Havergal Brian certainly was one of the most original, and possibly misunderstood, composers of the 20th century. Largely self taught, he is unique in that his early compositions required massive forces and were sprawling affairs, while his later works were often quite compact in structure and instrumentation. As a composer, he wrote in practically every medium.
Here's an offering of Brian's 4th Symphony "Das Siegeslied" from an Aries LP. The performance is attributed to the Edinburgh Youth Symphony and Chorus but in fact, it is from a BBC Radio broadcast of 1974. John Poole conducts the London Philharmonic and BBC choruses with Felicity Palmer as soprano soloist. Interestingly, Brian set the text in German, it is said to attain performances in Germany since his work was generally not accepted in his native England. I could find no evidence that a German performance took place of this work.
This is a fascinating work, as most of Brian is. One thing is for sure, you can't peg him easily!
