Born in humble circumstances in Dresden, he didn't go for a career in the local china industry. Instead, he taught himself music and became a composer. Something of a misfit in the world of classical music, success wasn't easy to achieve, and his work was neglected for many years. His largest work has still only been performed a handful of times. Who he, and why is this work not performed more?

JaneofGaunt

William Havergal Brian (b. Dresden, Staffsordshire (England), 1876) (d. Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex (England); 1972) Largely self-taught, Brian (William was his birth name; Havergal adopted in 1899) was best known as a composer in the period immediately prior to the Great War (WWI), when his short orchestral pieces were performed by Beecham, Wood, etc... after the war, few of his works were performed. Worked as a critic (later assistant editor) for the magazine "Musical Opinion" from 1922-40, where he championed the music of Schoenberg amongst others... despite this (and the advocacy of musical knights such as Bantock and Tovey), his own music remained in eclipse. Brian is now best known (almost notorious) for his "Gothic" Symphony (Symphony No. 1; 1919-27), generally regarded as the largest symphony ever written. Noone seems to be absolutely certain the exact forces required to perform the work, although the minimum number of musicians required is generally considered to be more than a thousand (around 200 players in the orchestra itself; plus 4 brass bands and 4 large mixed choirs). For all this heavy artillery, the "Gothic" is an amazingly lithe creation, a virtuoso musical journey in six movements from the darkness (of war?) into light (the subtitle refers to the Gothic period of art and architecture, not Bram Stokeresque horror). http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/brian.php If this is wrong - I'm stumped! Jul 17 11, 3:26 PM

Baloo55th

Yay!! Just been done at the Royal Albert Hall in the BBC Proms. Two symphony orchestras, four brass bands, a choir of 800, and four soloists. Guinness Book rates it the largest symphony ever. (Beats Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand.) I think the reason for the few performances to date are rather obvious. The orchestras had to rehearse separately, the choirs making up the superchoir had to rehearse separately, and apart from the logistics of getting them all together on the night, just think of the cost! Well worth listening to - being repeated (recorded) on Tuesday at 1400 BST (or thereabouts - might be 1430) on BBC Radio 3 (also online) and possibly available for a week on their Listen Again thingy. The rest of his music's worth a listen, too. Unjustly neglected. (So is George Lloyd...) Jul 17 11, 3:55 PM