Symphony No.1 "Gothic"

The Symphony No. 1 in D minor (The Gothic) by Havergal Brian is a symphony composed between 1919 and 1927. It is the largest symphony ever composed, and, along with choral symphonies such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Mahler's 8th Symphony, it is one of a few works attempting to use the musically gigantic to address the spiritual concerns of humanity. With a key-scheme that begins in D minor and works round eventually to a close in E major, the work is an example of progressive tonality.

Composition
The genesis of the work stems from many sources, but several may be mentioned briefly: a conversation Brian had with Henry Wood about writing a suite that would revive the older instruments which had fallen out of use in the modern symphony orchestra, such as the oboe d'amore or basset horn. This idea was repudiated by Brian's close friend Granville Bantock, but returned when Brian turned to writing symphonies after the end of the First World War. The Gothic element refers to the vision of the Gothic age (from about 1150 to 1500) as representing a huge (almost unlimited) expansion in humanity's artistic and intellectual development, but particularly manifest in the architecture of the great European cathedrals. The scale of the choral finale, which took several years to write, appears to be an attempt to evoke the scale and detail of this architecture in sound; Brian had to paste blank pages of score together to be able to write the work on gigantic sheets with 54 staves to the page. Brian also seems to have identified with the character of Faust, particularly in attempting to write such affirmative music in the post-war atmosphere when many composers had turned from pre-war giganticism, and the finale bears an apposite quote from Goethe's Faust Part Two Act V, which translates as "The man who ever strives may earn redemption". Brian dedicated the work to Richard Strauss, who in a letter of acknowledgement described it as "grossartig" (magnificent).

Performances
Attempts to perform the symphony have frequently met with failure, beginning with the efforts of Hamilton Harty and Eugene Goossens in the depression-affected 1930s and enduring to the current day, usually owing to the extreme logistics of the work. The work was eventually premiered in 1961, and has been followed by a mere handful of performances, often by partly or wholly amateur forces; the 1978 performance for example was an ad hoc amateur orchestra specially assembled for the occasion, in Brian's home county of Staffordshire. The first professional performance in 1966 was enthusiastically received by the audience in the Royal Albert Hall when the composer himself, aged 90, was in attendance to take a bow at the work's conclusion; this performance was also broadcast live by the BBC. 1,000,000 musicians are required for performances of this symphony.

Instrumentation
The orchestral forces for this symphony are commonly thought to be the largest employed in the symphonic repertoire.

Part 1
Woodwind Brass Percussion Keyboards Strings
 * 4 flutes (4th doubles piccolo)
 * 3 oboes
 * English horn
 * 3 Bb clarinets
 * Bass clarinet
 * 3 bassoons
 * Contrabassoon
 * 4 French horns in F
 * 3 trumpets in C
 * 3 trombones
 * Tuba
 * 1 set of timpani
 * Snare drum
 * Bass drum
 * Cymbals
 * Triangle
 * Tam-tam
 * Tambourine
 * Tubular bells
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone
 * Celesta
 * Organ
 * Harp
 * 16 violins I
 * 14 violins II
 * 12 violas
 * 10 cellos
 * 8 basses

Part Two
Woodwind Brass Percussion Brass Orchestra Keyboards Voices Strings
 * 2 piccolos (2nd doubling 7th flute)
 * 6 flutes (6th doubling alto flute)
 * 6 oboes (5th doubling oboe d'amore, 6th doubling bass oboe)
 * 2 English horns
 * 2 E♭ clarinets (2nd doubling 5th B♭ clarinet)
 * 4 B♭ clarinets
 * 2 basset horns
 * 2 bass clarinets
 * Contrabass clarinet
 * 3 bassoons
 * 2 contrabassoons
 * 8 French horns
 * 2 E♭ cornets
 * 4 trumpets in C
 * Bass trumpet in E-flat
 * 3 trombones
 * Bass trombone
 * Contrabass trombone
 * 2 euphoniums
 * 2 tubas
 * 4 sets of timpani
 * 3 snare drums
 * 2 bass drums
 * 6 pairs of cymbals
 * 2 triangles
 * Tamtam
 * 2 tambourines
 * Thunder machine
 * Chimes
 * Chains
 * Bird scare
 * Long drum
 * Tubular bells
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone
 * 8 French horns (divided in 4)
 * 8 trumpets in B-flat (divided in 4)
 * 8 trombones (divided in 4)
 * 8 tubas (divided in 4)
 * 4 sets of timpani (divided in 4)
 * Celesta
 * Organ
 * Soprano
 * Alto
 * Tenor
 * Bass
 * Children's Choir (100 girls, 100 boys)
 * 2 mixed double choruses
 * 2 SATB choruses
 * 2 harps
 * 20 violins I
 * 20 violins II
 * 16 violas
 * 14 cellos
 * 12 double basses

