Symphony 1 ' Gothic '

1. Symphony No. 1 in D minor for soloists, chorus, brass bands & orchestra, "The Gothic"
Composed by Havergal Brian
with Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) , Slovakia Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Ondrej Lenard

Product Description

Amazon.com
In contrast to the compact, terse idiom characterizing Brian's late work, his earlier Gothic sprawls in a myriad of directions, with an overkill of striking ideas, toppling over each other at full orchestral and choral strength. Ondrej Lenárd admirably pulls his massive forces together as they brave the music's extraordinary technical demands with impressive aplomb. --Jed Distler

Tracks:

Overture To 'Tannhauser'
Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
Hungarian Dance No.7
The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
Csardas Music
The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
Tzigane
Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
Caprice No.24
The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
The Violin Muted
Clair De Lune
The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
The Pizzicato Violin
Pizzicato Polka
In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
Hungarian Dance No.4
Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
Bolero
Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
Elfenreigen

Tracks:

Introduction To The Viola
Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
Cypresses (No.9)
The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
The 'Period' Viola In Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
Elfentanz, Op.39
Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
The Protecting Veil (Opening)
A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
Flamenco
Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
Symphony No.9 (Finale)
Introduction To The Double-Bass
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
Elegy No.1 In D Major
The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
Capriccio Di Bravura
Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
Sa'Dawi
Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
Chamber Music No.II
The Piccolo - Aptly Named
La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
A Variety Of Techniques
Chamber Music No.II
Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
Naelden, Naelden
The Bachian Oboe
Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
The Swan Of Tuonela
The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
Bolero
The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
...And Quite Low.
Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
Introduction To The Saxophone
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
Bolero
The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
Sax-O-Phun
The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
Bolero
The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
Symphony No.3 (Opening)
The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
The Ceremonial Trumpet
Fanfare For The Common Man
Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
Billy The Kid
The Trumpet As Character Actor
Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
The Birth Of The Trombone
Aenmerckt Nu Hier
The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
Canzon 12 In Double Echo
The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
Hosannah
The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
The Trombone As Caricaturist
Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
The Horn And The Hunt
Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
Walter Music (Minuet 1)
The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
Den Hoboecken Dans
Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
Gymnopedie No.2
The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
The Birth Of The Bongo
Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
Taking Advantage Of Tunability
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
Ravel And The Xylophone
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
Introducing The Vibraphone
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
Folk Dances
The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
Introducing The Tubular Bells
Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
Carmen Suite (Introduction)
But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Introducing The Celeste
The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
Petrushka (Russian Dance)
The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
Mahler's Sleighbells
Symphony No.4 (Opening)
A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Nocturnes
Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
The Oboe As Duck
Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
A Thunderstorm In A Million
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)

Tracks:

The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
Octet In F (Mvt 3)
The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
Canzon 28
Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
Images (Gigues)
A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')

Customer Reviews:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

Frank's view.......2006-08-19

This boxed set of CD's with booklet achieved all I had hoped that it would. There are good samples of individual instruments and well done commentary on each. The only drawback was that some of the samples were too brief and could have been longer, hoiwever I guess this fits in with time constraints of the medium. It has given me a lot of clues as to future purchases of CD's for listening to individual instruments. Altogeth a satisfactory purchase and a welcome addition to my collection.

Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

I've listened to classical music for years and am interested in composition. I bought this CD set to learn how an orchestra and its instruments work. I thought the CDs would be a nice but boring lecture. They aren't! Not only are they FUN but they are informative as well. I learned a huge amount from each CD and couldn't wait to listen to the next one.

The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!

I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.

The one complaint I have is the last CD. This deals with the orchestra. I wanted more of a tour of how the orchestra has been used through history up to the present. Instead, it was a tour of how different groups of instruments sound. I thought it could have been better. The other 6 CDs are excellent.

Havergal Brian: Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic'
Average customer rating:

Finally! From Marco Polo to Naxos. And affordable!

