Unheard British symphonies

[Ein Heldenleben]

Back in the day ….

The following concert (not recordings) was broadcast on 30th January 1975 as part of an ongoing series called 'Orpheus Britannicus':
MacCunn: The Land Of The Mountain And The Flood
Maxwell Geddes: Portrait Of A City
Ian Whyte: Tone Poem - Edinburgh
Martin Dalby: Symphony No. 1

CoTW is a welcome exception to the overall dearth of programmes - or even items within programmes - to feature British symphonies.

I believe the Havergal Brian season was broadcast in the late 1970s.

As somebody else has said, thank heavens for Naxos, Lyrita and certain other labels.

Just can’t believe that it was the seventies .I’m sure you’re right - about time for a repeat ?

[Pulcinella]

With the exception of the McCunn piece I wonder how many of the other pieces have been played on R3 since, and how many other McCunn pieces are ever played?

BBC MM CD Vol 24 No 4 (not sure now which issue that will have been) introduced me to
The Ship o' the Fiend, Op 5,
which had been recorded live at Music Hall, Aberdeen, 12 October 2007, played by the BBCSSO under Martyn Brabbins.

The CD also includes
Land of the Mountain and the Flood, Op 3,
which had been recorded live at Singletary Arts Centre, Lexington, US, 22 March 2001, again with the BBCSSO but this time under Osmo Vänskä.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Ship o'the Fiend was also broadcast on R3 on Sat 21/1/12 as part of Simon Heffer's four-part "British Music" series:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019lzmx

[ocarina]

Moeran in G-minor is one of my favourite symphonies; I wonder if it is performed much

[Pulcinella]

Moeran in G-minor is one of my favourite symphonies; I wonder if it is performed much

Well, it had a Proms outing on 23 July 2009!
BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Vassily Sinaisky, and released on a recent BBC MM CD too.

[ocarina]

Well, it had a Proms outing on 23 July 2009!
BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Vassily Sinaisky, and released on a recent BBC MM CD too.

Thanks, Pulcinella! I am going to order that. I have Handley's recording https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moeran-Symp.../dp/B0000245F0

[Stanfordian]

Thanks, Pulcinella! I am going to order that. I have Handley's recording https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moeran-Symp.../dp/B0000245F0

The Moeran Symphony played by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Adrian Boult on Lyrita takes some beating.

[Pulcinella]

The Moeran Symphony played by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Adrian Boult on Lyrita takes some beating.

In addition to the BBC release, I have English Sinfonia/Neville Dilkes and Bournemouth SO/David Lloyd-Jones.
I think I marginally prefer the Dilkes, but probably it's first version heard syndrome again.
I don't know the Boult recording.

[LMcD]

In addition to the BBC release, I have English Sinfonia/Neville Dilkes and Bournemouth SO/David Lloyd-Jones.
I think I marginally prefer the Dilkes, but probably it's first version heard syndrome again.
I don't know the Boult recording.

I have the LLoyd-Jones and am happy with that. (I also have other Moeran works on CD).

[Pulcinella]

I have the LLoyd-Jones and am happy with that. (I also have other Moeran works on CD).

Maybe we should add Sinfoniettas into the mix: I like Moeran's very much indeed.

[LMcD]

The Ship o'the Fiend was also broadcast on R3 on Sat 21/1/12 as part of Simon Heffer's four-part "British Music" series:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019lzmx

An excerpt from his opera 'Jeanie Dean' was broadcast on the Scottish Regional Programme on 13th April 1934 (! )

[Serial_Apologist]

I believe the Havergal Brian season was broadcast in the late 1970s.

My dad managed to tape some of it, including the wonderful opera "The Tigers", along with Calum McDonald's equally wonderful talk on it of the time. An anti-war opera - think of that! - and by a British composer of that era!

Luckily I was later able to tranfer all those tape recordings onto audio cassettes, which I still possess. The recording quality was pretty dodgy - we were in an area of poor reception for Radio 3 - but at least I have them.

Assuming we are talking about the same broadcastings, I always understood that while the intention had been to broadcast all the Brian symphonies,the cycle was never completed?

[Bryn]

My dad managed to tape some of it, including the wonderful opera "The Tigers", along with Calum McDonald's equally wonderful talk on it of the time. An anti-war opera - think of that! - and by a British composer of that era!

Luckily I was later able to tranfer all those tape recordings onto audio cassettes, which I still possess. The recording quality was pretty dodgy - we were in an area of poor reception for Radio 3 - but at least I have them.

Assuming we are talking about the same broadcastings, I always understood that while the intention had been to broadcast all the Brian symphonies,the cycle was never completed?

That very production of The Tigers has since been made available on CD by Testament. A gem of an anti-war propaganda work.

[cloughie]

Maybe we should add Sinfoniettas into the mix: I like Moeran's very much indeed.

Very good recording of the Sinfonietta and Overture for a masque on Lyrita - LPO Boult, coupled with the Symphony NPO Boult.

[Lion-of-Vienna]

Assuming we are talking about the same broadcastings, I always understood that while the intention had been to broadcast all the Brian symphonies,the cycle was never completed?

Sometime around 1970 the BBC undertook to broadcast all of the Brian symphonies that had not been aired before. They had started broadcasting Brian with Symphony No.8, the first Brian symphony to be performed, in 1954. The Gothic was broadcast in 1966 and several other symphonies had been broadcast before they decided to do them all. The "cycle" was indeed completed in a series of concerts at irregular intervals, the final ones being Nos.27, 29, 31 and 32 in two concerts in March 1979.