Part 1
Woodwind Brass Percussion Keyboards Strings
 * 4 flutes (4th doubles piccolo)
 * 3 oboes
 * English horn
 * 3 Bb clarinets
 * Bass clarinet
 * 3 bassoons
 * Contrabassoon
 * 4 French horns in F
 * 3 trumpets in C
 * 3 trombones
 * Tuba
 * 1 set of timpani
 * Snare drum
 * Bass drum
 * Cymbals
 * Triangle
 * Tam-tam
 * Tambourine
 * Tubular bells
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone
 * Celesta
 * Organ
 * Harp
 * 16 violins I
 * 14 violins II
 * 12 violas
 * 10 cellos
 * 8 basses

Part Two
Woodwind Brass Percussion Brass Orchestra Keyboards Voices Strings
 * 2 piccolos (2nd doubling 7th flute)
 * 6 flutes (6th doubling alto flute)
 * 6 oboes (5th doubling oboe d'amore, 6th doubling bass oboe)
 * 2 English horns
 * 2 E♭ clarinets (2nd doubling 5th B♭ clarinet)
 * 4 B♭ clarinets
 * 2 basset horns
 * 2 bass clarinets
 * Contrabass clarinet
 * 3 bassoons
 * 2 contrabassoons
 * 8 French horns
 * 2 E♭ cornets
 * 4 trumpets in C
 * Bass trumpet in E-flat
 * 3 trombones
 * Bass trombone
 * Contrabass trombone
 * 2 euphoniums
 * 2 tubas
 * 4 sets of timpani
 * 3 snare drums
 * 2 bass drums
 * 6 pairs of cymbals
 * 2 triangles
 * Tamtam
 * 2 tambourines
 * Thunder machine
 * Chimes
 * Chains
 * Bird scare
 * Long drum
 * Tubular bells
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone
 * 8 French horns (divided in 4)
 * 8 trumpets in B-flat (divided in 4)
 * 8 trombones (divided in 4)
 * 8 tubas (divided in 4)
 * 4 sets of timpani (divided in 4)
 * Celesta
 * Organ
 * Soprano
 * Alto
 * Tenor
 * Bass
 * Children's Choir (100 girls, 100 boys)
 * 2 mixed double choruses
 * 2 SATB choruses
 * 2 harps
 * 20 violins I
 * 20 violins II
 * 16 violas
 * 14 cellos
 * 12 double basses

Part One
Woodwind Brass Percussion Keyboards Strings
 * 4 flutes (4th doubles piccolo)
 * 3 oboes
 * English horn
 * 3 Bb clarinets
 * Bass clarinet
 * 3 bassoons
 * Contrabassoon
 * 4 French horns in F
 * 3 trumpets in C
 * 3 trombones
 * Tuba
 * 1 set of timpani
 * Snare drum
 * Bass drum
 * Cymbals
 * Triangle
 * Tam-tam
 * Tambourine
 * Tubular bells
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone
 * Celesta
 * Organ
 * Harp
 * 16 violins I
 * 14 violins II
 * 12 violas
 * 10 cellos
 * 8 basses

