In Memoriam / Symphony No 17 / Symphony No 32 / etc

"It is hard to imagine that when Havergal Brian began to compose his 17th Symphony some five decades had passed since the Festal Overture. The composer was a 'young' 84 years old. The work was begun in the latter part of 1960 and was completed in early January. Havergal Brian's last Symphony is one which I have admired since first hearing. This was in fact the last work of any kind that Brian completed. He was only 92 years old at this date. The programme notes are both extensive and excellent: this is to be expected from Malcolm MacDonald who is the leading authority on the music of Havergal Brian. The sound quality is outstanding, the playing is convincing and the programme is ultimately satisfying. (MusicWeb January 2011)

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.