RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Leaper - Brian: Symphonies Nos. 17 & 32 (2010)

Tracklist

01. In memoriam: Introduction - First Scene
02. In memoriam: Second Scene
03. In memoriam: Third Scene
04. Festal Dance: Allegro vivo
05. Festal Dance: Misterioso
06. Symphony No. 17: Adagio - Allegro moderato
07. Symphony No. 17: Lento
08. Symphony No. 17: Allegro con brio
09. Symphony No. 32: I. Allegretto
10. Symphony No. 32: II. Adagio
11. Symphony No. 32: III. Allegro ma non troppo
12. Symphony No. 32: IV. Allegro moderato

Naxos continues its reissue of the Marco Polo recordings of Havergal Brian symphonies, of which the Gothic (Naxos 8557418-19) is the most famous.

This CD includes the inventive, fantasia-like Symphony No. 17 (1960-61), and the composer’s last ever work, the dark and affirmative Symphony No. 32 (1968). It is a remarkable achievement for a man of 92.

Composed five decades earlier, the extended symphonic poem In Memoriam (1910), notable for the ‘advanced’ nature of its scoring, is contrasted with the exuberant Festal Dance (1908), once intended as the finale to an early work the composer had originally entitled Fantastic Symphony.

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