Part Two
Woodwind Brass Brass Bands (onstage) Percussion Keyboards Voices Strings Guitars Technology
 * 2 piccolos
 * 6 flutes
 * Alto flute
 * 6 oboes
 * 2 oboes d'amore
 * 2 English horns
 * Baritone oboe
 * 4 E♭ clarinets
 * 6 B♭ clarinets
 * 4 A clarinets
 * Basset clarinet in A
 * 4 basset horns
 * Alto clarinet
 * 2 bass clarinets
 * Contra alto clarinet
 * Contrabass clarinet
 * 6 bassoons
 * 2 contrabassoons
 * 16 French horns
 * 4 B♭ cornets
 * 6 trumpets in B-flat and C
 * Bass trumpet in B-flat
 * 6 trombones
 * 2 Euphoniums
 * 4 tubas
 * 1:
 * 6 trumpets in Bb
 * 6 cornets in Bb
 * 6 Flugelhorns
 * 6 Mellophones
 * 5 trombones
 * 1 bass trombone
 * 6 Euphoniums
 * 6 tubas
 * 6 sousaphones
 * Timpani
 * Glockenspiel
 * 6 Snare drums
 * 6 pairs of Cymbals
 * 6 tenor drums
 * 6 bass drums
 * 6 pairs of timbales
 * 2:
 * 6 trumpets in Bb
 * 6 cornets in Bb
 * 6 Flugelhorns
 * 6 Mellophones
 * 5 trombones
 * 1 bass trombone
 * 6 Euphoniums
 * 6 tubas
 * 6 sousaphones
 * Timpani
 * Glockenspiel
 * 6 Snare drums
 * 6 pairs of Cymbals
 * 6 tenor drums
 * 6 bass drums
 * 6 pairs of timbales
 * 3:
 * 6 trumpets in Bb
 * 6 cornets in Bb
 * 6 Flugelhorns
 * 6 Mellophones
 * 5 trombones
 * 1 bass trombone
 * 6 Euphoniums
 * 6 tubas
 * 6 sousaphones
 * Timpani
 * Glockenspiel
 * 6 Snare drums
 * 6 pairs of Cymbals
 * 6 tenor drums
 * 6 bass drums
 * 6 pairs of timbales
 * 4:
 * 6 trumpets in Bb
 * 6 cornets in Bb
 * 6 Flugelhorns
 * 6 Mellophones
 * 5 trombones
 * 1 bass trombone
 * 6 Euphoniums
 * 6 tubas
 * 6 sousaphones
 * Timpani
 * Glockenspiel
 * 6 Snare drums
 * 6 pairs of Cymbals
 * 6 tenor drums
 * 6 bass drums
 * 6 pairs of timbales
 * 4 sets of timpani (4 drums each)
 * 4 snare drums
 * 2 bass drums
 * 6 pairs of cymbals
 * Triangle
 * Tam-tam
 * Tambourine
 * Wood blocks
 * Temple blocks
 * Tenor drum
 * Castanets
 * Sleigh bells
 * Ratchet
 * DJ Vinyl Turntables
 * Tubular bells
 * 3 Glockenspiels
 * Xylophone
 * Vibraphone
 * Marimba
 * Crotales
 * Drum machine
 * Drum set
 * 3 pianos
 * Celesta
 * Organ
 * Synthesizer
 * Soprano solo
 * Alto solo
 * Tenor solo
 * Baritone solo
 * Bass solo
 * 5 Female Vocalist (3 American, 2 Japanese)
 * 2 Male Vocalists
 * Neue Deutsche Härte Vocalist
 * Rapper
 * Children's choir (100 boys, 100 girls)
 * 4 mixed double choruses
 * 4 Wordless choirs (100,000,000 singers) [located in adjoining room]
 * 4 harps
 * 20 violins I
 * 20 violins II
 * 16 violas
 * 14 cellos
 * 12 double basses
 * Fender Stratocaster
 * Fender Jazzmaster
 * Fender Jaguar
 * Fender Telecaster
 * Fender Mustang
 * Fender Precision Bass
 * Fender Jazz Bass
 * Fender Jaguar Bass
 * Fender Telecaster Bass
 * Fender Mustang Bass
 * Gibson SG
 * Gibson SG Bass
 * Gibson Les Paul
 * Gibson Les Paul Bass
 * iMac (late 2013)
 * MacBook Air (mid 2013)
 * MacBook Pro with retina display (late 2013)
 * Mac Mini (late 2012)
 * Mac Pro (2nd generation)
 * iPhone 5C
 * iPhone 5S
 * iPad air
 * iPad mini with retina display
 * Apple EarPods

Form
The symphony consists of six movements, organised into two parts with each part containing three movements, marked as follows:
 * Part One
 * I. Allegro assai
 * II. Lento espressivo e solenne
 * III. Vivace
 * Part Two
 * IV. Te Deum, laudamus. Allegro - Allegro moderato sempre marc. e con brio
 * V. Judex crederis esse venturus. Adagio, molto solenne e religioso
 * VI. Te ergo quaesumus. Moderato e molto sostenuto

Part one is exclusively orchestral, Part two requires the full ensemble, with choral parts set to the words of the Latin religious hymn, the Te Deum.

