an embarass de richesse indeed!

Thanks for this - please can you let me know what you think of the other works on the CD.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Hi, Jeffrey! I know Colin is very impressed by the Bush Cello Concerto...

[vandermolen]

Hi, Jeffrey! I know Colin is very impressed by the Bush Cello Concerto...

Thanks Johan! Looks like my bank situation will be getting even worse. By the way I was delighted to read that the English Suite No 3 was inspired by the Sussex countryside - as that's where I live!

Best wishes to you

Jeffrey

[Christo]

This is a great time to be a Brianite - an embarass de richesse indeed!

[vandermolen]

This is like a reunion of the so-called Braga Santos Experts isn't it? 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

If Colin (aka Dundonnell for those who don't know) were here, the Braga Santos Experts would be out in force! Happy days...

[vandermolen]

If Colin (aka Dundonnell for those who don't know) were here, the Braga Santos Experts would be out in force! Happy days...

Indeed - Colin's absence from this forum is a cause of regret .  Still, it was great to meet him in London and to meet those other BSEs in Leiden - Happy days indeed 

[Christo]

This is like a reunion of the so-called Braga Santos Experts isn't it? 

I do hope you will all meet & reunite around the Gothic in July. Regretfully, I won't be there. But definitely next time! 

[cilgwyn]

'Dundonell' is before my time as a 'poster' on this message board,but I have found some of his posts very useful when I have been trying to find out something about a particular work or composer.
As to the LSSO of the 10th,I think you just get so used to hearing a particular recording in your head,and unlike some other works by other British composers,there hasn't exactly been allot of choice. Another point too,this thing about hearing a particular recording 'in your head' reminds me of the R3 broadcast of the Ole Schmidt 'Gothic',when I was a teenager. I recorded the broadcast on cassette & like some teenagers on an old 'piano key' type mono cassette recorder positioned in front of the radio. Somehow the second tape got damaged or the recording went wrong. When I finally secured a recording of the entire symphony from a HB member. For years I kept 'hearing' the break where the C90 cassette side ended.
A less subtle example & dangerously off topic,perhaps? When I finally replaced my old LP of Emerson Lake & Palmer's 'Pictures of an Exhibition' (a very ott 70's Progressive rock group with big ideas,for those who haven't heard of them) I kept 'hearing' the bit where the needle jumped a track.
They do say the first recording you hear is the one you like best, (needle skips aside), Maybe I just need to listen to the new recording a bit more,it really isn't THAT bad (joking!)!!!
  Regarding the Unicorn cd. I wasn't being entirely serious about it being 'Snowdon' Vandermolen,but thanks for telling me. It seems you've been higher than me. My highest summit so far,mountain wise is 'Carningli' in North Pembrokeshire. Eat your heart out Edmund Hillary!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I have known and cherished the LSSO performance for 30 years. But after listening to the Brabbins around 10 times now, there is no question in my mind which performance I'll be listening to in the future. It's not perfect, but it comes close. For instance - the trumpet, 'far away in the distance' as the score demands, isn't far away at all, which diminishes the magic a bit. And the violin solo sounds more vulnerable in the LSSO performance. But taken as a whole, Brabbins' Tenth belongs to that very small group of Brian performances which really get to the heart of what this music is and how it should move and sound.

[cilgwyn]

I think you're right. In fact I KNOW you're right,it's just that 'storm' sequence & that eerie moment of calm that follows. Another couple of listens should do the trick. (And this is someone who actually prefers Bryden Thomson Bax cycle to Vernon Handley's!!!)
Perhaps I shouldn't have ordered those Hull Youth SO recordings after all.
(Even if the cd copy they send ACTUALLY works).