Composer: Havergal Brian
Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Garry Walker
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0113
Release: 2011
Size: 297 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphonic Variations on ‘Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?’
01. Molto Allegro e con brio
02. Allegro spiritoso – Piu Lento – espressivo molto
03. Allegro spiritoso
04. Pomposo e Grave
05. Allegro Moderato
06. Andante quasi Lento
07. Lento
08. Allegro molto
09. Allegro molto
3 Pieces from Turandot
10. No. 1. Andante moderato
11. No. 2. Allegro molto
12. No. 3. Allegro vivo
Faust
13. Night ride of Faust and Mephistopheles
The Cenci
14. Preludio tragico
Turandot Suite (arr. M. MacDonald for orchestra)
15. I. At the Court of the Emperor Altoum
16. II. Minuet: Launisch
17. III. Entrance of Princess Turandot and her Retinue
18. IV. Nocturne
19. V. To the Divan!
20. VI. Lugubre-Marsch
The long-neglected British composer Havergal Brian (1876–1972) is gradually coming in from the cold, with recordings on Naxos, Dutton, Testament and now Toccata Classics.
Self-taught, from a working-class family in Stoke-on Trent, he shot to fame when Henry Wood discovered him for the 1907 Proms; but he remained an outsider to the British musical establishment, and is as much known for his creative persistence in the face of utter neglect as for the extremely serious and ambitious works that he produced.
His copious output famously includes 32 symphonies, begun when he was in his mid-forties and continued at a constant rate well into his 90s. The first of these works, the famous Gothic Symphony, was performed at the Proms this summer.
Not so well know is the fact that Brian also composed five operas, none of which has as yet been professionally staged. These works contain much impressive orchestral music, and this CD presents orchestral movements from four of them.
The Symphonic Variations on ‘Has Anybody here Seen Kelly?’ from Brian’s anti-war satire The Tigers takes the famous music-hall song and puts it through kaleidoscopic symphonic development.
The most generous selection of music here comes from Brian’s opera Turandot (a third version, to set alongside Puccini’s and Busoni’s): the Three Pieces Brian himself excerpted and the Turandot Suite prepared by the Brian expert Malcolm MacDonald, who also provides the extensive booklet notes.