Symphony No.2 in E minor - Havergal Brian

Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tony Rowe. I - Adagio solenne - Allegro assai: 0:01 II - Andante sostenuto e espressivo molto: 12:47 III - Scherzo. Allegro assai: 28:06 IV - Lento maestoso e mesto: 34:06 Brian's Symphony No.2 was composed between 1930-1. It was premiered in May 1973, performed by the Kensington Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leslie Head. The work is based on the tragedy of Goethe "Götz von Berlichingen". It presents the story of a German knight who became a bandit during the sixteenth century. Goethe considered his actions as a German national revolt against the authority exercised by the Emperor and the Church, in the first half of the century. The first movement begins dramatically. Over a pianissimo of the timpani, the basses of the strings present a three note motif, followed by others that derive from it. The tonality is not clearly defined, using the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. The two main themes are complex, presenting a music that sometimes approaches atonality. The themes are difficult to recognize due to their continuous variation. The first brings vague memories of Elgar's music. After a brief climax, the music goes down and stops. A new theme appears on the strings, reminding Elgar more clearly. But his repetition in counterpoint departs from his style. A strange swirl of the strings, accompanied by woodwind chords, leads us to the development section, which it's short but complex. The recapitulation presents the themes with new orchestrations. The lyrical second theme is presented in a romantic and passionate way. It reaches a powerful climax. When the sound is turned off, the basses present a variation of the initial motive of three notes. The movement ends in the same way as it started. The second movement is structured as a rondo (A-B-A'-C-A''-Coda). The main theme suffers a continuous metamorphosis, being interrupted by two new ideas. The theme is presented by the oboe, followed by the orchestra in a very original way, presenting an unreal atmosphere. The second theme is chromatic in nature. The funeral march that will appear in the last movement is announced. The first theme reappears but in a totally different way, making several variations. It suffers a new interruption with a new theme that ends abruptly. In the final part the music begins to disintegrate. The English horn plays fragments of the theme in a sad way and the divided strings finish the movement. The third movement is known as the battle scherzo. It is performed by four groups containing four horns each, with the addition of two pianos and an organ. It begins calmly, with repeated figures in the harps, to which violins and violas are added, interpreting a theme in ostinato. Then enter the two pianos and the three pairs of timpani. The first group of horns announces its repetitive theme. It is answered by the second group. Then enter the third and finally the fourth, with their figures in ostinato. All the instruments come together in antiphonal and canon forms, with new tonalities and different rhythms. This kind of dance increases in tension reaching its climax. Then the music, as if exhausted, is extinguished by saying goodbye with a solo of the horn and a strange chord of the wood. The last movement has the form of an enormous funeral march, forming a kind of sonata-rondo in Mahler's manner. Starts with a phrase that will be heard several times, separating each section. The first measures of the funeral march derive from the first movement. It is heard for the first time in the clarinet accompanied by the harp and the pizzicato of the strings. A solo of the horn adds a coda forming a sad memory of the scherzo rhythm. The initial theme appears again, which leads us to the funeral march. A second theme, which consists of a quote from Siegfried's funeral march, belonging to Wagner's Götterdämmerung, alternates with the march. It reaches a strong climax. The funeral march continues in a variation accompanied by ominous bells, to be interpreted solemnly later. The initial theme reappears. After a few notes of the horn, the cellos and double basses present an elegy of English spirit. Its repetition takes us to a new climax. The last crescendo of the orchestra begins in pianissimo, then listening to the Götterdämmerung theme three times until explodes in a great climax. Then the music begins to disintegrate into fragments. The descending notes of the clarinet are heard again, leaving only the basses of the strings, with the funereal rhythm marked by the timpani, finishing the work in the same dark way it has begun. Painting: "Götz von Berlichingen" (1917) by the German painter Lovis Corinth. Source: https://bit.ly/3RjImFz Unfortunatelly, the score is not freely available.