Havergal Brian

Eccentric and original English composer Havergal Brian (1876-1972) labored in obscurity for most of his career, producing 32 symphonies, five operas, and a variety of other works. Recognition came in the last decade of Brian's life, owing to BBC broadcasts of his symphonies and further fueled by bootleg LP issues of them. After Brian's death, interests cooled, but in retrospect his Symphony No. 1, "The Gothic," (1919-1927) has become regarded as one of the greatest English symphonies of the twentieth century. Brian is also remembered for his bizarre English Suite No. 1 (1904) and more modest overtures such as Doctor Merryheart (1912).