Havergal Brian.

[John Whitmore]

...and another one: what do you call someone who hangs around with a group of musicians? A percussionist. (speaking as an orchestral precussionist!)

This has opened a whole can of worms. I can feel a load of viola jokes coming on........
What's the definition of a minor second?
Two violists playing in unison.

[Philip Legge]

The foregoing sarcasm is noted. Most of the footage of John Curro doing his nut were pieced together from the earlier rehearsals at the Old Museum Building, and obviously not all of the reactions stem from rehearsing the one particular phrase – but the ones that were problems were rehearsed at length and provided a wealth of footage. The syncopations for the women of choir I at the very opening of the Te Deum were always challenging for the amateurs (and I stress, amateurs) amongst the choir.

The orchestra and chorus had three days of solid rehearsal there on Friday 17, Saturday 18, and Sunday 19, and most of the filming seems to be from the Friday and a bit from Saturday. On the Friday, John Grimshaw and Malcolm MacDonald were in attendance from fairly early on and John Curro was already testy owing to the absence of the bass soloist (who had been signed up only a few weeks previously to replace another singer who had pulled out; as a result he was double-booked for Friday and Sunday). Being a work day, half of the Brisbane contingent hadn't taken leave and so the attendance was very lacklustre. To add to these woes, the children were supposed to be present for the afternoon rehearsal and again maybe only half of them were there, and John was playing the role of big scary man with élan. (I'm fairly sure this is where the "Gothic boogie man" phrase was uttered.)

I've just heard that the next outing for the doco is in Brisbane for the Film Festival there, on 4 November. I imagine a screening on ABC TV will also happen at some point before it makes its way to DVD.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thanks for all the background information, Philip. I can't wait for the DVD!

[Philip Legge]

I've just watched the snippet, and most of it is from Friday, both morning (no children present) and afternoon (some children), with some judicious inter-cutting from Saturday to allow "alternate views" of people. This is quite noticeable if you concentrate on people's attire!

By the end of the Friday morning I'd been promoted to the front row of the chorus (in most of the "Tu rex" footage I'm not visible). On the Friday I was wearing my brown Gothic T-shirt (on the back there's a mocked-up road sign bearing the legend "Warning: Choristers Ahead!" with two alternate routes marked: "via G: 2351 bars expressway" and "via O: 4098 bars scenic route". This was designed for the aborted 2007 attempt at staging the Gothic; we ended up taking the scenic route consisting of the Australian première of Carl Orff's Trionfi – all three cantatas.) However, they didn't obviously have a close-up of me that matched the rest of the footage, so they used a snippet from the Saturday where I was wearing my yellow and red Goodies T-shirt (and my avatar shows you how I was dressed on the Sunday).

The main passages of music that are being cut between are very widely separated in time: the "non confundar", "Tu rex gloriæ" from late in the fourth movement, and the very opening of the Te Deum (for example, when John refers to figure 5).

Sarah Curro's comments about her dad's rantings in rehearsal marvellously caps off this snippet. Thanks for finding it JZ!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

On the Friday I was wearing my brown Gothic T-shirt (on the back there's a mocked-up road sign bearing the legend "Warning: Choristers Ahead!" with two alternate routes marked: "via G: 2351 bars expressway" and "via O: 4098 bars scenic route".

The main passages of music that are being cut between are very widely separated in time: the "non confundar", "Tu rex gloriæ" from late in the fourth movement, and the very opening of the Te Deum (for example, when John refers to figure 5).

Yes, I noticed that, too.

Sarah Curro's comments about her dad's rantings in rehearsal marvellously caps off this snippet. Thanks for finding it JZ!

Alison put it on Facebook. That's where I found it. You might take a look, it elicited a few interesting reactions...

[John Whitmore]

Brianites may care to know that I have uploaded recordings of HB's

Symphony No.3 in the first performance by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Stanley Pope with David Wilde and Ronald Stevenson(pianos)

http://www.mediafire.com/?vwgvoygc6auyd3h

http://www.mediafire.com/?kt1253vbddbobkg

Symphony No.20 in the first performance by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Vernon Handley

http://www.mediafire.com/?94x1je4qbbd1dux

Violin Concerto with Ralph Holmes and the New Philharmonia under Stanley Pope

http://www.mediafire.com/?esh8fhbokfjw9s7

Opera "Agamemnon" with extended introduction by Malcolm MacDonald in the performance by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Armstrong with
William McAlpine, ten (Agamemnon); Milla Andrew, sop (Clytemnestra); Ann Howard, mezzo (Cassandra); John Dobson, ten (Watchman); Michael Rippon, bass (Herald); Dennis Wicks, bass (Old Man)
and the BBC Northern SO/ Richard Armstrong

http://www.mediafire.com/?rpcg533rrr98d9e


These links were made available on another site and will remain here for a very limited period.

Many thanks. I'll take a listen to Holmes. Cracking player.

[Luke]

Wonderful! Thanks! (And - it makes me happy, anyway - the added bonus of hearing Ronald Stevenson again.)

