Bryan Fairfax
Encyclopedia
Bryan Fairfax is a retired Australia
n conductor based in the United Kingdom
, who is known for his championing of little known or neglected works.
He is strongly associated with the works of Havergal Brian
, and he conducted the world premiere of Brian's Symphony No. 1, Gothic
in 1961. Brian's Symphony No. 18 was written especially for Fairfax and the semi-professional Polyphonia Orchestra he founded. His UK premieres include major works by Gustav Mahler
, Dmitri Shostakovich
, Carl Nielsen
, Sergei Rachmaninoff
, Franz Schmidt
and Percy Grainger
. His conducting style has been likened to that of Sir Adrian Boult and Vernon Handley
.
in 1930. He studied at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
and later in London
under Max Rostal
, and then became a violinist with the Hallé Orchestra
in 1954 for two years. He continued his conducting studies in Vienna
with Hans Swarowsky
in 1956–57.
In 1961 he founded the Polyphonia Orchestra, a semi-professional ensemble, as a vehicle for the performance of rarely heard or new music. On 28 February of that year, he directed the Polyphonia in the first live public performance in Britain of Gustav Mahler
's massive Symphony No. 3
, at St Pancras Town Hall (it had earlier been heard in the UK only on BBC Radio broadcasts). The performance received highly complimentary reviews.
On 24 June 1961, Fairfax led the Polyphonia in the premiere of Havergal Brian
's gargantuan Gothic Symphony
, which had been completed 34 years earlier in 1927, but previous efforts to perform the work had stalled numerous times due to the colossal forces it requires. This premiere was held in the Central Hall, Westminster, and it was a precursor to the first fully professional performance, on 30 October 1966 at the Royal Albert Hall, under Sir Adrian Boult
, which the composer attended. Although Havergal Brian did not attend Bryan Fairfax's earlier performance, to express his gratitude he wrote his Symphony No. 18 especially for the Polyphonia Orchestra's forces and dedicated the work to Fairfax. Bryan Fairfax conducted the Polyphonia Orchestra in the world premiere of the 18th Symphony in February 1962, at St. Pancras Town Hall. In June 1975 he directed the first professional performance, a BBC studio recording broadcast.
In 1962 he directed the first performances in Britain of Dmitri Shostakovich
's Symphony No. 3, The First of May
and Percy Grainger
's ballet The Warriors, and the first public performance in Britain of Carl Nielsen
's Sinfonia espansiva
.
On 22 November 1963, the composer's 50th birthday, he conducted a concert performance of Benjamin Britten
's opera Gloriana
, which was the opera's first performance in any form since its inaugural production in 1953.
On 2 January 1964, Fairfax led the Polyphonia Orchestra in the first British performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff
's Symphony No. 1 in D minor
.
On 24 May 1966, he led the Polyphonia and other forces in the UK premiere of the work Franz Schmidt
considered his masterpiece, The Book with Seven Seals.
In February 1972 at the Royal Festival Hall
, Fairfax conducted the only professional production of Sir Arthur Bliss
's opera The Olympians
since its 1949 premiere, which is now available on CD.
In 1977 he became the conductor of the Harrow Choral Society.
His students include Garry Humphreys.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n conductor based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, who is known for his championing of little known or neglected works.
He is strongly associated with the works of Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian , was a British classical composer.Brian acquired a legendary status at the time of his rediscovery in the 1950s and 1960s for the many symphonies he had managed to write. By the end of his life he had completed 32, an unusually large number for any composer since Haydn or Mozart...
, and he conducted the world premiere of Brian's Symphony No. 1, Gothic
Symphony No. 1 (Havergal Brian)
The Symphony No. 1 in D minor by Havergal Brian was composed between 1919 and 1927, and partly owes its notoriety to being perhaps the largest symphony ever composed...
in 1961. Brian's Symphony No. 18 was written especially for Fairfax and the semi-professional Polyphonia Orchestra he founded. His UK premieres include major works by Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
, Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
, Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...
and Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
. His conducting style has been likened to that of Sir Adrian Boult and Vernon Handley
Vernon Handley
Vernon George "Tod" Handley CBE was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mother into a musical family in Enfield, London. He acquired the nickname "Tod" because his feet were turned in at his birth, which his...
