Monday, March 26th, 2012
KHCD-2012-018 (STEREO) – Havergal Brian: Symphony No. 10 (conducted by James Loughran); Symphony No. 21 (conducted by Eric Pinkett) – Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra – Historically significant recordings made in 1972 by the UK independent label Unicorn. The original LP release in 1973 was considered by some critics as the most significant classical release of that time in the UK. The Symphony No. 10 on this disc was a first recording for that work. Havergal Brian’s music at the time was woefully neglected, with few commercial recordings made of his music. He was the last of the generation of English composers, following the lineage of Vaughan Williams, Holst, Bridge, and Ireland. His musical language was wholly unique, peer to Elgar, Mahler, Nielsen and Sibelius. The music on this CD is possibly some of the most approachable of Brian’s vast catalogue of compositions. The remarkable Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra play with commitment and surprising polish. This disc is self-recommending to any Brian enthusiast, and a great introduction to anyone interested in 20th century English music who may be unfamiliar with this most creative musical mind of unusual power. The excellent transcription of the Unicorn LP was by John Whitmore (former member of the LSSO). I performed the digital remastering with little intervention to the original source material.
Click here to hear an MP3 sample of this historic recording, found only on Klassic Haus Restorations.
Cheers -Curt Timmons