Havergal Brian.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Dutton CD still has to arrive. My patience is sorely tested. Oh well... 0:)

[Sergeant Rock]

Dutton CD still has to arrive. My patience is sorely tested. Oh well... 0:)

My copy was, allegedly, posted 21 Jan. It still isn't here 

Sarge

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Same here, fellow-martyr.

[vandermolen]

Mine arrived several days ago. Not played yet as currently obsessed with Clint Mansell's soundtrack to 'Noah' 

[cilgwyn]

You're presumably not a true,die hard Brianite or you would hardly be able to wait to put it on the cd player! Not saying you don't like Brian,you obviously do (?)...........but it "arrived several days ago"?!!!!

And Johan's going through hell here!! I hope you won't be putting it off for forty days and forty nights!! At this rate the Naxos cd will be released by the time you play it!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

While Jeffrey is wallowing in the Flood, ignoring 'Night calling to the Sea' (Wine of Summer), yes, I am suffering greatly in the continued absence of the Dutton CD. Let's hope tomorrow will bring some relief to Sarge in Germany and me in the Netherlands!

[cilgwyn]

While Vandermolen is listening to his Noah sound track cd most of us die hard Brianites are loading our Brian cds into our cd playes at the rate of two by two! Although,to be honest for the last two days or so it's been Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday! In fact,it has just struck me that some of the gloomy,bluesy,downbeat tracks on these cds could make the perfect soundtrack for a Brianite who has been kept waiting far too long for his new Dutton cd ie :

I woke up this morning and there was still no sign of the new Brian cd
I woke up this morning and there was still no sign of the new Brian cd
If I don't get my new Brian cd in the next day or two I'll............

I'll stop there before it get's too gloomy!!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Won't wake up this morning, if there's no Brian CD
Won't wake up this morning, if there's no Brian CD

[Christo]

 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Yes! The CD has arrived, and very symbolically on Havergal Brian's 129th birthday, too. I'm off!

[Christo]

NO! You're not! #spotted

[cilgwyn]

Yes! The CD has arrived, and very symbolically on Havergal Brian's 129th birthday, too. I'm off!

It could be worse!
Some of the songs featured on my two Bessie Smith box sets:

I'd rather be dead and buried
Send me to the 'lectric chair
Dyin' by the hour
I'm down in the dumps

They cheer me up!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Quickly listened to most of the CD: Festal Dance, Wine of Summer and Symphony No. 27. "Houston, we have a winner!" I think it is safe to say that Wine of Summer can take its place alongside Symphony No. 6 as a miracle of delicacy. Roderick Williams's performance is wonderful. Very natural and fluent, no histrionics. Brabbins cooperates in the best way imaginable, he manages the ebb and flow of the music in exemplary fashion. Festal Dance and Symphony No. 27 are just as well-conducted. In the latter work Mackerras is different but equally good, I think. But the flute solos here are (even) better, in my opinion. Can't wait to hear No. 28, another very strong late work, on the forthcoming Naxos CD to see how it compares!

Now - lunch!

[cilgwyn]

And it's the first time I have truly felt that the words are no impediment to my enjoyment of the work. Suddenly this symphony feels the equal of some other favourites. I think the Wine of Summer is now going to be one of my most played Brian symphonies.
Having said that,I have to admit that the words did sort of have a strange fascination for me as a youngster and,as to Brian Rayner Cook's 'mannerisms';they never bothered me in the same way as some other English singers I can think of.Ian Bostridge for example! Indeed,I can remember expressing doubts in earlier posts that anyone could interpret the work as well as Cook. It did seem almost like 'his' work and there was only one performance to compare it with,which,even if you have misgivings about Rayner Cook's interpretation,strikes me as inferior. What did worry me was the possibility of an interpretation I did not like. Another Mark Stone disappointment. I still think Brian Rayner Cook's performances of the songs are very good;so the fact that there was a good selection of Brian's best songs on cd meant that this didn't matter so much. But the Wine of Summer is a very important work in Brian's output. A first commercial release of this work would need to be first rate. Remember the Hyperion third and Marco Polo Violin Concerto,let alone the disastrous Second! So much depends on the first outing for a rare opus. And those flowery words! Fortunately Dutton have got everything right! Even the Festal Dance minus the piano! Think,this is the first time some people will have heard this work (and the others of course!). I still think Testament (or some other label?) should release the Brian Rayner Cook performance on cd at some later date. Holmes interpretation of the Violin Concerto would make a marvelous coupling. That said;in the annal of Brian recordings this a classic to add to the Lyrita recordings of 6 & 16 and the LSSO 10,21 and 22! (And the emi 8 & 9 is pretty well up there too!)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

It's good to be a Brianite these days! What a difference with the '70s and '80s when I first got hooked in 'far away' Holland... Only thanks to British fellow members of the HBS was I able to hear most of the symphonies that had been broadcast. And now, look what a cornucopia!