Havergal Brian: Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic'

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Havergal Brian: Violin Concerto; Symphony No. 8; The Jolly Miller Overture

Brian: Symphony No. 3

Havergal Brian: Symphonies Nos. 7-9 & 31; The Tinker's Wedding

Khachaturian: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3

String Quartets 3

ASIN: B0001Z65F8
Release Date: 2004-06-15

Tracks:

I. Allegro Assai
I. Allegro Assai
I. Allegro Assai
I. Allegro Assai
II. Lento Espressivo E Solenne
II. Lento Espressivo E Solenne
II. Lento Espressivo E Solenne
III. Vivace
III. Vivace
III. Vivace
III. Vivace
III. Vivace
III. Vivace
III. Vivace
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato
IV. Te Deum Laudamus: Allegro Moderato

Tracks:

V. Judex: Adagio Molto Solenne E Religioso
V. Judex: Adagio Molto Solenne E Religioso
V. Judex: Adagio Molto Solenne E Religioso
V. Judex: Adagio Molto Solenne E Religioso
V. Judex: Adagio Molto Solenne E Religioso
V. Judex: Adagio Molto Solenne E Religioso
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto
VI - Te Ergo Quaesumus: Moderato E Molto Sostenuto

Customer Reviews:

Finally! From Marco Polo to Naxos. And affordable!.......2004-08-01

Klaus Heymann, the founder of these two labels, was courageous a number of years back, when he released Havergal Brian's 'Gothic' Symphony on his full-price Marco Polo label. I would guess that the album has been a steady, if slow, seller over those years, as it has been the only available recording of this marvelously idiosyncratic work. My own copy, played at least annually (almost ritualistically so) has served me well for most of those years.

I've long wanted to introduce this work to friends, but for some of them cost, and, to an extent, availability, have stood in the way. No longer! Heymann has done the right thing by releasing this album on his budget Naxos label, and it is now affordable to all. And, as I note later, it is better than the Marco Polo original in more than just price.

The 'Gothic' may well be the most talked-about-yet-not-listened-to classical work ever. Many seem to have opinions on it whether they've listened to it or not (in which case, the work may well hold two records: the largest symphony in terms of orchestral forces, and the most misunderstood as well). The 'Gothic' inevitably gets compared, largely incorrectly, with a handful of other works with which it has little in common: Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony ('The Symphony of a Thousand') most often, but also the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, the 'Grand Messe des Morts,' 'Te Deum' and 'La Damnation de Faust' of Hector Berlioz, and even, on occasion, Arnold Schoenberg's early 'Gurre-Lieder.' But such similarities exist mostly at the margins; the 'Gothic' is a true sui generis work owing no measurable debt to these.

The greatest similarity is to the Mahler work. Both are divided into two unequal parts, in roughly 1/3 to 2/3 proportions; both utilize Goethe's 'Faust' and medieval hymns for inspiration (but Brian and Mahler invert the order of these two sources), and both call for huge orchestral and choral resources. But comparison ends there; the 'Gothic' hasn't the cumulative inevitability of the Mahler work, and is quite different in all other respects.

Nor has the 'Gothic' the granitic architectonics of Bruckner's symphonies (although there are a few brass chorale passages reminiscent of Bruckner), or the equally idiosyncratic brilliance of the three Berlioz works despite the 'Gothic' being inspired by 'Faust,' having some of its orchestral forces spatially arrayed as in the 'Grand Messe des Morts,' and having its massive Part II set to the 'Te Deum' text.

Anyone familiar with British music of the period the 'Gothic' was written in will recognize this as a British work: Except in the most idiosyncratic places (of which there is no shortage), the work is British to the core, with passages that alternately remind one of an entire host of such composers. Bax, Butterworth, Holst and Vaughan Williams come to mind, and Elgar is seldom far away. (While Brian came from a working class background and had been, at least in part, an autodidact, he was already known and respected by his British peers prior to the 'Gothic.')

To be sure, the 'Gothic' is a huge, sprawling work, seemingly evolving as a series of tableaux full of original themes and orchestrational touches, as well as choral writing that was years ahead of its time in its harmonic daring and vocal density. The episodic style, and the frequent punctuations of the 'Gothic' by march music, remind me as much of Mahler's 3rd Symphony as the work reminds others of Mahler's 8th Symphony. (One such march, a quirky one scored for nine unison clarinets and side drum, is particularly intriguing.) Moreover, there is a 'long arc' to the work not unlike the Mahler 3rd that could be said to represent a journey from 'darkness into light.' Brian began the work in the shadow of the end of the Great War; to him, 'Gothic' symbolized the emergence from the Dark Ages into something better and brighter. But, whereas the Mahler work ends in a blaze of glory, the 'Gothic' ends, after its journey of considerable length, in a softly diatonic yet enigmatic sense of a capella choral repose. To me, it is as if he is uncertain that the 'enduring timelessness' of the Gothic cathedral, as metaphor, is all that enduring, following the horrors of the Great War he experienced first-hand.

