Havergal Brian.

[Karl Henning]

I don't know the score at all, so, esteemed Johan, regard this as no better than a parenthesis, probably an irrelevance . . . but a setting of the 23^rd Psalm which is fiery strikes me as trending towards an oxymoron.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/ROTY/roty2011_1.htm

MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL CD OF THE YEAR

Havergal BRIAN Symphony 1 The Gothic  Susan Gritton (soprano) Bach Ch, Brighton Festival Chorus, Huddersfield Choral Soc, London Symphony Ch, BBC National Ch & O Wales; BBC Concert O/Martyn Brabbins rec. 2011  HYPERION CDA67971/2

While the Martin/Hyperion recording [of the opera Der Sturm] would seem to have seem to have the credentials for this award, it is not simply a numbers game. The most significant event of the musical calendar, in the UK at least, surely had to be Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony at the Proms on July 17. Hyperion's recording of the performance was only officially released this week, but Musicweb was fortunate to have an advance copy for review.


+


http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/ROTY/roty2011_MZ.htm


BRIAN REINHART



Havergal BRIAN Symphony 1 The Gothic  Susan Gritton (soprano) Bach Ch, Brighton Festival Chorus, Huddersfield Choral Soc, London Symphony Ch, BBC National Ch & O Wales; BBC Concert O/Martyn Brabbins rec. 2011  HYPERION CDA67971/2

My own copy has yet to arrive, and my own review will be appearing in early 2012, but I was standing in the Albert Hall arena for this concert and have heard broadcasts several times since. There is simply no musical accomplishment this year to rival the Proms Gothic; if it's not the MusicWeb 2011 Recording of the Year I shall re-nominate it in 2012.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I don't know the score at all, so, esteemed Johan, regard this as no better than a parenthesis, probably an irrelevance . . . but a setting of the 23^rd Psalm which is fiery strikes me as trending towards an oxymoron.

Purely thinking of the psalm it might seem that way, Karl. But though Brian's setting certainly has its tranquil and pastoral sides, there are still passages with real energy... Perhaps the word 'fiery' wasn't right. But Bostock's reading lacks involvement and passion.

[John Whitmore]

Purely thinking of the psalm it might seem that way, Karl. But though Brian's setting certainly has its tranquil and pastoral sides, there are still passages with real energy... Perhaps the word 'fiery' wasn't right. But Bostock's reading lacks involvement and passion.

It's very polished and beautifully played but it sounds as if nobody is interested. The LSSO aren't in very good form on CBS but at least there's some enthusiasm and drive about it.

[cilgwyn]

Karl Henning has a point. Psalm 58,maybe,but not Psalm 23! But I know what you mean,Johan. Maybe a little more 'oomph',perhaps!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Yes, enthusiasm, drive, 'oomph', that's what is lacking. The LSSO never lacked commitment in their Brian recordings. Energy is more important than perfection.

[cilgwyn]

Quite! A bit of enthusiasm goes a long way,I say,which is why I still prefer some of the Hull Youth SO recordings to the Naxos ones,even if they're horribly out of tune! Just don't tell John!!!

[Dundonnell]

I'm listening. It's a decent enough performance, but it's too 'nice'. The orchestra plays well, but lacks fire, as does the choir. Still - it's always a pleasure to hear a clear Brian recording! Thanks, John.

Which is, I think, more or less, what I said in my review a few days ago

Maybe if there is a vacancy at 'The Guardian'.......no, I couldn't work for that newspaper

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Which is, I think, more or less, what I said in my review a few days ago

Maybe if there is a vacancy at 'The Guardian'.......no, I couldn't work for that newspaper

Well, you were simply right... And John reached the same verdict.

As for replacing the current 'critic' with you, there is a way of creating a vacancy, of course. But I live too far away. And it's illegal.

[Brian]

As for replacing the current 'critic' with you, there is a way of creating a vacancy, of course. But I live too far away. And it's illegal.

Moreover, I called dibs (or, in British English, bagsy)!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Moreover, I called dibs (or, in British English, bagsy)!

That would be nice!

[John Whitmore]

Quite! A bit of enthusiasm goes a long way,I say,which is why I still prefer some of the Hull Youth SO recordings to the Naxos ones,even if they're horribly out of tune! Just don't tell John!!!

Please remove this highly offensive post

[Lethevich]

Now I've heard the official release of the Proms Gothic (it does sound very fine indeed, although the pitch problem is beyond my musicological grasp at the moment), perhaps one of the first times that I've made an effort to listen to the whole work all the way through with full focus, I have come to consider the first part a bit of a hassle. I feel that both part 1 and the title of "symphony" gets in the way of the work - both its contents and peoples expectations for it.

