# SS 19.05.18 - Brian #32



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening! 
_*
*_For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972)*

Symphony No. 32 in A-flat

1. Allegretto
2. Adagio
3. Allegro ma non troppo
4. Allegro moderato

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Another weekend is here and another symphony is up for your listening enjoyment. This weekend it's British composer Havergal Brian's final symphony #32. I really enjoy Brian's music and have pretty much all that has been recorded on disc. Unfortunately I think there is only one recording of it so I will be posting a YouTube link as many may not have access to this one. I hope everyone will give it a listen. The YouTube description also has some notes on the work which some may find interesting.





Adrian Leaper/RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Then with little option this will be the one for me:

View attachment 103833


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

realdealblues said:


> Another weekend is here and another symphony is up for your listening enjoyment. This weekend it's British composer Havergal Brian's final symphony #32. I really enjoy Brian's music and have pretty much all that has been recorded on disc. Unfortunately I think there is only one recording of it so I will be posting a YouTube link as many may not have access to this one. I hope everyone will give it a listen. The YouTube description also has some notes on the work which some may find interesting.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Away from home this weekend so will probably go with this version


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I'll listen to the youtube as well. Thanks for providing the link.


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

Have no recording of Brian's except for symphony #3. So I'll go with You Tube too


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I will also use the provided link.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

I'll definitely give this one a listen, but I am looking forward to the time when Brian's 6th symphony reaches SS status.


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

Malx said:


> Then with little option this will be the one for me:
> 
> View attachment 103833


I will listen this one.






which seems to be same than Naxos release


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I'll give the Leaper recording a spin as well. I have to admit to having had little luck with Brian's music over the years, finding so much of it instantly unmemorable, but I'll give him a go again.

Nothing wrong with maverick composers. We have Brian, the Danes have Langgaard. Perhaps my absence of luck is partly down to an unjustifiable mistrust of the prolific?


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Robert Pickett said:


> I'll give the Leaper recording a spin as well. I have to admit to having had little luck with Brian's music over the years, finding so much of it instantly unmemorable, but I'll give him a go again.
> 
> Nothing wrong with maverick composers. We have Brian, the Danes have Langgaard. Perhaps my absence of luck is partly down to an unjustifiable mistrust of the prolific?


Does that mistrust extend to Haydn?


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Good question, Malx! 

Fortunately not, but it is something I reckon is prevalent especially with more modern composers. I think that from the Romantic period onwards there is a sense that musical works had to be "from the heart", and deeply personal, all that sort of stereotyping. We like our artists to suffer for their art! It follows logically (!) that any modern composer who produces a large number of works cannot be producing quality all the time, and his/her heartfeltedness has to have been diluted somewhere along the line. 

It's not the right way to think, I know, and generally I don't, but it does exist and it can sometimes be in the back of ones mind. I suspect the most important modern composer to have suffered from this would be someone like Bohuslav Martinu? I find there are enough gems in his output to put him on a very high pedestal indeed, for me a truly great composer, I haven't got there with Brian, probably because the guidance into his work is not via a towering masterpiece or famed work...


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

An article I found quite interesting:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/05...working-class-british-composer-is-a-disgrace/


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Robert Pickett said:


> Good question, Malx!
> 
> Fortunately not, but it is something I reckon is prevalent especially with more modern composers. I think that from the Romantic period onwards there is a sense that musical works had to be "from the heart", and deeply personal, all that sort of stereotyping. We like our artists to suffer for their art! It follows logically (!) that any modern composer who produces a large number of works cannot be producing quality all the time, and his/her heartfeltedness has to have been diluted somewhere along the line.
> 
> It's not the right way to think, I know, and generally I don't, but it does exist and it can sometimes be in the back of ones mind. I suspect the most important modern composer to have suffered from this would be someone like Bohuslav Martinu? I find there are enough gems in his output to put him on a very high pedestal indeed, for me a truly great composer, I haven't got there with Brian, probably because the guidance into his work is not via a towering masterpiece or famed work...


The reason I asked was simply because much as I love Haydn many of his Symphonies I find less than inspired but when he is good he is excellent. He was of course like so many of his time writing to order for his benefactors and the time restraints that imposed. 
More recent composers are writing to some degree, hopefully, because they feel they have something to say. I know little of Brian's output but at some time in the future a bit of online listening should rectify that.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Having listened to the Symphony twice I can only regard it as a competent very late romantic work. Given it dates to 1968 it is not a groundbreaking piece by any stretch of the imagination - pleasant but not speaking with an individual voice enough to make me sit up and get excited over.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I’m with Malx on this one. Listenable, certainly, but neither compelling nor very interesting. The long stretches of what sound like two-voice counterpoint grow wearisome after a while. Also the several imposing climaxes that seem to have no real musical or dramatic purpose.

The scherzo-like third movement is probably the most immediately attractive.


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## Weird Heather (Aug 24, 2016)

I've had a recording of the massive and problematic First Symphony for a while now, and I've been meaning to check out some of Brian's other work. I used this thread as an excuse and bought this one (and also the album with Symphonies 4 and 12). This symphony is quite pleasant, but I agree with many others here that it isn't exactly the most memorable or interesting music out there, and it is in quite a conservative style for its time. (I found the other works on the album to be somewhat more attractive - the Festal Dance is a fun little piece.) This sort of music definitely has its place in my collection; sometimes I am in the mood for something pleasant, enjoyable, and not too challenging.


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

Just listened to it (RTE NSO/Leaper on Naxos, the only recording I guess) and my impressions are similar to others here. There are some powerful moments and ear-catching orchestration in spots (nice use of tuned percussion), but I had trouble following Brian's musical train of thought, as per usual. My loss, I'm sure. FWIW, My favorite Brian symphonies that I've heard are the 6th and 8th.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I think I'm in general agreement over this one as well. Perfectly nice, and indeed some imaginative orchestration, but in the final analysis, a bit on the unmemorable side.


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## Weird Heather (Aug 24, 2016)

I decided to give this one a second try. My impression is still about the same - a very pleasant piece, but it seems to lack that certain spark that would make it great rather than merely good. It is the sort of music that I like to have on while I'm doing other things; it has enough going on to improve the atmosphere, but it doesn't demand my undivided attention. Many of Haydn's symphonies, for example, are also like this for me, so this characteristic puts it in good company.

Incidentally, I have also listened to Symphony No. 4, which I bought at the same time. That one grabbed my attention more than anything I have heard so far from Brian. Of course, such reactions are subjective; others might not respond to it as I did. I definitely want to explore more of Brian's work now; maybe there are other hidden gems waiting to be found.


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