This is not an easy work, so rich with ideas as it is, to grasp at first hearing. (A wealth of information on the work, as 'symphony qua symphony,' and as metaphor, can be found at musicweb.uk.net/brian/sym1.htm.) But it is certainly not difficult to enjoy it, and, over time, build one's own cumulative sense of its logic. The high quality of the performance belies its origins and makes a splendid argument for the work's own qualities.

This Naxos release is an improvement over its Marco Polo predecessor in ways other than just cost. The sound is noticeably clearer, particularly in the densest passages, which had a fair bit of congestion and distortion. (This improvement comes at the expense of recording level, which is slightly, but observably, lower, probably by 4 - 6 dB.) The album is now in a 'slimline' 2-CD jewel box that takes up less shelf space. There has been no significant attempt at cost cutting for the booklet, which faithfully duplicates the material in the Marco Polo release, save for brief notated musical examples and two color photographs. In exchange, the Naxos notes include even more information on the forces used in the recording, with biographical details about the vocal soloists and further information on the orchestras and choruses. As before, the discs are generously indexed, with musical references to the index points (a total of 46) clearly stated in the booklet notes. For many coming upon this work for the first time, these notes and index points will help them understand this weird yet wonderful work.

VERY highly recommended!

Bob Zeidler

Average customer rating:

Bigger than big

Symphony 1 ' Gothic '

Manufacturer: Map
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000024OO7
Release Date: 1992-12-17

Tracks:

Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"

Tracks:

Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"
Symphony No.1, "Gothic"

Customer Reviews:

Bigger than big.......2007-05-09

If ambitiousness alone were the test, this would rank with the greatest pieces of music ever composed. In both time scale and forces used, this ranks with anything by Mahler, and it is even more diverse in its materials than such Mahler potpourris as his Third Symphony. But there are two major caveats for anyone thinking of purchasing this set of CDs: (1) The symphony itself is uneven, and (2) So is the performance. The latter is no slur on the performers, who are clearly knocking themselves out to do a good job. The sheer difficulty of the music simply stretches them further than at times they are capable of going. And while the music itself, at best, is truly inspired, even occasionally magnificent, it's not always at its best. There are some real yawners among the sections of the Te Deum, and the scherzo overstays its welcome. The sound itself is pretty good, but the fortissimos just won't fit on a CD, so things get a bit blurry at times.

If, however, you love large choral-orchestral works by the likes of Berlioz, Liszt and Mahler, and if you are sympathetic to some of the lesser-known but highly capable 20th Century symphonists like, say, Tubin, Holmboe, and Rubbra, you ought to explore this. At the low price (remember, it's two CDs), you can't go very far wrong, and you might wind up a devoted admirer of this Gargantua, warts and all. I did.

Average customer rating:

I will pay $50 to buy Chicago Symphony recorded CD
Havergal's Brian early magnum opus...a masterpiece
Brain is Unlike Anything Else
5 stars for the music, 4 for the recording
Blimey!

Symphony 1 ' Gothic '

Manufacturer: Marco Polo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000045VT
Release Date: 1992-12-17

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part I: I. Allegro assai - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part I: I. Allegro assai - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part I: I. Allegro assai - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part I: I. Allegro assai - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: II. Lento espressivo e solenne - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: II. Lento espressivo e solenne - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: II. Lento espressivo e solenne - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part III: III. Vivace - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part III: III. Vivace - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part III: III. Vivace - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part III: III. Vivace - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part III: III. Vivace - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part III: III. Vivace - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part III: III. Vivace - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Te Deum Lauadams: Allegro Moderato - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard
Symphony No. 1 'The Gothic' : Part II: IV. Allegro moderato (Te Deum Laudamus) - Ondrej Lenard