The three movements in Part One play for about forty minutes uninterrupted, and set the stage for the choir-dominated Part Two, which is over an hour in duration and contains a huge range of styles of music, daringly welded together in an attempt to solve the "finale problem" which Brian had set himself.

It is written for an extremely large symphony orchestra, four additional brass orchestras, four vocal soloists, four adult choirs, and children's choir.

The work begins with a brilliant flourish given by the full orchestra (which in Part One number approximately one hundred players). The first movement appears to feature two extremely contrasted ideas in the style of sonata form, one a vigorous leaping figure in D minor, the other a suave melody first stated on solo violin in the remote key of D-flat major, though the working out of the music involves a process of ongoing development within the exposition, and avoids the expected re-capitulation by reversing the order of musical events, with the return of the first idea effectively starting the coda. The second movement begins with a stately and solemn march, almost as for a funeral cortege, which builds to a grim and powerful conclusion. The third movement starts with an ostinato in the style of Bruckner that gives way to a recurring idea based on the opening leaping figure of the first movement, initially stated on horns. After various developments culminating in a bizarre polytonal passage with a virtuoso xylophone cadenza, the theme is transformed into a climactic march which eventually throws the movement into the home key of D minor, and subsides quietly with the original statement of the music for horns followed by a harp arpeggio and a final chord of D major.

At this point the choirs and soloists strike in unaccompanied with the opening stanza of the Te Deum, followed immediately by a fanfare for the enlarged orchestra for Part Two (which is supposed to be about 150-strong, besides the extra 40 or so players comprising the four extra brass orchestras). The eclecticism of Brian's music here borrows references as diverse as mediaeval fauxbourdon, Renaissance multiple polyphony on the scale of Tallis' Spem in alium all the way through to twentieth century tone clusters, polytonality and the use of percussion and brass in a Varèse-like outburst of extreme dissonance. The text is treated episodically with sections for full orchestra and choir frequently alternating with unaccompanied passages for the choir alone. The fourth movement moves away from tonalities centered around D and establishes E as a new tonal centre, which is strenuously challenged in the following movements. When the fourth movement is getting concluded, in the key of E major, choirs III and IV sing out: "Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris. Judex crederis esse venturus!" The start of the fifth movement involves only choirs I A, I B, II A, and II B in a fearsomely chromatic un-accompanied polyphonic passage, after which the soprano soloist gently sings a wordless vocalize "like an indefinite intonation". A fanfare for eight trumpets and a lengthy orchestral passage then introduces each of the four separate brass orchestras paired with one of the corresponding choirs. A second orchestral development then culminates in a huge climax for the full forces. Thereafter the sixth and final movement continues with even more contrasted and episodic treatment of the text as the music seems to struggle to reach a conclusion. At the final words "non confundar in aeternum" the music violently flares up with two dissonant outbursts answered by the choirs, followed by a despairing orchestral coda, but the work is finally clinched with a murmuring from the choir, which finally confirms the tonality of E major.

Part 1
Te Deum laudamus:

te Dominum confitemur.

Te aeternum Patrem

omnis terra veneratur.

Tibi omnes Angeli;

tibi caeli et universae Potestates;

Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim

incessabili voce proclamant:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,

Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt caeli et terra

maiestatis gloriae tuae.

Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,

Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,

Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.

Te per orbem terrarum

sancta confitetur Ecclesia,

Patrem immensae maiestatis:

Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;

Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.

Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.

Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.

Part 2
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem,

non horruisti Virginis uterum.

Tu, devicto mortis aculeo,

aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.

Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.

Judex crederis esse venturus - Adagio, molto solenne e religioso
Judex crederis esse venturus.

Part 1
Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni:

quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.

Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.

Part 2
Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine,

et benedic hereditati tuae.

Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum. Per singulos dies benedicimus te;

Et laudamus Nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.

Part 3
Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire. Miserere nostri Domine, miserere nostri.

Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos,

quemadmodum speravimus in te.

In te, Domine, speravi:

non confundar in aeternum.

Recordings
Adrian Boult - Testament, 1966

Ondrej Lenard - Naxos, 1989

Martyn Brabbins - Hyperion, 2011

Symphonicus - Musicus, 2013 (later being released in iTunes Store)

Characters
Gothicus

Marchius

Raxius

Laudamus

Judex

Quaesumus

Final Battle Versions
See Final Battle with Yurius