Part 2, the third movement in particular reminds me a bit of a work like Delius's Sea Drift, and for such a radical style (I do find Delius to be radical in his break from standardised, waypointed Romanticism), the expectations of a Mahler-like work that are set up in part 1 are not only undelivered, but perhaps spoiled by the style of part 2. When I make it all the way through part 2 (this work isn't a love at first sight piece for me, or even second or third sight), I feel that a satisfying journey and duration has been put forward, but part 1 feels curtailed, simultaneously needing part 2 to give it resolution, yet not being the equal of it.

However, if Brian was in the expansive mood of his second symphony, perhaps the work would be unmanageable? Either way - how it is now, and how it could be, leave me slightly unsatisfied. In terms of musical content, part 1 is certainly a favourite, but it's just a stump, really...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

A very interesting post, Sara.


You mention Delius' Sea Drift in comparison. Well, I love that work and formally I think it's superior to Brian's Te Deum. It sets a Whitman poem, beautifully, and with an emotional inexorability that makes it into the masterpiece it is. But formal perfection isn't the thing by which I personally measure The Gothic. Ezra Pound, in his kaleidoscopic Cantos, proudly boasts It all coheres, where it plainly doesn't. And neither does the modernistic Gothic. The work is plainly post-World War 1. It may use Mahlerian forces, but where Mahler can be prophetic, Brian has lived through the destruction Mahler fore-felt. The Gothic is a battle-field. It seems to set out, very purposefully, with a clear destination, and Part 1 reaches that within its own smaller world. But when the Te Deum starts, we enter a world which is just one opening-out, a real voyage of discovery with an uncertain outcome.


When I listen to Part 2, I can hear we are progressing, and when I reach the end I know I have come very far. But where? And how does it all hang together? I don't know. Of course, analysis has shown that there are families of themes, that tonality is progressive, et cetera. But the essence of the Gothic for me is that amazing journey through sonic landscapes, through exultation, terror, war and a kind of prayer. The Tigers, the satirical brother of the Gothic, and also a fruit of World War I, is just as inconclusive and also contains the most amazing music. For me that's enough... I think Brian reached a balance between formal cohesion and copious invention only later. Symphony No. 5, Wine of Summer, is one such a work. And come to think of it - that could be Brian's answer to Sea  Drift... The Gothic has much more in common with A Mass of Life.


P.S. I can feel the unity of the Gothic. There is a very strong atmosphere there, peculiar to that work.

[Lethevich]

I do rather love Brian's text choices. I can only imagine how schlock it might sound if there was a War Requiem-esque attempt to insert overt contemporary references into it. (Wait, we already have that, don't we - Foulds' World Requiem - which I have yet to hear.)

I suppose you're right about it defeating the point for the work to come to an academically perfect conclusion - the way Brian balances on a knife edge his own unique structural logic to solve "problems" that a lesser composer would crumble beneath, and a better one would smooth into mediocrity. I suppose it would be too cheap for Brian to try to pin down part 2 with more literal references to part 1, in an attempt to give that more weight - but the subtleties in the connections between the two described by you and Malcolm MacDonald are a bit beyond me at the moment.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I suddenly remember a quip by the conductor and composer Walter Goehr about Wagner, which goes something like "Life is too short to discover whether the Ring is a perfect work of art". I think you could say the same about the Gothic. It's an endlessly fascinating piece and the jury is still out whether it succeeds. Though you could ask yourself: what exactly did Brian set out to accomplish, and did his goal(s) change along the way? I know he wrote How the Gothic came to be written, but that doesn't really give you an answer...

[Superhorn]

   Here;s some great news : this Summer's London Proms saw   a performance of Brian's  almost never performed Gothic symphony  ,
with conductor Martyn Brabbins , the BBC symphony and  just about every chorus in London .  And  lo and behold , it was recorded live
by Hyperion records  and is about to be released . 
I got this message  yesterday in  an e mail from  arkivmusic.com  showing new releases from Hyperion  .  Hooray  for Hyperion !









                                                                                                                                                                           

[ibanezmonster]

Nice!

[Sergeant Rock]

   Here;s some great news : this Summer's London Proms saw   a performance of Brian's  almost never performed Gothic symphony  ,
with conductor Martyn Brabbins , the BBC symphony and  just about every chorus in London .  And  lo and behold , it was recorded live
by Hyperion records  and is about to be released . 
I got this message  yesterday in  an e mail from  arkivmusic.com  showing new releases from Hyperion  .  Hooray  for Hyperion !                                                                                                                                                                   

You must not spend any time in the Brian thread    Check it out. It's become the largest composer thread with over 3000 posts.

It's been released in Europe already. My copy arrived yesterday (ordered from Amazon UK, dispatched from Amazon's German depot).

Sarge

[springrite]

That's the great thing about a bad economy. Houses and cars don't sell, but Havergal Brian does.

I will resist getting a copy since I have the Marco Polo already and doubling up on my Brian recordings is currently not a high priority. But I have  been known to break my rules (which I make up on the way) so...