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': V. Judex: Adagio molto e religioso - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': V. Judex: Adagio molto e religioso - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': V. Judex: Adagio molto e religioso - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': V. Judex: Adagio molto e religioso - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': V. Judex: Adagio molto e religioso - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': V. Judex: Adagio molto e religioso - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN
Symphony No. 1: 'The Gothic': VI. Te ergo quaesumus - H. BRIAN

Amazon.com

In contrast to the compact, terse idiom characterizing Brian's late work, his earlier Gothic sprawls in a myriad of directions, with an overkill of striking ideas, toppling over each other at full orchestral and choral strength. Ondrej Lenárd admirably pulls his massive forces together as they brave the music's extraordinary technical demands with impressive aplomb. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

I will pay $50 to buy Chicago Symphony recorded CD.......2006-01-01

Finally Barenboim is out, and that we have an excellent chance to have Havergal Brian's "Gothic" symphony recorded with CSO. But we do not want Boulez's insipid view on any symphonic work. Hence, I say we need guy like Rattle, a Brit. Actually, CBSO and Rattle would be fine with me, since they are second only to VPO in sound quality, IMHO. Another choice would be Ashkenazy/CSO or Ashkenazy/RPO.

What what it matters, no conductor has touched this symphony in true sense of score. We need somebody to dig out score from Israel of this work, since it is argued (lately squashed) Mahler's Symphony 1 score to be found in israel.

Anyway, to those who have listened to Bruckner-Mahler, need not be told what to listen to. For newcomers to Bruckner-Mahler club, try this $12 (Naxos - try berkshirerecordoutlet . com) cheap music. you will love it. (Be warned of poor choral recording though).

Havergal's Brian early magnum opus...a masterpiece.......2004-04-11

Mahler's Third Symphony or Schoenberg's "Gurre-Lieder" are two works that come to mind when trying to present novices with repertory pieces with which to compare Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony.

This may be a truism, but in growing to appreciate this masterful work, one must come to terms with its mammoth proportions.

The composer offers a three-movement symphonic suite and fuses to it a three-movement Te Deum that is rather syncretistic in nature. Secular moves freely into sacred, the high art of Church Music then proceeds to the "low" art of sea songs, shifting throughout a backdrop of quietude alternating with dense polyphony.

Some themes (such as the sea song in the last movement) recur.
Other themes, some of which can only be described as glorious, appear only once, fleeting and ephemeral.

The third movement offers a noteworthy passage in which a piccolo and bass oboe take up a theme "out of the blue" and then follow it with a xylophone cadenza (!!)(absolutely remarkable).

The sheer number of performers (see the liner notes for details)create overwhelming financial and logistical challenges that will forever disqualify this great work of art from becoming "standard repertoire." However, I could see that there is a place for it in, say, festival settings.

The symphony's length is not terribly daunting if one compares it to the Mahler symphonies or a night at the opera for a performance of Wagner's "Parsifal" or Messiaen's "St Francis of Assisi."

Purchasing this set and listening to all that this work has to offer is an excellent way not only to spend money, but also to learn about the cavernous musical territory that Havergal Brian charted.

I hope you will take a chance on it.

Brain is Unlike Anything Else.......2003-01-18

Havergal Brain, if he is remembered at all, is remembered as the composer of the longest symphony in the Guinness Book. The Gothic Symphony is gargantuan, and in many ways not at all typical of Brain's mature output. But it is remarkable nonetheless and completely without precedent.

Scored for extremely large orchestra and chorus, the Gothic suffers from two things, one is a comparison to Mahler, particularly the Mahler 8th. This comparison is unfair to both composers as the works are really apples and oranges. Those expecting another Symphony of a Thousand are always disappointed by Brain. The second drawback for Brian is the sheer size of the work, which has given rise to a myth that it is unplayable. Difficult it is, and I can imagine that it's choral tone clusters were a great challenge to it's opening night British choir, but with all of the modern advances in choral and orchestral technique, I'm not sure that Brian is such a task anymore. But somehow, these two myths help keep the work from commanding the concert hall stage. It's a real shame, because the work is unlike anything else.

