Havergal Brian.

[John Whitmore]

Thank you John.  I will be cautious as to be so trashy without audio evidence again.  You have taught me a fine lesson.   
I will purchase the Havergal Brian works over the weekend, among other things.  'Twill be interesting and fun for me to compare them, even unto wave forms and audio analysis.

Now.   
Don't we Johns need to sort out those damn Daves who are challenging us to a 'rumble'?     I will devise a flag for the Johns before battle commences if ever they decide to start a carry on.   

Best to ignore. Least said soonest mended.

[Dundonnell]

The February issue of The Gramophone magazine has a review of the Hyperion cd. The review is written by Guy Rickards and is enthusiastic. He makes the obvious point that the BBC should have filmed the performance.

However Rickards gets one column to review both the Hyperion discs and Volume 2 of the Toccata Brian releases. The consequence is that the Toccata disc gets precisely three sentences.

Rickards is a sensible reviewer and is notably well-informed about Scandinavian music but the length of his review gives him little opportunity to say much that is of any real value beyond comparing the speeds adopted by Boult, Lenard and Brabbins. Frankly, almost any of us could have written this review.

It is a waste of the man's talent and, yet another, commentary on the dreadful decline in the magazine's standards; a decline we have said much about already

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thanks for that, Colin. I share your sadness at the decline of what was once an excellent magazine. Still, Guy Rickards' enthusiasm could sway some doubters, which is a positive thing.

On another subject, I 'met' a new Brianite on Twitter, Clive Pagett, from Sydney, Australia. He's a freelance director, among other things, and has been amazed by how advanced musically and theatrically The Tigers is.

So - the Band of Brianites is growing apace!

[cilgwyn]

Marvellous.Up there with the best pre Britten opera's ie Hugh the Drover,Sir John in Love,A Village Romeo & Juliet & I SHOULD add Savitri & Riders to the Sea,but they're a little too grim for me!
Interesting how many posts HB gets. Yet after buying some s/h cd copies of Britten's own recordings of his opera's,I actually had trouble FINDING a Britten thread here! I seem to remember it was quite short!

NB: It would have been nice to have included VW's wonderful Pilgrims Progress in the above list,but I'm not really sure where it fit's! I also rather like,The Immortal Hour & The Perfect Fool opera,but they're probably not 'dramatic' enough (particularly the latter).

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Marvellous.Up there with the best pre Britten opera's ie Hugh the Drover,Sir John in Love,A Village Romeo & Juliet & I SHOULD add Savitri & Riders to the Sea,but they're a little too grim for me!
Interesting how many posts HB gets. Yet after buying some s/h cd copies of Britten's own recordings of his opera's,I actually had trouble FINDING a Britten thread here! I seem to remember it was quite short!

NB: It would have been nice to have included VW's wonderful Pilgrims Progress in the above list,but I'm not really sure where it fit's! I also rather like,The Immortal Hour & The Perfect Fool opera,but they're probably not 'dramatic' enough (particularly the latter).

I think this thread has mutated into the central HB forum on the internet. Also - GMG has reached critical mass, as it were, last year - there now is a hard core of (not very quiet) Brianites. It will irritate some people here, all this attention for a composer who is still regarded as a curiosity, but fortunately, they can avoid this place. I am glad it's there!

[Karl Henning]

(not very quiet) Brianites

(* chortle *)

So - the Band of Brianites is growing apace!

Aye, as opposed to the Petterssonnians (we few, we pathologically morose few . . . . ; )

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

(* chortle *)

Aye, as opposed to the Petterssonnians (we few, we pathologically morose few . . . . ; )

I think the character of the composer determines the character of his fans. Brian's middle name was 'perseverance', Pettersson's... take your pick.  (Sorry, Lethe!)

[Karl Henning]

Well, I must say that you & Sara are much more cheerful than your enthusiasm for the dour Swede might suggest : )

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Well, I must say that you & Sara are much more cheerful than your enthusiasm for the dour Swede might suggest : )

Those pills mean a lot to us.

