Messages

I want to thank MVS for his upload of the first performances of Brian's symphonies 26 and 29!

Thanks, Alan. And for ease of use - it's Johan...

I have followed the discussion from the sidelines these past few days and have thought about it.

I wasn't there in the beginning (though I did lurk when I first heard about Rufinatscha), but UC has grown into something much bigger than was either meant or expected. It is now a unique internet location where an enormous amount of music and information is coming together about unsung (undersung) composers from the past two centuries. Personally, I would be very sorry to see UC shoehorned within its original borders again. It would stifle the enthusiasm of contributing members, it would stall all momentum. A site is an organism, too. Is UC as a broad church possible? I really hope so, though I get the sense that some of the older members feel UC slipping away and becoming a different and strange place. This development must be galling. It is not as if all music uploaded is to my taste, either. As some have suggested, it would be better if all this unknown music would come with tags and a description, so that members know what sort of style they can expect.

How much does UC cost? If people are serious about it, why not contribute financially? I am an active member of the GMG Classical Music Forum, too, and I pay a small amount every month. Would it make a difference if people put money where their mouths are? Would they be allowed to do so? And would it make a difference if people offered to help out? I sincerely hope a viable way forward can be found, and that UC will remain a place where unsung-music lovers of diverse plumage can feel at home.

Many thanks to secondfiddle for the Brian (and the Bliss, the few pieces of whom I know I really like)!

On the a-side are Peter van Anrooy's 'Piet Hein' (Dutch Rhapsody). This is based on a very well known  song about the lieutenant-admiral of the Dutch fleet, who lived from 1577-1629).

OT: And who is buried in Delft's Old Church, round the corner (for me).

[Havergal Brian]

There is a storm in Havergal Brian's Symphony No. 10, with wind and thunder machines doing their bit...

No, I am not really a Marx..ist, Johan

Thought as much. 

[Herbstsymphonie]

For what it's worth: I have that performance of the Herbstsymphonie. It's a marvellous piece (though I don't think Colin would like it - too lush). I didn't recommend the site, though, because my dealings with it weren't successful. I eventually got the work, for which I did pay, via a friend.

I am a great admirer of Magnard's Third and Fourth Symphonies, his Chant funèbre and Hymne à la Justice. I don't know his Cello Sonata yet. But your description sums up Magnard's musical character quite well. Magnard marries a Beethovenian seriousness to Gallic sensuousness.

Many thanks, karelm, for that great introduction to a composer of whose existence I have been aware for decades, but whom I have as yet to discover.

Synchronicity...

Many thanks to MVS for his upload of Brian's Twelfth Symphony! I used to have the same recording, so I know about the spine-tingling surprise at the end...

What a day this has been for Brianites.  I have already listened to symphs 6, 8 and 9 several times. And now 32... You're a star!

Re the Fitzgerald 'Gothic' Part 1 - I had overlooked it! The recording of the Vivace ends with a fade-out, so we have to miss the most extraordinary part of that movement (xylophone frenzy and coda)...

Mark - Hero of the Day. 

P.S. Fredman's performance of Symphony No. 22 is excellent, too.