Havergal Brian: Gothic Album Review – Uli Schmidt tames a spacious and whimsical score | classical music

HThe plain Brian was often viewed with suspicion, and his expansive gothic symphony came closer like climbing Mount Everest – just for the sake of being there – rather than being taken seriously as a milestone in 20th-century British music. To mark the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, Heritage has snubbed this 1980 live BBC broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall conducted by Danish conductor Uli Schmidt, the fourth recording of the complete work to enter the catalogue.

Written over a period of eight years and completed in 1927, the work was inspired by the splendor and strangeness of the Gothic era, and Brian’s unique response ranging from naïve melody to sinister complex polyphony. The 35-minute first part is a compelling symphony of three movements all on its own, but it is the challenging hour-long setting of the Te Deum that demands the listener’s focused attention. Influences include Bruckner, Berlioz and Sibelius.

Schmidt mobilizes his 158 orchestral players and a 560-strong chorus, with the assurance of the Ringmaster, a solo quartet capped by the late soprano Jane Manning. Like Martin Brabbins, who remains a master at this work, he actually manages to ‘do’ something with this piece, rather than just keeping things under control. The sound is sometimes crowded, but the conductor’s stimulating selections make this a good alternative to Ondrej Lenárd’s Slovakian account. John Pickard’s Luminous Sleeve Notes.