Brian: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9

A singular figure indeed, this Havergal Brian! Born into a modest background and largely self-taught, he took up symphonic composition at a mature age, writing in industrial quantities until his final days in the 1970s. With a style strongly influenced by late Romanticism (his first and most famous symphony, “Gothic”, one of the most monumental ever composed, is an obvious homage to Mahler's “Symphony of a Thousand”), these eclectic pieces seem totally anachronistic in the age of the most daring avant-garde, but they have an undeniable charm and personality. They make Brian a composer who remains highly appreciated in Great Britain, despite the rarity of recordings.