Havergal Brian

Havergal Brian was an extremely prolific British composer: his oeuvre includes 32 symphonies, often extremely long and ambitious works for enormous orchestral forces. Although he enjoyed a period of significant popularity earlier in his career and was rediscovered by composer Robert Simpson in the 1950s, his works are only rarely performed. Most of them have been recorded on albums.
Brian composed in a late romantic idiom, complex but tonal. His ambitious orchestrations are reminiscent of Gustav Mahler. His career can be divided in three creative periods. In the first one, which lasted until circa 1920, he wrote mainly short pieces, influenced by Elgar and Richard Strauss. In the second period, until circa 1950, he wrote large-scale works such as the first symphonies, a violin concerto and the oratorio Prometheus Unbound. In his last period, he has developed an individual style and wrote twenty symphonies and four operas.