[Albion]

It's good to be a Brianite these days! What a difference with the '70s and '80s when I first got hooked in 'far away' Holland... Only thanks to British fellow members of the HBS was I able to hear most of the symphonies that had been broadcast. And now, look what a cornucopia!

Indeed, Johan! There is now no need whatsoever for anybody to make fatuous judgements of Brian based on inferior performances: Brabbins' superlative Gothic on Hyperion; Friend's The Tigers on Testament; ideal accounts of symphonies 6 & 16 on Lyrita; EMI's set of symphonies 7-9; four immaculate Dutton CDs (Symphonies 5, 10, 13, 19, 27 and 30 plus important works such as the third and fourth English Suites, the Cello Concerto and the Concerto for Orchestra); two seminal discs from Toccata and certain discs in the Marco Polo series (especially Symphonies 11, 15, 17, 22, 23, 24 & 32). An essential Brian library.

[cilgwyn]

I actually quite like the Marco Polo performance of Das Siegeslied. The choirs are great and for some reason I rather like their soloist. In fact,it's the only one I really like from the original releases. If I want to listen to the ones Albion cites I always go for the broadcast versions. But then I'm lucky to have access to these. For anyone else coming new to Brian the Marco Polo/Naxos releases of 11,15 upwards (the recent ones were first rate) are perfectly satisfactory. In fact,I can't really pin my finger on anything specifically wrong with their recordings of say,11,15 & 17. Not allot really! Particularly their eleventh! Maybe just my imagination?! I just think the older R3 ones have more atmosphere really & other qualities I don't really have the qualifications (being a mere listener) to really explain here;except that they just seem to get them right! Also,maybe I'm just prejudiced because the Marco Polo performance of the Gothic nearly put me off Brian (after some initial,albeit,short lived enthusiasm). Thank goodness I was able to listen to the Schmidt and Boult performances again,thanks to these forums,and renew my enthusiasm for Brian! The choirs were admittedly good though! I should have mentioned the Mackerras emi recordings. Again,my preference for the BBC recording got the better of me. The emi recordings are actually very good. If I didn't have the Newstone I'd probably listen to it allot! And the Hyperion third is good enough to intrigue a newcomer. Having said that,imho Pope = Friend  =no comparison! The Dutton cds are all superb. Finding things wrong with the Brabbins tenth does seem like nit-picking;but I'd still urge newcomers to buy the LSSO recording!
Wonderful isn't! (Now some more Joseph Holbrooke and Daniel Jones please! ) I hope Dutton are interested in Brian's Second which urgently needs a first rate commercial recording. It seems a bit of a Cinderella for some Brianites but I love it!! Next to No 3 it has to be one of my favourites.

[vandermolen]

You're presumably not a true,die hard Brianite

What a suggestion! 

I'll have you know that not only did I, for example, attend the Martyn Brabbins performance of 'The Gothic Symphony' a few years ago but also, as a youth, the Ole Schmidt performance in 1980 when, according to my calculations, the rest of you were either not born at all,or four years old.

Also, Havergal Brian came up in my interview for my first teaching job in 1978. Anyway, my nerve finally cracked under this Brianite pressure and I played 'Wine of Summer' in the car on my way to work today and enjoyed it. Not sure I have ever heard it before. Odd echoes of Warlock and Britten seemed disconcerting but I greatly enjoyed this work, especially the opening and dramatic closing sections. At about 3.45 minutes there is a violin theme which, I am sure, reoccurs in the 22nd Symphony which is one of my favourites - now back to Noah 

[cilgwyn]

Okay,okay,Vandermolen,you've made your point!! (The pressure worked! ) Two performances of the Gothic? That certainly put me in my place!! That said,I feel obliged to point out that by my calculations I was at the tender age of seventeen when the Ole Schmidt performance took place! And now everybody knows how old I am!

Warlock and Britten! Interesting comparisons. Which reminds me;I rather like Our Hunting Fathers I'd forgotten about that one.....and not in my collection!!

Enjoy your Noah!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I have come to appreciate Britten. Wine of Summer can hold its own against him in word-setting and delicacy of scoring.