Symphony No. 1 (Brian)

Symphony No. 1
The Gothic
by Havergal Brian
Key	D minor
Text	Te Deum
Composed	1919–1927
Dedication	Richard Strauss
Performed	Royal Albert Hall, London
Published	1932
Publisher	Cranz & Co.
Duration	105 minutes
Movements	6
Premiere
Date	24 June 1961
Location	Central Hall Westminster, London
Conductor	Bryan Fairfax

The Symphony No. 1 in D minor (The Gothic) is a symphony composed by Havergal Brian between 1919 and 1927. At around 105 minutes it is among the longest symphonies ever composed (others include Mahler's Symphony No. 3 at 90 to 105 minutes (the only symphony of this length to be regularly performed and recorded), Sorabji's Organ Symphony No. 2 at nine hours, and Dimitrie Cuclin's unperformed Symphony No. 12 at about six hours). Along with choral symphonies such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Mahler's Eighth Symphony, it is one of a few works attempting to use the musically gigantic to address the spiritual concerns of humanity. Beginning in D minor and closing in E major, the work is an example of progressive tonality.

History

Composition

The genesis of the work stems from many sources, including a conversation Brian had with Henry Wood about writing a suite that would revive the older instruments that had fallen out of use in the modern symphony orchestra, such as the oboe d'amore or basset horn. This idea was repudiated by Brian's close friend Granville Bantock, but returned when Brian turned to writing symphonies after the end of the First World War. The Gothic element refers to the vision of the Gothic age (from about 1150 to 1500) as representing a huge (almost unlimited) expansion in humanity's artistic and intellectual development, but particularly manifest in the architecture of the great European cathedrals. The scale of the choral finale, which took several years to write, appears to be an attempt to evoke the scale and detail of this architecture in sound; Brian had to paste blank pages of score together to be able to write the work on gigantic sheets with 54 staves to the page. Brian also seems to have identified with the character of Faust, particularly in attempting to write such affirmative music in the post-war atmosphere when many composers had turned from pre-war giganticism, and the finale bears an apposite quote from Goethe's Faust Part Two Act V, which translates as, "The man who ever strives may earn redemption." Brian dedicated the work to Richard Strauss, who in a letter of acknowledgement described it as "grossartig" (magnificent).

The work (more specifically the first three orchestral movements) was submitted in 1928 as an entry for the 1928 International Columbia Graphophone Competition in memory of Schubert and won second prize in the 'English Zone' of that contest; in the final international judging in Vienna it was one of a number of works – others were by Czesław Marek, Franz Schmidt and Charles Haubiel – that lost out to the Sixth Symphony of Kurt Atterberg. It was however published in 1932 by the Leipzig-based Cranz & Co. (in an edition beset with printing errors) as "Symphony No. 2" — the number it bore until Brian renumbered his early symphonies in 1967, eliminating the long-defunct A Fantastic Symphony of 1907 and inserting the previously-unnumbered Sinfonia Tragica of 1948 as the new No. 6. A photographically reduced study score of the Cranz edition was published by United Music Publishers in 1976, though with little effort to correct the copious errors, and still bearing the incorrect No. 2.

Instrumentation

The orchestral forces for this symphony are commonly thought to be the largest employed in the symphonic repertoire. In practice, some small reductions can be made without discernible loss (e.g. cutting two of the orchestral trumpets and the doubling to 2nd contrabass trombone).

Part One

Woodwinds

2 piccolos (1 doubling 4th flute)

3 flutes (1 doubling alto flute)

2 oboes

oboe d'amore

cor anglais

bass oboe

E♭ clarinet

2 B♭ clarinets

basset horn

bass clarinet

3 bassoons

contrabassoon

Brass

6 horns

E♭ cornet

4 trumpets

bass trumpet

3 tenor trombones

2 tubas

Percussion

2 sets of timpani

glockenspiel

xylophone

bass drums

snare drum

tambourine

cymbals

tam-tam

triangle

Keyboards

organ

celesta

Strings

2 harps,

16 1st violins

16 2nd violins

12 violas

10 cellos

8 double basses

Part Two

Woodwinds

2 piccolos (1 doubling 7th flute)

6 flutes (1 doubling alto flute)

6 oboes (1 doubling oboe d'amore, 1 doubling bass oboe)