.
Biography
Lancelot Beresford Bryan Fairfax was born in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1930. He studied at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
and later in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
under Max Rostal
Max Rostal
Max Rostal was a violinist and a viola player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship.-Biography:Max Rostal was born in Cieszyn and studied with Carl Flesch. He won the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 1925...
, and then became a violinist with the Hallé Orchestra
The Hallé
The Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir, youth choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
in 1954 for two years. He continued his conducting studies in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
with Hans Swarowsky
Hans Swarowsky
Hans Swarowsky was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth and Jewish descent.Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss...
in 1956–57.
In 1961 he founded the Polyphonia Orchestra, a semi-professional ensemble, as a vehicle for the performance of rarely heard or new music. On 28 February of that year, he directed the Polyphonia in the first live public performance in Britain of Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
's massive Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 3 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1893 and 1896. It is his longest piece and is the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, with a typical performance lasting around ninety to one hundred minutes.- Structure :...
, at St Pancras Town Hall (it had earlier been heard in the UK only on BBC Radio broadcasts). The performance received highly complimentary reviews.
On 24 June 1961, Fairfax led the Polyphonia in the premiere of Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian , was a British classical composer.Brian acquired a legendary status at the time of his rediscovery in the 1950s and 1960s for the many symphonies he had managed to write. By the end of his life he had completed 32, an unusually large number for any composer since Haydn or Mozart...
's gargantuan Gothic Symphony
Symphony No. 1 (Havergal Brian)
The Symphony No. 1 in D minor by Havergal Brian was composed between 1919 and 1927, and partly owes its notoriety to being perhaps the largest symphony ever composed...
, which had been completed 34 years earlier in 1927, but previous efforts to perform the work had stalled numerous times due to the colossal forces it requires. This premiere was held in the Central Hall, Westminster, and it was a precursor to the first fully professional performance, on 30 October 1966 at the Royal Albert Hall, under Sir Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, which the composer attended. Although Havergal Brian did not attend Bryan Fairfax's earlier performance, to express his gratitude he wrote his Symphony No. 18 especially for the Polyphonia Orchestra's forces and dedicated the work to Fairfax. Bryan Fairfax conducted the Polyphonia Orchestra in the world premiere of the 18th Symphony in February 1962, at St. Pancras Town Hall. In June 1975 he directed the first professional performance, a BBC studio recording broadcast.
In 1962 he directed the first performances in Britain of Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
's Symphony No. 3, The First of May
Symphony No. 3 (Shostakovich)
The Symphony No. 3 in E flat major by Dmitri Shostakovich was first performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and Academy Capella Choir under Aleksandr Gauk on 21 January 1930....
and Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
's ballet The Warriors, and the first public performance in Britain of Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
's Sinfonia espansiva
Symphony No. 3 (Nielsen)
The Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote his Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonia Espansiva", Op. 27, FS 60, between 1910 and 1911 by . It typically lasts around 33 minutes.The symphony followed Nielsen's tenure as bandmaster at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen...
.
On 22 November 1963, the composer's 50th birthday, he conducted a concert performance of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's opera Gloriana
Gloriana
Gloriana is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Elizabeth and Essex by Lytton Strachey...
, which was the opera's first performance in any form since its inaugural production in 1953.
On 2 January 1964, Fairfax led the Polyphonia Orchestra in the first British performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
's Symphony No. 1 in D minor
Symphony No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)
Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13, is a music piece by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, written at Ivanovka, an estate near Tambov, Russia, between January and October 1895...
.
On 24 May 1966, he led the Polyphonia and other forces in the UK premiere of the work Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...
considered his masterpiece, The Book with Seven Seals.
In February 1972 at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, Fairfax conducted the only professional production of Sir Arthur Bliss
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...
's opera The Olympians
The Olympians
The Olympians is an opera in three acts by Arthur Bliss to a libretto by J. B. Priestley, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 29 September 1949, conducted by Karl Rankl in a production by Peter Brook....
since its 1949 premiere, which is now available on CD.
In 1977 he became the conductor of the Harrow Choral Society.
His students include Garry Humphreys.