Havergal Brian - Gothic Symphony - Proms 17th July 2011 (1/2)

Unique footage of the performance of Brian's Gothic at the Royal Albert Hall, 17th July 2011. A fragment from the sixth movement. Conductor: maestro Martyn Brabbins.

UPDATE 28 November 2011: the Proms Gothic has today come out on 2 CDs, on the Hyperion label. Check it out!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Havergal
• Brian
• Gothic
• Symphony

[gmahler50]

I believe that they could have made a video of this fine performance by simply looking at archival videos of concerts where there is minimal camera manipulation. Concert videos now are always over produced, and even if the images would have been more static than the current norm, it would have been worth it!

So will this be released on CD? I can see Chandos, Hyperion or BBC issuing it. Though I possess an excellent audio recording of this performance from BBC radio, I would still buy it.

[Jezetha]

@gmahler50 A reliable source has informed me a recording of this performance will be issued by Hyperion...

[gmahler50]

That eerie clarinet march always send chills down my spine!

[Jezetha]

@gmahler50 Funny how others would call it 'jaunty' and the whole episode a sort of Scherzo... ! But Brian's music does have its weird moments, I agree.

[gmahler50]

@Jezetha I guess it's how one projects his own imagination to the music he hears, but since I always looked at this work as a WWI "anti-war" symphony (Faust elements notwithstanding), when I hear that clarinet march, I always pictured soldiers tramping through a mucky, corpse ridden trench during a foggy morning..

[Jezetha]

@gmahler50 I must say I never see a thing before my mind's eye when I listen to 'The Gothic'... Btw, there is an extensive Brian thread on GMG Classical Music Forum where I am active, too. You might want to check it out!

[senexirascibilis]

Thanks so much for this! I can't believe the BBC missed the opportunity to televise such a remarkable event. (I wonder if anyone sneakily videoed the whole thing?)

I was up in the gallery - it's good to see what things were like from the perspective of the arena!

[hwigestr]

Thanks!! A shame it wasn't filmed - the visual aspect added a lot to the massive impression. When 800 singers stand up simultaneously - and turn the page *almost* simultaneously. :)

We were in the stalls, and I only recorded 30 seconds with an old mobile phone as a personal memory. A memory for a lifetime.

[Enantiodromialist]

@gmahler50 That is certainly the most bizarre part of the entire work. To many admirers of Brian and the Gothic it is a puzzling, or even bafflingly awful section – yet, to me, one of the most memorable. For someone who has known this work for 30 years, that says something about its extraordinary depths.

[gmahler50]

@Jezetha Well admittedly, if I tried using my "mind's eye" throughout the entire Gothic, I believe I would become schizophrenic, but there is something about those clarinets that makes me feel more haunted than jaunty, Thanks for the forum info.....

[lucasduff3]

Yeah the BBC should have filmed it. I managed to get upto the Gallery aswell. We were about 20 people short from the door before they advised us the Arena was full capacity but I'm sure they could have pulled in a few more to fill the back. Great experience though, it was my first ever Prom! Standing ovation went on for ages at the end. Gallery was packed you just had to wait for an opening. I managed to get a decent view half way though when somebody left. :)