ABSTRACT
Martin O’Leary’s interesting comparison of some symphonies by Brian and Mahler (Newsletter 38 [pp. 224–226 in the present book]) reminded me of a remark I heard seven years ago. In January 1975, still reeling from Das Siegeslied at the Alexandra Palace three months earlier, I went to hear Dr Robert Simpson give an illustrated lecture about Brian to the London Symphony Orchestra Club. I was eager to find out as much about Brian as I could, and I was not disappointed; it was fascinating, and Dr Simpson left nobody in any doubt as to the utterly individual character of Brian’s music. I was surprised, then, that the chairman, in thanking Dr Simpson, said that he had enjoyed what he had heard of Brian’s music because it reminded him of two of his favourite composers, Mahler and Shostakovitch.
