It was in the late 1970s that I borrowed from the
local library Kenneth Eastaugh’s biography ‘
Havergal
Brian:
The Making of a Composer’. Brian was the very
model of an unjustly neglected composer and I recall being saddened
by the promises of numerous premières of his works that never
came to be and his general lack of recognition. I remember buying one
or two recordings played by school orchestras with part of me thinking
that this music cannot be that good if no professional orchestras could
be persuaded to take Brian’s works into the recording studio.
Although at first hearing the music seemed dark, dense and rather impenetrable
I persisted and remained fascinated with the many colourful and exciting
sounding titles such as the Comedy Overtures
Doctor Merryheart;
The Jolly Miller and
The Tinker's Wedding; Cantata,
The
Vision of Cleopatra;
Fantastic symphony;
Turandot Suite;
the Concert Overture
For Valour and, best of all, the thrilling
sounding opera
The Tigers.
Requiring a thousand singers and musicians the vast proportions of the
Symphony No. 1 ‘
The Gothic’, often described
as a masterwork, but probably doomed rarely to be performed professionally,
seemed to dominate and overshadow everything else Brian had written.
Who would believe it! In 2011
The Gothic was performed at the
BBC Proms (issued by
Hyperion)
and thanks to labels such as Naxos, Toccata Classics and Dutton Epoch
Brian recordings seem to be appearing at a fair rate of knots. At this
very moment as I’m sat writing this piece Brian’s
Symphony
No. 5 (
The Wine of Summer) is being played on BBC Radio 3
on 25 June 2013 by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas
Kok with Donald Maxwell (baritone). It’s acutely noticeable that
his music is absent from concert programmes but that applies to the
vast majority of worthy British composers; not just to Brian.
It doesn’t seem long since the release on Dutton Epoch CDLX7296
containing the
Symphony No. 13,
Violin Concerto,
Overture
‘
The Tinker's Wedding’ and the
English Suite No.
4 ‘
Kindergarten’ played by the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins. Now this welcome Naxos disc
arrives containing
Symphonies Nos. 22, ‘
Symphonia
brevis’,
23 and
24 with the
English Suite
No. 1, Op. 12. Incidentally the notes in the Naxos booklet state
that the
Symphonies Nos. 23 and
24 are being given their
first recordings.
In 1958 Brian had moved to Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex and this set of three
symphonies formed part of the last period of Brian’s life when
in an Indian summer of productivity he wrote 20 symphonies. The three
here were composed in a nine month period in 1964/65 when Brian would
have been eighty-eight/eighty-nine. The predominant impression is how
charged they are with immense reserves of weight, power and energy often
conveying an intense sense of struggle and turmoil.
At just over nine minutes the
Symphony No. 22 known as the ‘
Symphonia
brevis’ is Brian’s shortest symphony. Composed in 1964/65
the two movement score was introduced in 1971 at a recording session
at St John's Smith Square, London played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
under Myer Fredman. The opening movement
Maestoso e ritmico feels
predominantly ardent and restless with the music swelling to an impressive
conclusion. A calm yet uneasy march of a martial quality opens the second
movement
Tempo di marcia e ritmico before at 2:28 the music explodes
into life taking the music to a severe and rather acerbic climax before
relative calm is restored.
From 1965 the
Symphony No. 23 is another two movement score first
performed in 1973 at Galesburg, Illinois by the University of Illinois
Symphony Orchestra, under Bernard Goodman. It seems that Brian considered
giving the score the title of ‘
Symphonia grandis’.
A sense of pressurised anxiety and suppressed anger suffuses the opening
movement
Moderato - Allegro con anima which feels like a depiction
of an army preparing for imminent battle. The second movement marked
Adagio non troppo ma pesante is dark and craggy, laden with a
strong sense of apprehension. Just prior to the conclusion the music
takes on a distinctly martial quality.
Using a single movement form, divided into three discernable sections,
the
Symphony No. 24 in D major is mightily impressive. I responded
to it strongly and consider it a twentieth century masterwork. Composed
in 1965 it was not until 1973 that it was first performed for the reason
of making a recording by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conductor
Myer Fredman. The moods vary widely from what feels initially like a
depiction of a victory pageant, leading to doleful writing of an unsettling
rather disconsolate character. Distinctively, a lighter, calmer section
comes as a welcome break and the brass fanfare from 9:16 reminded me
of knights jousting at a medieval pageant. Contrastingly the symphony
closes with a restful
Adagio serving as a bright optimistic new
dawn.
The earliest work here is the six movement
English Suite No. 1,
Op. 12 from 1905/06 the first of five such
English Suites. One
of his first works to receive a performance, it was the composer himself
who conducted the Leeds Municipal Orchestra at its première in
1907 at Leeds Town Hall. Brian provides sufficient contrast in the movements
to hold the interest easily. I especially enjoyed the opening movement
Characteristic March,
a representation of the Novello publishing
house at Berners Street, London. The curious
Waltz section feels
rather starchy and formal but overall the effect is most agreeable.
The final movement is extremely enjoyable and full of merrymaking including
snippets of familiar tunes such as
God Save The Queen.
The Russian State TV and Radio Company engineers have provided a satisfying
sound quality. The New Russia State Symphony Orchestra under Alexander
Walker evidently understand the turbulence of the writing. They play
with an excellent vitality and strong character in which the climaxes
are thrust home decisively.
Michael Cookson
See also review by
Rob
Barnett
Havergal
Brian on Naxos