2 cors anglais

2 E♭ clarinets (1 doubling 5th B♭ clarinet)

4 B♭ clarinets

2 basset horns

2 bass clarinets

contrabass clarinet

3 bassoons

2 contrabassoons

Brass

8 horns

2 E♭ cornets

4 trumpets

bass trumpet

3 tenor trombones

bass trombone

contrabass trombone

2 euphoniums

2 tubas

Percussion

2 sets of timpani

glockenspiel

xylophone

2 bass drums

2 (preferably 3) snare drums

long drum

2 tambourines

6 sets of cymbals

tam-tam

thunder machine

tubular bells

chimes

chains

2 triangles

bird scarer

Keyboards

organ

celesta

Offstage

8 horns

8 trumpets

8 tenor trombones

8 tubas

4 sets of timpani

Voices

soprano soloist

alto soloist

tenor soloist

baritone soloist

4 SATB choirs

1 children's choir

Strings

2 harps

20 1st violins

20 2nd violins

16 violas

14 cellos

12 double basses

The off-stage brass and timpani are organised into four "Brass Orchestras", each consisting of 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 tenor trombones, 2 tubas and 3 timpani (one player)

Form

The symphony consists of six movements, organised into two parts with each part containing three movements, marked as follows:

Part One

I. Allegro assai – attacca:

II. Lento espressivo e solenne – attacca:

III. Vivace – attacca:

Part Two

IV. Te Deum laudamus. Allegro moderato

V. Judex crederis esse venturus. Adagio solenne e religioso

VI. Te ergo quaesumus. Moderato e molto sostenuto

Part one is exclusively orchestral; part two requires the full ensemble, with choral parts set to the words of the Latin religious hymn, the Te Deum. The three movements in Part One play for about forty minutes uninterrupted, and set the stage for the choir-dominated Part Two, which is over an hour in duration and contains a huge range of styles of music, daringly welded together in an attempt to solve the "finale problem" which Brian had set himself. It is written for an extremely large symphony orchestra, four additional brass orchestras, four vocal soloists, four adult choirs, and children's choir.

The work begins with a brilliant flourish given by the full orchestra (which in Part One number approximately one hundred players). The first movement appears to feature two extremely contrasted ideas in the style of sonata form, one a vigorous leaping figure in D minor, the other a suave melody first stated on solo violin in the remote key of D-flat major, though the working out of the music involves a process of ongoing development within the exposition, and avoids the expected re-capitulation by reversing the order of musical events, with the return of the first idea effectively starting the coda. The second movement begins with a stately and solemn march, almost as for a funeral cortege, which builds to a grim and powerful conclusion. The third movement starts with an ostinato in the style of Bruckner that gives way to a recurring idea based on the opening leaping figure of the first movement, initially stated on horns. After various developments culminating in a bizarre polytonal passage with a virtuoso xylophone cadenza, the theme is transformed into a climactic march which eventually throws the movement into the home key of D minor, and subsides quietly with the original statement of the music for horns followed by a harp arpeggio and a final chord of D major.

At this point the choirs and soloists strike in unaccompanied with the opening stanza of the Te Deum, followed immediately by a fanfare for the enlarged orchestra for Part Two (which is supposed to be about 150-strong, besides the extra 40 or so players comprising the four extra brass orchestras). The eclecticism of Brian's music here borrows references as diverse as mediaeval fauxbourdon, Renaissance multiple polyphony on the scale of Tallis's Spem in alium all the way through to twentieth century tone clusters, polytonality and the use of percussion and brass in a Varèse-like outburst of extreme dissonance. The text is treated episodically with sections for full orchestra and choir frequently alternating with unaccompanied passages for the choir alone. The fourth movement moves away from tonalities centered around D and establishes E as a new tonal centre, which is strenuously challenged in the following movements. The start of the fifth movement involves only the choirs in a fearsomely chromatic un-accompanied polyphonic passage, after which the soprano soloist gently sings a wordless vocalise "like an indefinite intonation". A fanfare for eight trumpets and a lengthy orchestral passage then introduces each of the four separate brass orchestras paired with one of the four corresponding choirs. A second orchestral development then culminates in a huge climax for the full forces. Thereafter the sixth and final movement continues with even more contrasted and episodic treatment of the text as the music seems to struggle to reach a conclusion. At the final words "non confundar in aeternum" the music violently flares up with two dissonant outbursts answered by the choirs, followed by a despairing orchestral coda, but the work is finally clinched with a murmuring from the choir, which finally confirms the tonality of E major where the words "non confundar in aeternum" are repeated.

