Havergal Brian.

[calyptorhynchus]

I've survived driving round lsitneing to HB on the car CD player. Surprised how good the symphonies sound. Obviously the ones from CDs are good, but even the radio recordings, converted from Mp3 to wav, don't sound too bad (they would sound thin and tinny on a good sound system, but all the background noise in the car covers this up). Plus it's safer than driving with headphones on!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I can see you driving through leafy suburbs, HB blasting the silence to pieces...

[cilgwyn]

It's nice to know that Havergal Brian's music is being listened to in cars,in Australia. I keep hearing these cars going past,and all I can hear is 'BOOMP! BOOMP! BOOMP! If it sounds that loud to me,what it's like inside the car? A few decades & they'll be receiving their first hearing aid!
Still,you're only young once! I only wish I'd had a car to play my Havergal Brian.....in my case......cassettes in!
  Incidentally,it just occurred to me. My fathers got a car/radio cassette player. In fact,he may even have one with a cd player,now! Maybe I'll ask him?
They say it's never too late!!! When we get into the middle of a small,unsuspecting market town,I'll wind down the window & give the old volume control a quick jab!

[cilgwyn]

An idle fantasy,of course. But I could pop one in,with the volume control on low!

[Mountain Goat]

I keep hearing these cars going past,and all I can hear is 'BOOMP! BOOMP! BOOMP! If it sounds that loud to me,what it's like inside the car? A few decades & they'll be receiving their first hearing aid!

I especially hate being stopped next to these idiots at traffic lights, I can feel my own car shaking. Next time it happens I'll wind down the window and give them a quick blast of Brian - the end of the 5th movement of the Gothic should do the trick! 

[cilgwyn]

Why not? Give 'em a taste of their own medicine! But maybe not rap! I must admit I've always fancied doing that,but it's a bit of a problem if you haven't got a car! Maybe I could walk past with a 'boom box'? But what if they're big & I have to run off? (Or,come to think of it, what if they're small? You can't clip 'em round the ear 'ole,now! )
  Some of these 'music lovers' just seem to drive round and round town,with their windows wide open. They want everyone to hear their lousy taste in music. Not that I don't like 'pop' music,or whatever they call it now;in fact I've got allot in my own collection. The problem is the stuff now is all so commercial,it's all just driven by big money & I can't see it has any musical merit at all! Rap (or hip hop) is one of the worst offenders. Even if it had anything going for it all,when it first began,it seems to me that there are only so many variations on a couple of surly looking blokes chanting misogynistic lyrics about b*****s  & words I wouldn't care to print here,unless I want to get moderated ,or use a heck of a load of ******'s!
  Anyway,enough of that;this is a mother fri**** Havergal Brian thread & he's one fri**** cool dude!!!!

My apologies for the bad ***%$@*!!!

[petrarch]

So I am resuming my listening to Brian, after a hiatus of 8 months (during which this thread grew by an additional ~1300 posts). That interval had nothing to do with Brian's music, or a waning of my interest in it, rest assured, but rather personal hardship. This prevented me from listening to and thinking about music as much as I wanted--the time I spent on those activities during this period was episodic at best, despite the dozens of CDs that were added to my collection and that remain largely unlistened to. But no more!... Let's see how this goes now; the Brabbins Gothic is playing.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Glad to hear you have overcome those difficulties, petrarch (I hope). Enjoy the Brabbins 'Gothic'!

[petrarch]

Glad to hear you have overcome those difficulties, petrarch (I hope). Enjoy the Brabbins 'Gothic'!

Thanks. I am enjoying it, and I am happy to say in a manner different than back in late December (much emotional baggage was shed in the last few weeks).

[snyprrr]

Thanks. I am enjoying it, and I am happy to say in a manner different than back in late December (much emotional baggage was shed in the last few weeks).

mm, what was her name?

[petrarch]

mm, what was her name?

Her name was Helena; she was my mother. I am still quite happily married to the love of my life and soulmate.

[calyptorhynchus]

I had the thought the other day while listening to Vaughan William's 8th Symphony: although HB and VW are very different composers, I wonder if the VW 8 wasn't an influence on HB. Does anyone know if Brian ever heard it?