[Hattoff]

Brianites may care to know that I have uploaded recordings of HB's

Symphony No.3 in the first performance by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Stanley Pope with David Wilde and Ronald Stevenson(pianos)

http://www.mediafire.com/?vwgvoygc6auyd3h

http://www.mediafire.com/?kt1253vbddbobkg

Symphony No.20 in the first performance by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Vernon Handley

http://www.mediafire.com/?94x1je4qbbd1dux

Violin Concerto with Ralph Holmes and the New Philharmonia under Stanley Pope

http://www.mediafire.com/?esh8fhbokfjw9s7

Opera "Agamemnon" with extended introduction by Malcolm MacDonald in the performance by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Armstrong with
William McAlpine, ten (Agamemnon); Milla Andrew, sop (Clytemnestra); Ann Howard, mezzo (Cassandra); John Dobson, ten (Watchman); Michael Rippon, bass (Herald); Dennis Wicks, bass (Old Man)
and the BBC Northern SO/ Richard Armstrong

http://www.mediafire.com/?rpcg533rrr98d9e


These links were made available on another site and will remain here for a very limited period.

Thanks very much for all the brilliant work you are doing both here and on the other board.

I remember first hearing Agamemnon and it was that, that put me off Brian for a while. Re-hearing it now, with advanced (')ears, is interesting to say the least; I mean it makes sense now.........

Thanks again.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I remember first hearing Agamemnon and it was that, that put me off Brian for a while. Re-hearing it now, with advanced (')ears, is interesting to say the least; I mean it makes sense now.........

Agamemnon is hardly Brian at his loveliest. His writing for the human voice is even less belcanto-like than Wagner's, but it has the advantage of throwing the words into sharp relief. There are some very powerful things here, especially the final three minutes, with Brian at his most grand and granitic.


Many thanks to Colin!

[cilgwyn]

The Ralph Holmes performance at last.
Thank you Dundonell. I do have the Holmes on a C90,as they were called,before the 'D' came in,(what kind of b**** commitee meeting led to that?) but the final 3 minutes or so were accidentally taped over by horrible pop music. How,I don't know. But,it wasn't The Doors or Janis Joplin,put it that way!
The Stanley Pope,is another performance,I once had! This is the one without the cramped acoustic. Can't wait to hear this again,as it's my favourite Brian symphony! Move over the Gothic,THIS is the most intriguing Brian symphony!!!(Testament take note!) Maybe someone should start a Dundonnell Society?
I'll Naxos that Naxos!!!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Yes, it's great to hear these performances again (VC and Third)!


The performance of No. 20 by Handley, new to me, doesn't differ much from the reading on the Marco Polo/Naxos label, as far as I can hear.

[cilgwyn]

I had the Agamemnon performance off someone on cassette,years ago. The sound quality was absolutely terrible (muffled,distant.Yet all the other Brian recordings I got from my 'source' were excellent,Except for the 'Concerto for Orchestra)). Strictly for Brian buffs!I hope you're cassette copy wasn't THAT bad!)
I'd love to hear those 'granite' sounds in todays digital recording technology!

[cilgwyn]

I'm amazed if you didn't have the Holmes VC or Poe 3rd,Johan? I always assumed you'd have them stashed away in you're vast Brian archive!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

No, I had them! On cassette.

[cilgwyn]

Ah yes,the cassette,who'd have thought!

[cilgwyn]

A 'nerdy' question,I suppose,because I still quite like & DO use cassettes,to some degree. Do you still possess any of you're original 'off air' cassettes of Brian's music,or did you throw them all away?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I still have them all. They were sent to me by fellow members of the HBS during the late 'eighties. Quality is very variable...

[cilgwyn]

Unfortunately,I always seemed to have lousy cassette recorders that kept chewing them up. I still have a few. The Poole Das Siegeslied is one of them. Once,I've cleared out some more stuff I hope one or two more will turn up.
These days I have a nice dedicated dolby cassette deck,which I bought a few months ago. There are,currently,less than half a dozen in production & no Nakamichi's,unfortunately! (Apparently,cassette sales have unexpectedly risen,so there's some hope for stone agers like me!) All those years I wanted a deck like this & as soon as I get one cassettes are history. Funny how things work out!
I'm glad all yours are intact!

[John Whitmore]

Unfortunately,I always seemed to have lousy cassette recorders that kept chewing them up. I still have a few. The Poole Das Siegeslied is one of them. Once,I've cleared out some more stuff I hope one or two more will turn up.
These days I have a nice dedicated dolby cassette deck,which I bought a few months ago. There are,currently,less than half a dozen in production & no Nakamichi's,unfortunately! (Apparently,cassette sales have unexpectedly risen,so there's some hope for stone agers like me!) All those years I wanted a deck like this & as soon as I get one cassettes are history. Funny how things work out!
I'm glad all yours are intact!

Nakamichi. I've got one of those. 20 years old but still works OK and I still use it to transfer old cassettes as and when people send them to me (mainly LSSO stuff). I never got into cassettes. Access to individual tracks was a nightmare and the sound quality was never anywhere near as good as high quality vinyl. Either the tapes hissed like demented snakes or Dolby took away all the top end sparkle. Clicks and pops or tape hiss - the choice is yours!! The good old days, eh? Nice to have the old Nakamichi around though.

[Sergeant Rock]

Brianites may care to know that I have uploaded recordings of HB's....

Thanks, Colin. Much appreciated.

Sarge