Special offer. Havergal Brian: Symphonies Nos. 7 and 16
New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Walker
Their gusto in tackling Brian’s complex, often cryptic but rewarding scores is very winning. All the music here shows the old maverick forging ahead from epic breadth to extreme compression,...
Special offer. Havergal Brian: Symphonies Nos. 7 and 16
New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Walker
Purchase product
Their gusto in tackling Brian’s complex, often cryptic but rewarding scores is very winning. All the music here shows the old maverick forging ahead from epic breadth to extreme compression,...
About
Havergal Brian’s late creativity is almost unparalleled in musical history – in the last two decades of his life he wrote 25 symphonies. No. 7, the last of his truly large-scale symphonies, was inspired by Goethe’s autobiographical account of his time as a student in Strasbourg. Symphony No. 16 is a tough single-movement work, evoking Ancient Greece and the savagery of the Persian Wars. In bright contrast The Tinker’s Wedding is a sparkling comedy overture based on the play by J.M. Synge.
Contents and tracklist
- New Russia State Symphony Orchestra
- Alexander Walker
- New Russia State Symphony Orchestra
- Alexander Walker
- New Russia State Symphony Orchestra
- Alexander Walker
Awards and reviews
August 2019
Their gusto in tackling Brian’s complex, often cryptic but rewarding scores is very winning. All the music here shows the old maverick forging ahead from epic breadth to extreme compression, with jagged dissonances, bumptious brass and percussion, and constantly mutating forms.
July 2019
Walker adopts a rather more urgent approach than did Charles Mackerras on his pioneering EMI version with the RLPO, without any loss in grip or intensity…Immensely spirited performances, one and all, from the hard-working New Russian State Symphony Orchestra under Walker’s clear-headed lead, brightly engineered to boot…This bold Naxos release can be recommended to Brian acolytes and inquisitive collectors alike.
August 2019
There is a lovely tender violin solo, played by Nikolai Savchenko, which adds to the overall mystery of the work, followed by the second final aggressive climax that comes just before the end of the score.
The Art Music Lounge April 2019
These are certainly the best performances these works have ever received and the disc is particularly interesting for the Sixteenth Symphony.
