Havergal Brian symphonies

I just came across this forum and was really delighted to read your comments about the LSSO's CBS and Unicorn discs. I still have a few vinyl copies in my house somewhere. I was a violinist in the LSSO and have quite a large archive of recordings and press cuttings many of which relate to Havergal Brian. When these historic recordings were made the orchestral parts were absolutely terrible - full of errors and unusable page turns. Bob Simson and Eric Pinkett (especially) worked wonders. Lots of rehearsal time was used up just to get the basics right. We were used to this, up to a point, with our working relationship with Michael Tippett and his hand written parts but the Brian stuff was a chaotic shambles. I think the orchestra did a pretty good job and it has to be remembered that the Brian works were not part of the LSSO repertoire. They were learned very quickly, committed to disc and then put back on the shelves. I'm not a huge fan of Brian but I warm to him mainly due to the Leicestershire connection. The Proms Gothic was very enjoyable, I must say!!

Very strange. I have the original Unicorn vinyl and the reissued LP as well. Both sound absolutely superb. I also have the Unicorn CD transfer but I find this to be a bit dry and lacking in atmosphere (nothing like the De Montfort Hall acoustic - Sir John Barbirolli's favourite). The strings sound dessicated compared to the original issue. Thinking about it I will make my own vinyl transfer of 10/21 to see how it turns out. Although Angus McKenzie was engineering both the CBS and Unicorn discs the microphone set up was different. CBS went for close mics and a multi channel approach whereas Unicorn had a basic stereo pair in front of the stage and a few mics in the woodwind section to pick up details. I find the CBS far too close and toppy but that's a personal subjective opinion.

All the parts were sorted out but it took ages and there was something very amateurish about the whole thing. There seemed to be no real understanding from the composer of the practicalities of orchestral playing as such.  The woodwind parts were the worst and the confusing cues (or lack of them) made rehearsals a real drag. Watch The Unknown Warrior TV film which I uploaded onto Youtube and you will see some of this going on - even during the actual recording session!! It's almost as if the music was written down but Brian never expected anybody to actually play it - now there's food for thought!

There are now some very good sounding downloads of the refurbished LSSO LPs available. Symphonies 10,21 and 22 plus Psalm 23 and English Suite No.5. Excellent quality and value for money. Here's the link:

http://www.klassichaus.us/

I had a great sadness last year. My cassette of no. 3 under Friend caught in the winding mechanism and the tape was wrecked. How do I replace this? No, I do not want another cassette! Is it on cd at present?

Brian's 3rd is the best, IMO, - a truly wonderful symphony (of the ones I have heard, and that is most of the recordings listed on this thread.)

I do hope the performance of the Gothic is a sign that Brian is due to be 'discovered'.

Partsong,

I envy you your ticket for that performance. I left England in 2005 to the live in the central Philippines. Here, classical music means Tom Jones and Matt Monro (I kid you not). Maybe the capital, Manila, is better. In fact, I did actually manage to find a cd of Gorecki the last time I was there (not sym no 3).

I lived in the culturally-rich Birmingham - this is true, btw; the CBSO was one of the world's best under Rattle. I don't know now, but I miss it.

I am reliant on mp3 downloads now, as the postal service is totally unreliable. Fortunately, there are excellent music sites, and I would recommend anyone to check out what is available. eclassical.com is good if you like Scandinavian music. I do.

I eagerly await more recordings, and re-issues, of Brian.

It's available on a river website - probably others too!

P