Havergal Brian has often been looked at askance, his vast gothic symphony approached like climbing Everest – merely because it’s there – rather than taken seriously as a milestone in 20th-century British music. For the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, the Heritage label has brushed off this 1980 BBC live broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall under Danish conductor Ole Schmidt, the fourth recording of the complete work to enter the catalogue.
Written over eight years and completed in 1927, the work was inspired by the magnificence and eccentricities of the gothic age, Brian’s idiosyncratic response ranging from guileless melody to wickedly complex polyphony. The 35-minute part one is a persuasive three-movement symphony all on its own, but it’s the challenging, hour-long setting of the Te Deum that demands the listener’s concentrated attention. Influences include Bruckner, Berlioz and Sibelius.
Schmidt marshals his 158 orchestral players and 560-strong chorus with a ringmaster’s assurance, the solo quartet crowned by the late Jane Manning’s soaring soprano. Like Martyn Brabbins, who remains supreme in this work, he actually manages to “do” something with the piece, rather than merely keep matters under control. Sound is occasionally congested, but the conductor’s stimulating choices make this a fine alternative to Ondrej Lenárd’s Slovak account. John Pickard’s sleeve notes are illuminating.
