Symphony No.5 ’’The Wine of Summer’’ - Havergal Brian

Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Roderick Williams as the baritone. I - Doloroso, spinato e tenuto - Lento e misterioso - Tempo rubato comodo - Lento - Lagrimoso ma amoroso - Tempo più grazioso - Poco adagio - Allegro con fuoco - Adagio: 0:00 Brian’s fifth symphony was started in early 1937, originally projected as a cantata based on the poem of Lord Alfred Douglas, it was finished in 18 June 1937, and by then, he decided to rename it as a ’’symphony for solo voice and orchestra’’. Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas was a British poet, better known as the friend and lover of Oscar Wilde. The work was premiered in 11 December 1969, performed by the Kensington Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leslie Head, with Brian Rayner Cook as the baritone. The poem ’’Wine of Summer’’ describes a midsummer day in a wood, a vision of natural paradise that progresses to melancholy rumination over the author’s lost loves. The symphony is writte