THE ONLY LIVE CONCERT PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE ON DVD - WORLDWIDE!

"Whoever strives with all his might/ That man we can redeem.” Goethe Faust

This quote appears at the top of the score of Havergal Brian’s Symphony No. 1 - The Gothic. It could be applied to the life of Havergal Brian - he continued to compose despite enormous neglect over most of his long life. It is quite remarkable, and indeed tragic, that none of his music, including his 32 symphonies, was released on a commercial recording in his lifetime: in fact, it took almost nine decades for the first recording.

It is therefore with great pleasure that we present to you, this performance.

The journey of The Gothic Symphony to Brisbane was very long, which at the time of this concert was only the fourth public performance of the complete work. It could not have happened without the support of many dedicated people. "а like to pay a special tribute to the Event Producer Kerryanne Farrer of Pineapple Productions - she deserves a great deal of credit for pulling together all the various aspects of the mammoth event. Creative Producer Alison Rogers displayed enormous courage in taking on the task of not only training the choral forces, but overseeing the bringing together of the orchestra, and so many other aspects of the performance. She has done a remarkable job. | flew to London for the 1980 performance of The Gothic Symphony conducted by the late Maestro Ole Schmidt. | was inspired to mount a performance in Brisbane, so started a journey of almost three decades.

Recognising our determination to stage a performance in Brisbane, the Scores Committee of the Havergal Brian Society in the UK made the preparation of The Gothic score a priority. Many hundreds of hours of work were devoted to correcting and proofing the old scores, which were in an unusable condition.

Two years after the performance, a documentary on the making of the performance screened nationally

on ABC TV. “The Curse of the Gothic Symphony” tells the story of the epic journey to stage this extraordinary work. At the time of the performance, it was the first performance of the 21st century, and the first outside the United Kingdom. The featurelength documentary “The Curse of the Gothic Symphony” screened to great acclaim at the Melbourne and Brisbane International Film Festivals, and overseas.

The performance of The Gothic Symphony has been presented by 4MBS Classic FM in association with Queensland Music Festival and QPAC. I thank them most sincerely for their invaluable support - in particular, the expertise of their staff. Many thanks also to the Brisbane City Council, Arts Queensland, the Sponsor organisations and patrons who attended the performance.

In the time that has passed, we have sadly lost Conductor John Ronald Curro AM MBE (6 December 1932 - 6 November 2019). Maestro Curro was the founder (1966) and Director of Music of the Queensland Youth Orchestras - his more than 50 years at the helm of the Queensland Youth Symphony has created one of the great music legacies in Australia. Many of the players in the orchestra for this performance are former members of the Queensland Youth Symphony and are performing in leading orchestras in Australia and overseas. Of the process of performing the work, Mo. Curro remarked, “we will attempt to scale its heights, to climb its battlements and buttresses, to realise some of its grandeur”.

There are many good reasons why The Gothic Symphony has only been performed three times in concert in over 90 years. It was performed in the 2011 Proms - seven months after the Brisbane performance. It is a hugely challenging work for the performers, and the logistics of mounting a performance - gathering all the resources and finance together - are daunting. It is for this reason | have been inspired by the quote by Goethe; may this recording afford all involved in the performance a reflection of what seemed a “formidable journey”, and was achieved. For those viewing this performance for the first time, may you too find inspiration in the seemingly impossible.

At the time when this DVD has been produced, years after it was staged in Brisbane, this remains the sole film of a performance of The Gothic in existence in the world.

PART І:

| Allegro assai

Il Lento espressivo e solenne

Ill Vivace

PART II:

IV Allegro Moderato (Te Deum Laudamus)

V Adagio molto solenne e religioso (Judex)

VI Moderato e molto sostenuto (Te ergo quaesumus)