The Gothic is set in two gigantic parts. The first part is for orchestra alone and could almost be a symphony in itself. It contains what sound like all four movements of the traditional symphony but tightly compacted. Brain was a fecund composer, sometimes to his detriment, and the ideas flow fast and furious, often without obvious relationship. But a close listening will reveal subtle thematic connections between much of the bewildering variety of themes in the work. For all the works oddity though, the musical language is never much more harsh than, say, Elgar. The challenge of listening to Brain here is not in the dissonance of the work, which is quite mild in the first part, but in the unusual approach to themeatic development and structure. Nothing is ever predictable in this work.

If Brian had stopped at the end of the first part of his symphony he would have created a respectible, if quirky symphony in the English progressivist tradition. But he pushed on. The second part of the symphony dwarfs the first completely. Brain sets the Latin text for the Te Deumj for a monstrous choral group with soloists and orchestra. All the stops are let out in this movement. Nearly medieval choral writing is contrasted with violent orchestral outbursts. There are even moments of dense tone clusters that predate Ligeti by 50 years. The experience is like that of a Gothic Cathedral, everything is included, the sublime, the terrifying and even the grotesque. After more than 20 listens I still can't tell whether I truly love the work, but it is definately unlike anything else ever written and should be better known.

The performance is probably the best that you can expect in the circumstances. Marco Polo is a division of Naxos, but one that has always disappointed me, even as they have cornered the market on obscure composers such as Brian. Marco Polo doesn't seem to attract the same quality of performers that Naxos proper does and it doesn't have the attractive price to compensate. The performance on this disc is respectable, but at times a little sloppy. Add to that the rather poor sound quality and it leaves alot to be desired. Brian's masterpiece deserves better. Hopefully someone else will try to tackle this work, but in the meantime, this disc is the only game in town, so you should get it and experience this early 20th century monument for yourself.

5 stars for the music, 4 for the recording.......2002-03-19

well, what can I say? this is the most amazing music, unlike any I have heard before. I have come to the conclusion that comparisons with Mahler are misleading, as there is so much more here. I have to agree with other reveiwers on this page that the recording does not always let the full colours of the orchestral writing come through, and there are moments where I wish the detail I know is there came through more clearly. This is music that everyone should hear, and I hope that, as with Mahler, Brian's day will one day come.

Blimey!.......2001-05-22

Havergal Brian is probably the most exciting composer ever born. It's fine to make comparisons to Mahler, etc, but his legacy extends much further than any of these. He creates a world in music, not just a picture or an image, but an entire new universe into which one can totally immerse oneself.

The forces try their damndest, and it's a very good performance, and the recording isn't bad either. A performance by full British forces would be most welcome, but the cost would be prohibitive, so I suspect that, for the limited HB fanbase, it will not materialise. :-(

In the mean time, buy this CD. It's an unforgettable experience.

Tracks:

Andante - Allegro
Andante
Scherzo
Finale
Poeme Heroique
In Memoriam

Amazon.com

The music of the Belgian-born Devreese (1893-1972) shows a heavy French influence, with distinct distillations of French Impressionism. This tonal, romantic symphony is subtitled "The Gothic" because, as a young soldier in France, he was exposed to various Gothic cathedrals. It is colorful and dynamic, and in places uplifting--which it perhaps had to be, since it was written in 1940, with World War II well underway. His Poeme Heroique is a dark tone poem based on a legend told to him by an aunt, something of a fairy tale that ends well. Most listeners will find the music on this disc to be very engaging. --Paul Cook

Average customer rating:

5 Stars, but don't get me started about recording quality...

Frederick Swann In Hawaii

Manufacturer: Gothic Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Four Masterworks for Organ

ASIN: B000003J9V
Release Date: 1997-09-16

Tracks:

Rondeau - Fanfare
March On A Theme OnHandel
The Bells Of St. Anne de Beaupre
Tuba Tune
Passacaglia (Symphony In G)
Toccata For Flutes
Clair de Lune
Carillon du Longpont
The Queens Prayer
Fantansia and Fugue in G

Customer Reviews:

5 Stars, but don't get me started about recording quality..........2004-03-24

I may be a bit biased, but I can't rate a CD by Frederick Swann with less than 5 stars but I have to say that the recording quality is a bit of dissapointment (one wouldn't expect this of the prestigious Gothic label, but then again it isn't recorded by Gothic but by a local studio).