Havergal Brian.

[cilgwyn]

Most kind. I'll put a cheque in the post. Address please..........

No,it's okay....really,John! You're making me blush!

[Hattoff]

Alex Ross (of The Rest is Noise fame) writes about Simpson and a a bit about Brian:


That's more about the reviewer than the reviewee. But, again, aren't all reviews like that?

[calyptorhynchus]

Over the weekend I listened to Brian's Prelude to the Cenci. Didn't seem very tragic, almost jaunty in places. Has anyone here heard the performance of the opera and can comment?

[cilgwyn]

It IS strangely jaunty,but that's what I like about it. I find a slightly sinister quality to it. Maybe the odd jauntiness is another example of Brian's offbeat humour. I like to think so?
  At any rate,I notice (looking at the HBS website) there was a complete performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall,sponsored by the HBS,and with what looks like a pretty decent cast! I wonder if Johan was there? I can't remember a broadcast?!!!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Yes, I was there. 12 December 1997, if I remember correctly. In the morning there was a fire at a Heathrow terminal (T4?) and my flight seemed to be doomed (Brian jinx). Fortunately it went ahead, though a bit delayed. And The Cenci? I don't remember much, only the ending. It was a concert performance, so we had to use our imagination. I had read Shelley's play beforehand, so I knew what was happening. It is very difficult to judge any work by Brian on a first listen, so I can't give my verdict. As for the prelude - it is sinister, as cilgwyn says, and there certainly is sadness, too, I think.

[Luke]

Yes, I was there.

Me too. Odd to think we were both there (and I'm fairly sure other GMGers were present too)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Quote from: Luke on Today at 00:53:50

Me too. Odd to think we were both there (and I'm fairly sure other GMGers were present too)



Who knows whether I registered your presence subconsciously... Of GMGers HBSwebmaster was certainly there (Martyn Becker). More won't spring to mind...

[Luke]

I was sitting fairly far back with my brother and a family friend. I remember the music was superb, and can recall the sensations it gave me, but not too much of the substance, beyond a few striking fate-laden march ideas.

[cilgwyn]

I had to listen to the Prelude now,on the Toccata cd. Some lovely orchestration here. I hope we're going to get more cds with playing & recording quality as good as this. Now I've 'cracked' the later symphonies (well not quite,perhaps! ) I think the time is ripe to give the music on this cd another listen.
  I must confess I have,up until recently, been a bit polite about some of the later symphonies,in my postings here. While I found them undeniably intriguing,I can't really say I enjoyed them. Now they've,unexpectedly,'opened up',I suddenly can't get enough of them. In fact,in some ways,I think Brian's later output is very possibly even more rewarding than his earlier music. I'm also,pretty sure now,that Brian's Symphonies 30 & 31 would make a fantastic prom.
  I just wonder what the London based 'critics' would make of them? 

The cds got to the Turandot suite. Some lovely harps there! Must go downstairs & look at the cd tracking (I'm using the cordless headphones!)!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I was sitting somewhere in the middle. A week before the performance the (late, sadly) Secretary of the HBS, Alan Marshall, described the Icelandic soprano who sang Beatrice Cenci in a letter to me as 'drop-dead gorgeous' - the first time I ever read that phrase. I found her rather forbidding, to be honest...

[cilgwyn]

Her singing or her appearance,Joan?!!!

The music from Turandot on this cd is marvellous. It also makes suprisingly relaxing,late night (early morning ) listening!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Appearance, cilgwyn, appearance. Not much wrong with her singing.


Yes, those Turandot suites are excellent. I heard them live in 1995 in London, St James's Church, Piccadilly.

[Winky Willy]

No recording of the Cenci?

[calyptorhynchus]

Just been listening at lunchtime to the Symphony No.25 (Naxos) and just noticed two little details that are so Brian

1. In the first movement after a lull in the intensity and pace there's a sudden whipping-up of both, what with another composer would sound like a desperate gesture to get momentum back into the music, in Brian is both understandable and amusing, because the momentum was never lost, and yet the passage parodies such gestures in bad music.

2. At the end of the finale the music comes to rousing halt with chords on full orchestra, and then there's a little thump at the end as a few instruments (including a couple of oboes) seem to play their last notes late! Hilarious.

[John Whitmore]

Her singing or her appearance,Joan?!!!

The music from Turandot on this cd is marvellous. It also makes suprisingly relaxing,late night (early morning ) listening!

Is this Johan's sister or has he made a significant change in his life??

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Quote from: Winky Willy on Today at 04:07:50

No recording of the Cenci?



Yes, but only available (on loan) from The Havergal Brian Society. Martyn, the HBS Webmaster, said late last year that the Recordings Library would become available online in 2012. I wonder how far things have proceeded there...


>

Is this Johan's sister or has he made a significant change in his life??

No change since I last checked.

[cilgwyn]

Is this Johan's sister or has he made a significant change in his life??

I just spotted that now! First I welcome you back as the 'pub landlord',now Joan! Sorry about that,Johan. It WAS late at night!

[John Whitmore]

I just spotted that now! First I welcome you back as the 'pub landlord',now Joan! Sorry about that,Johan. It WAS late at night!

Two pints of bitter and a couple of bags of pork scratchings please Joan. Have one yourself.

[Hattoff]

Pork scratchings, the greatest culinary delight the English have given the world after steak & kidney pudding, you need good teeth, though. From my in depth studies of Havergal Brian I believe he lived on both throughout his life and they may, indeed, account for his longevity.

Sod calorie restriction.

[cilgwyn]

I must admit I've always been a cheese and onion crisp man,when I'm in a pub! Washed down with a pint! Particularly,the late lamented Golden Wonder & Smiths crisps! )But Walkers are allright!As to steak & kidney pie! Yummy! But at my age a liitle fattening!

Back to Brian!