Bert Bailey replies to Aaron Rabushka:

>>...Havergal Brian--now THERE's a man who knows how to use a large
>>percussion group!
>
>I usually clam up about composers who simply don't appeal, but in this
>case maybe I'd appreciate some signposts.  In short, I'm so far baffled as
>to why Hyperion -- or Robert Simpson, a composer more rigorous than whom
>it's hard for me to imagine -- would devote any attention to Brian.

I'll skip the percussion question, but if all you've heard is early Brian,
then you're in for a surprise with the later works - incredibly concentrated
and tight.  Try the Symphony No. 21.

Steve Schwartz