Havergal Brian.

[John Whitmore]

From poor 'old' Sharon Tate to Havergal Brian's Violin Concerto. What we do without John?!!!
As I've stated before. I don't like the Naxos recording,full stop,with all due respect. He's obviously a marvellous violinist,but it's Holmes who gets under the 'skin' of the thing.

It's Holmes for me every time but I would like to hear the Sharon Tate

[cilgwyn]

It's certainly different. Very minimalistic & in line with all the current pairing down of things!
Anyway,enough of that (Did my father meet Sharon Tate?!!! ) THRILLING debate!
Kwik Save,if they were still in business would be VERY proud of that 'artwork'!
In the 'words of' Lord Kitchener,Hyperion designers;'Britons need you!'

[cilgwyn]

It's 'Valley of the Brianites' here,unfortunately!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Again, many thanks to Dundonnell for those recordings. The 3rd Symphony is spinning as I post. None of it rings a bell as yet, but it was 1974 or 1975 (?).

No big deal really. I ran into Ronald Stevenson during the aftermath of a concert given by a couple of friends of mine. He and David Wilde were rehearsing the Brian the next day and he invited me along to "turn pages". Actually he didn't really need anybody to turn pages, but just wanted the excuse to continue chatting about matters musical and otherwise in which we were both or all passionately interested. I was monumentally grateful for his pointing me towards a copy of the manuscript of the original (aleatoric) version of Percy Grainger's Random Round which I subsequently put into performable order - and performed with students on several occasions since.

Many thanks for the background story! And 'Dax' - is your moniker connected to DS9's Dax?!

[Hattoff]

I've had a go at cleaning up the Brian 20 MP3. Unlike the Holmes VC where some decent improvements were made there's not really a lot I could do with it other than top and tail, de-hiss and remove a few thumps. Only a marginal improvement I'm afraid. Here's the link anyway:
http://www.mediafire.com/?9kc7y0q87ylr03c
PS I see that there have been 7 downloads of the updated VC. Any comments chaps and chapesses? I think the playing is rather good.

John, you definitely have a talented ear. I have the Holmes on cassette from my old reel to reel and Dundonnell's tapes are better and your tweaks better still.

Thanks all, Dundonnell, Albion and John.

[Dax]

Many thanks for the background story! And 'Dax' - is your moniker connected to DS9's Dax?!

No. Nor Harold Robbins. It represents my initials (sort of).

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thanks all, Dundonnell, Albion and John.

Seconded! A triumph of cooperation. Listening to the VC - still THE performance, in my book (and one other's I could mention).


Later: what a wonderful work it is, too!!

[John Whitmore]

Seeing as we are all discussing restorations of old tapes and LPs I thought I would share something with you. A couple of years ago I came into contact with a US based company called Rediscovery who specialise in LP restorations, similar to the Pristine Classics label. Their downloads are inexpensive and of real quality. I've bought a number of their titles and also suppied a few of my own efforts for inclusion in their catalogue. Now the good news - along with their general catalogue they also have a range of freebies called Paperback Classics drawn from World Record Club, Vanguard, Westminster, Mercury and Concert Hall issues. There's no catch. They are free. You don't have to sign up. You don't even have to supply your email address. They are excellent, especially the Binns/Rach 1, Abravanel New World, 4 Paul Paray collections and Rignold's Golden Cockerel. Here's the link. Give 'em a try.
http://www.rediscovery.us/paperbacks.html

[John Whitmore]

Just finished playing around with the Brian 3 files. This tape was in very good condition considering its 30 year long visit to the attic!! I've topped and tailed it, brightened it up a bit, reduced the long pause between the 1st and 2nd movements and removed a couple of blips. Nothing major but if you want take a listen here it is:
http://www.mediafire.com/?1tcyibg51q039

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Good morning, John! Many thanks for the contents of your latest two posts.

[John Whitmore]

Good morning, John! Many thanks for the contents of your latest two posts.