[Karl Henning]

Big Pharma thanks you.

[cilgwyn]

Benjamin Britten,our 'greatest opera composer' has a meagre,eight page  long thread!!!
I DO actually like some of Britten's opera's,personally,but interestingly,perhaps (?) the only recordings I like (and,indeed,own) are the composers own Decca recordings (and the emi vintage recordings from 78's under Goodall). Despite my reservations about SOME of his opera's,particularly the later ones, I DO think he WAS very good at picking just the right singers for his recordings,and some of the soloists in his recording really ARE the kind of singers you just don't get now ie,the cream of yesterdays crop. The sort of singers who I could enjoy listening to,even if they were singing the telephone book! I also confess to actually quite liking Peter Pears's wierd gargly singing voice. But ONLY if he's singing Britten or folk songs (with old whatsisname on the piano!). If it's any other composer's,he's c***!

One last thought. If the War Requiem gets put on at the Proms will every ticket get sold in 24 hours?
Or what about a Prom with the War Requiem AND the Gothic on the same night & see which gets the loudest & most sustained applause? (Like King Kong fighting the dinosaur!)
Not saying which one's the dinosaur!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I really have come to love several of Britten's orchestral pieces, the Sinfonia da Requiem, Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto. His vocal works have always been distasteful to me because of Peter Pears, whose voice I dislike (Schwarzkopf same thing - both voices are products of the will, the will being greater than the talent). But I heard the 'Illuminations' once, sung by another tenor, and found them amazing. The interludes from 'Peter Grimes' are excellent, too. One day I'll be able to like the operatic Britten, perhaps... As for his chamber works, I still have to hear any of his string quartets.

War Requiem vs Gothic - yes, makes sense. As does Walton's 'Belshazzar's Feast' vs 'Das Siegeslied'!

[cilgwyn]

Thanks for that, Colin. I share your sadness at the decline of what was once an excellent magazine. Still, Guy Rickards' enthusiasm could sway some doubters, which is a positive thing.

On another subject, I 'met' a new Brianite on Twitter, Clive Pagett, from Sydney, Australia. He's a freelance director, among other things, and has been amazed by how advanced musically and theatrically The Tigers is.

So - the Band of Brianites is growing apace!

Is there a possibility of an Australian stage premiere for The Tigers,at some time in the future? Does Clive Pagett have any influence in that area,I wonder?
It would be a great follow up to the Brisbane Gothic. Mind you,that took a while to happen.

I'm with you on Schwarzkopf. Can't stand the battleaxe. So matronly. Her celebrated operetta composers are a case in point. So cold.Where's the lightness and humour?
Peter Pears (as a singer) I do actually like,but ONLY in Britten or the folksongs.
Das Siegeslied v Belshazzars Feast. What a battle! Godzilla springs to mind,this time around (sorry Kong!).

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Well, Clive is now listening to 'The Tigers' for the first time. He put the files on his iPod last week. Who knows? He is a Brianite, but there are still a lot of pieces he doesn't know. Let's see how he views the work as a whole.

A 'Tigers' premiere down under... The mind boggles!

[John Whitmore]

I really have come to love several of Britten's orchestral pieces, the Sinfonia da Requiem, Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto. His vocal works have always been distasteful to me because of Peter Pears, whose voice I dislike (Schwarzkopf same thing - both voices are products of the will, the will being greater than the talent). But I heard the 'Illuminations' once, sung by another tenor, and found them amazing. The interludes from 'Peter Grimes' are excellent, too. One day I'll be able to like the operatic Britten, perhaps... As for his chamber works, I still have to hear any of his string quartets.

War Requiem vs Gothic - yes, makes sense. As does Walton's 'Belshazzar's Feast' vs 'Das Siegeslied'!

Score Flash: War Requiem 0 Gothic 1 (Pears o.g.)
Walton 7 Siegeslied 0 (Full Time)

[cilgwyn]

And now back to the football!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Foul!

[John Whitmore]

Foul!

The Siegeslied certainly is

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

The Siegeslied certainly is

* shows red card *

[cilgwyn]