Performances

Attempts to perform the symphony have frequently met with failure, beginning with the efforts of Hamilton Harty and Eugene Goossens in the depression-affected 1930s and enduring to the current day, usually owing to the extreme logistics of the work. The work was eventually premiered in 1961, and has been followed by a mere handful of performances, often by partly or wholly amateur forces; the 1978 performance for example was an ad hoc amateur orchestra specially assembled for the occasion, in Brian's home county of Staffordshire. The first professional performance in 1966 was enthusiastically received by the audience in the Royal Albert Hall when the composer himself, aged 90, was in attendance to take a bow at the work's conclusion; this performance was also broadcast live by the BBC.

The alto Shirley Minty sang in the 1966 and 1980 performances, and appears to be the only person who has played a prominent role in more than one performance of the work.

Date	Venue	Ensembles	Soloists	Conductor	Notes
24 June 1961	Central Hall Westminster, London	Polyphonia Symphony Orchestra, Royal Military School of Music, London Philharmonic Choir, Kingsway Choral Society, London Orpheus Choir, Hendon Grammar School Choir	Noelle Barker (soprano), Jean Evans (alto), Kenneth Bowen (tenor), John Shirley-Quirk (baritone)	Bryan Fairfax	First performance of the symphony.
30 October 1966	Royal Albert Hall, London	BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Choral Society, City of London Choir, Hampstead Choral Society, Emanuel School Choir, Orpington Junior Singers	Honor Sheppard (soprano), Shirley Minty (alto), Ronald Dowd (tenor), Roger Stalman (bass)	Adrian Boult	First professional performance of the symphony.
10 October 1976	Royal Albert Hall, London	New Philharmonia Orchestra	None (only orchestral movements were performed)	Charles Groves	Only Part One (movements I, II, and III) of the symphony was performed.
21 May 1978	Victoria Hall, Hanley	The Stoke Gothic Symphony Orchestra, Leicester Philharmonic Society, Keele Chamber Choir, Margaret Wharam Choir, Nantwich and District Choral Society, Oriana Choir, Potteries Choral Society, Stone Choral Society, Ashborne Parish Church Boys' Choir, Goudhurst Girls School Choir, Nantwich Parish Church Boys' Choir, Parish Church of St. Peter Choir	Margaret Tapley (soprano), Jean Reavley (alto), Eric Baskeyfield (tenor), Phillip Ravenscroft (bass)	Trevor Stokes	The orchestra was assembled ad hoc and the performance took place in Brian's home country.
25 May 1980	Royal Albert Hall, London	London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, London Philharmonic Choir, BBC Singers, BBC Club Choir, Hampstead Choral Society, Bach Choir, English Chamber Choir	Jane Manning (soprano), Shirley Minty (alto), John Mitchinson (tenor), David Thomas (bass)	Ole Schmidt	First performance of corrected edition.
22 December 2010	QPAC Concert Hall	The Gothic Symphony Orchestra, The Gothic Symphony Chorus, The Gothic Symphony Children's Chorus Queensland Festival Chorus	Melissa Gill (soprano), Kathleen Lamont (alto), Luke Venables (tenor), Dimitri Kopanakis (bass)	John Curro	First performance of the symphony in Australia, and first performance outside England.
17 July 2011	Royal Albert Hall, London	BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Youth Chorus, Eltham College Boys' Choir, Southend Boys' and Girls' Choirs, The Bach Choir, BBC National Chorus of Wales, Brighton Festival Chorus, Côr Caerdydd, Huddersfield Choral Society, London Symphony Chorus	Susan Gritton (soprano), Christine Rice (mezzo-soprano), Peter Auty (tenor), Alastair Miles (bass)	Martyn Brabbins	The symphony was performed as part of the programme for the 2011 season of the Proms.

Recordings

Havergal Brian#Recordings of the symphonies

External links

The Havergal Brian Society has a number of essays and further detail on the symphony.

Trailer for The Curse of the Gothic Symphony, a documentary film about the 2010 Brisbane performance