In 1956 when the VW 8 premiered HB was only up to Symphony No.11; the VW 8 may have influenced him in some of his oddball symphonies (eg 26, 28) and more generally in his other later works with a battery of percussion. VW 's 8th first movement, which he described as "variations in search of a theme" is quite similar to Brian's techniques, and the general ethos of that work, humorous, disjunctive, but ultimately serious and satisfying as a musical work, is very much HB's later style too.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Interesting post, calyptorhynchus. I personally don't think RVW influenced HB at all. The use of a battery of percussion is something HB shares with other composers of that time, like Shostakovich and Hartmann. But I do feel, like you, a certain affinity between HB 28 and RVW 8, especially in the earlier movements, not the final, Varèse-like one...

[petrarch]

I listened to the Gothic twice in the last few days, with a number of additional listenings of fragments. It was an interesting exercise to listen to the work more closely than before. For some reason, there were moments that my ears found rather filmic--on a couple of those, the harmonies and textures really sounded like some film soundtrack I must have heard before--not to mention the various bits that reminded me of Saturn and Neptune, my favorite movements from Holst's The Planets. The choral movements aren't my cup of tea, especially Te ergo, but still there are portions that are not so bad. Oh well, let's see if it continues to mature as well another 8 months from now .

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Your favourite Planets movements are my favourites, too. Plus Uranus, that is... As for the Te Deum, Part 2 of the 'Gothic', it remains a bone of contention for many commentators. The purely-instrumental Part 1 is, by now, seen by most as powerful and adventurous music, but the Te Deum still is a bridge too far. Disorganised, chaotic, bad choral writing - these are a few things you can see cropping up in reviews. As you would expect, I don't share that view. I don't have any problem with Part 2, and never had. The music simply carries me along and I can sense the unity behind it. There is only one passage in the Te ergo which I feel is a bit of a non sequitur, where there is all build-up and no pay-off. But that is all. Hopefully, in 8 months' time, the Te Deum will speak to you more than it does now. And if not - no big deal.

[Hattoff]

Brian's Turandot suite was reviewed in BBC's CD review this morning. Not a lot was said but it was fair.
The Prom's Gothic last year does seem to have improved Brian's standing amongst the great and the good which is pleasing.
If you go to the BBC's iplayer you'll find it at about 2hrs 36mins into the show. They reviewed several other less famous british composers; for me Brian stood out along with Eric Chisholm.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thanks, Steve! I'll have a listen later today. It's my feeling, too, that Brian is more visible and a bit less under-appreciated, even to the point that people are joking about him on Twitter (even ridicule is publicity).

[cilgwyn]

Nice to see Limelight Magazine listing Brian's third symphony as one of the 'Top 12 great symphonies you probably haven't heard'......and so it SHOULD be! "A sprawling & imaginative '55' minutes",it makes a change from the usual choice. Not that there's anything wrong with it (the Gothic) of course!
Must look out for that 'Habanera'!
The  description makes it sound VERY intriguing. I'd want to hear it,if I hadn't!

An interesting list. Benjamin's Symphony is there & Panufnik,William Schuman's third,Rott's,the Korngold......

[hbswebmaster]

The habanera is there right at the start of the first movement; there's a strong hint in the first eight bars and then there it is at bar 9. This, from the HBS newsletter in 1985: "Woven into the gravity of the introduction, by a Brian that I can only imagine with a smirk on his face at the time, is nothing short of a habañera, à la Bizet".

[cilgwyn]

So that's what it is! Doh!* All,you need is Victoria de los Angeles & some cigarette girls! I've only recently been listening to Marston's superb transfer of the wonderful 1911 Pathe complete recording of 'Carmen' (Albeit,wonderful,if you don't mind 1911 Pathe technology! ).

  Later on,in the same symphony,my untutored ears have also been intrigued by an almost eastern sounding passage. It only lasts a few moments & I will have to listen again,to pinpoint exactly where it occurs. Does anyone know the passage I am referring to? Very curious &,in the context of it's time & where it was written ,rather astonishing!

Update! Listening to the Hyperion cd,now. I'm referring to the Second movement,track 13 (of the cd) at,0:18-0:27,of course. This passage has intrigued me for years.

And then there are those 'barn dances'!

(*And there I was thinking it was a load of bull!)