Good day Johan. Lots of downloads for you to get stuck into!! I'm liking Brian 3, I must say. It breaks out into the slow movemwnt of Elgar 2 at one point. The 3rd movement seems to owe quite a bit to Mahler's landler type style. It's still a shambles of a piece but a shambles well worth hearing

[Dundonnell]

Just finished playing around with the Brian 3 files. This tape was in very good condition considering its 30 year long visit to the attic!! I've topped and tailed it, brightened it up a bit, reduced the long pause between the 1st and 2nd movements and removed a couple of blips. Nothing major but if you want take a listen here it is:
http://www.mediafire.com/?1tcyibg51q039

Very many thanks for your work on improving the sound quality of the two Brian Symphonies Nos. 3 and 20

I am delighted that you thought that No.3 "was in very good condition". If I recall that recording was made by my father on my behalf and he was therefore able to take more care in getting it in better initial sound.

[John Whitmore]

Very many thanks for your work on improving the sound quality of the two Brian Symphonies Nos. 3 and 20

I am delighted that you thought that No.3 "was in very good condition". If I recall that recording was made by my father on my behalf and he was therefore able to take more care in getting it in better initial sound.

Happy to help. Didn't do a fat lot with the syphonies to be honest but really delighted the way the violin concerto worked out. Keep em coming!!

[cilgwyn]

I wonder how the sound quality of the tape (of the 3rd) compares with the old Aries Lp,by those 'nice' Aries people (they had good taste in music,I'll say that for them!)? I didn't keep mine,unfortunately. I gather the Boult Gothic was supposed to be the best of the batch.
Anyone know?

I notice someone on ebay selling a rare 'acetate' of Havergal Brian's 'Dr Merryheart' (etc) with a photo of a 'record'. The description describing it as manufactured in the 1950's,possibly!
Strange!

[hbswebmaster]

Interesting...

Could indeed be an acetate cut using a couple of the performances given in 1959: symphonies 11, 12 and Dr Merryheart were given by the LSO under Harry Newstone in April 1959 and transmitted by the Beeb in November that year.

Some acetates did find their way into private hands.

If it does contain these particular performances then Dr Merryheart is on a Dutton CD with the 11th symphony from the same concert, and no. 12 is available for free download from the HBS website.

[John Whitmore]

I wonder how the sound quality of the tape (of the 3rd) compares with the old Aries Lp,by those 'nice' Aries people (they had good taste in music,I'll say that for them!)? I didn't keep mine,unfortunately. I gather the Boult Gothic was supposed to be the best of the batch.
Anyone know?

I notice someone on ebay selling a rare 'acetate' of Havergal Brian's 'Dr Merryheart' (etc) with a photo of a 'record'. The description describing it as manufactured in the 1950's,possibly!
Strange!

I also came across the Ebay item. Here's the link:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAVERGAL-BRIAN-RARE-ACETATE-DR-MERRYHEART-EX-/190592332764?_trksid=p4340.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DDLSL%252BSIC.NPJS%252BSI%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BUA%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D190587552520%252B190587552520%252B190587552520%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D3869510127394374144
I emailed this info to Professor Herrenberg of Delft University a couple of weeks ago and he thought it was an acetate of the 1959 performance issued by Dutton.

[cilgwyn]

Thank you for the reply. It caught my eye as its not the usual ebay Brian fare. In fact,although I HAVE heard of acetates,I had to look it up!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetate_disc

It's nice to know that there were dedicated Brianites then. This is a few years before the big Brian 'revival' & Dundonnells taping endeavours,whose reel to reel tapes,incidentally, strike me as extremely hi-tech by comparison!

[Mirror Image]

Just came across this on Amazon .. the Brian-junkies are probably already aware of it?

[asin]B005Z4D2EW[/asin]

I can't wait to hear this. I've longed for another recording of the Gothic, but I don't want to put my expectations too high. I can only hope the performance is good.

[cilgwyn]

It's certainly a collectors item,but with downloads & cds available,I don't think I'll be placing a bid!

[John Whitmore]

It's certainly a collectors item,but with downloads & cds available,I don't think I'll be placing a bid!

Me neither. Wouldn't do the stylus much good.