Chronology of events in Brian’s life

Key:
  • Events in Brian’s personal life
  • Events relating to Brian
  • Composition dates
  • Performances of Brian’s music
  • Publication events
  • Unrelated musical events

Shortcuts: • 1876- • 1880- • 1890- • 1900- • 1910- • 1920- • 1930- • 1940- • 1950- • 1960- • 1970-1972

DateAgeEvent
29 January 1876

William Havergal Brian is born at 35 Ricardo Street, Dresden
Berlioz died 7 years ago, Beethoven 49 years ago, Byrd 253 years ago;
Bruckner is 52 and writing his fifth symphony, Brahms is 43 and finishing his first, Stanford is 24, Elgar 19, Mahler 16, Delius 14, Strauss 12, Vaughan Williams 4, Holst 2
1876 0

First performance of Das Ring der Nibelungen at Bayreuth
1879 3

Starts at village school
1882 6

Igor Stravinsky born
1886 10

St James Parish School, Longton
1888 12

Leaves school. Starts work at a colliery weighing coal trucks
1889 13

Leaves colliery. Becomes apprentice joiner, later a railway office boy
?1892 16

Composes Canadian boat song – now lost
1892 16

Organist Holy Trinity Church, Meir. Joins men’s choir. Plays violin in various local orchestras
1895 19

HB’s paternal grandfather, Benjamin the tailor, dies aged 86
?1895–96 19–20

Writes four songs – now lost
1896–1902 20–26

Organist Odd Rode Parish Church
?1896 20

Composes Anthem – now lost
1896 20

Bruckner dies
1897 21

Brahms dies
c1899 23

Composes Requiem – now lost
3 April 1899 23

Marries Isabel (Belle) Alice Priestley
August 1899 23

HB’s grandmother Mary Watson dies
22 October 1899 23

First child born – Sterndale Harold Benedict Brian – named after Sterndale Bennett
1900 24

Joins James Alcock’s orchestra played cello
c1900–02 24

Composes Tragic prelude for orchestra – now lost
15 March 1900 24

Death of HB’s father, Benjamin Brian – of acute pleurisy aged 48
May 1901 25

Death of grandmother – Hannah Brian – aged 90
17 June 1901 25

Birth of second child – Hector William Brian – named after Hector Berlioz
?1902–03 26–27

Composes Pantalon and Columbine, a short orchestral piece. Will use it for movements 2 & 3 of English Suite 1
?1902–04 26–28

Composes English suite 1, incorporating Pantalon and Columbine (?1902–03) as movements 2 and 3
18 April 1902 26

Death of second child – Hector William Brian – of tubercular peritonitus
20 September 1902 26

Birth of third child – Margery Isabelle Brian
1903 27

Leaves job at timber yard. Becomes traveller for another timber merchant and will stay until 1910
?1903–04 27–28

Composes Legende for orchestra – now lost
?1903–04 27–28

Composes movements for string quartet, now lost
1903 27

Composes partsong Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
September 1903 27

Completes Burlesque variations on an original theme, ‘composed spring and summer 1903’, Hartshill, Stoke–on–Trent. Full score later lost, will be rediscovered 1974
19 December 1903 27

Birth of another son – George Halford Brian – named after the Birmingham conductor who formed the Halford orchestra
1904–06 28–30

Composes Hero and Leander, symphonic poem for orchestra; [full] score later lost by Sir Thomas Beecham
?1904–06 28–30

Composes three songs: Sorrow song, The message, Farewell
1904 28

Composes For valour, concert overture for orchestra; will revise in 1906
c1904 28

Composes Psalm 23. Full score later lost, will be reconstructed in 1945
1 Jan 1905 – Feb 1908 28–32

Critic on Musical World until the paper folds in February 1908
2 January 1905 28

Michael Tippett born
1905 29

Elgar invites HB to show him an orchestral work – Psalm 23
1905 29

Songs The message, Farewell performed
1905 29

Composes By the waters of Babylon; will revise in 1909
1905 29

Composes partsong Stars of a summer night
1 September 1905 29

Elgar invites HB to Three Choirs Festival
Made Freeman of the city of Worcester
January 1906 29

Composes three songs for tenor and piano, If I could speak, When I lie ill, Day and night, (all Cumberland)
c mid Jan1906 – Apr 1907 30

Composes work for cello and piano – now lost
1906 30

Revises For valour
1906 30

Composes songs, now lost, and six partsongs
1906 30

Composes Carmilhan, dramatic ballad for soli, chorus, orchestra – now lost
6 February 1906 30

Composes song, Soliloquy upon a dead child (Cumberland), Stoke–on–Trent
3 July 1906 30

Composes song, A faery song (Yeats), Stoke–on–Trent
October 1906 30

Meets Granville Bantock shortly after hearing premiere of Omar Khayyam Part 1 at Birmingham Triennial Festival
?1906–07 30–31

Composes Let God arise for soli, chorus, orchestra (Psalm 68) – now lost
1907 31

Composes scherzo and slow movement for orchestra – originally the middle movements of Fantastic Symphony – now lost
12 January 1907 30

Brian conducts performance of English suite 1 in Leeds
7 March 1907 31

3 movements of English suite 1 are performed in Hanley
18 April 1907 31

Brian conducts Hanley performance of By the waters of Babylon
1907 31

Performance in Hanley of work for cello and piano (1906)
24 April 1907 31

Performance in Broadwood’s Studios, London of work for cello and piano (1906)
August 1907 31

Composes Fantastic variations on an old rhyme for orchestra – at that time the first movement of Fantastic Symphony, HB’s original first symphony, later (1967) to be demoted
12 September 1907 31

Sir Henry Wood conducts English suite 1 at the Proms
8 October 1907 31

Sir Henry Wood conducts For valour at the Proms
24 March 1907 31

Birth of another son – Dennis Brian – Isabel’s last child
7 July 1907 31

Completes The vision of Cleopatra (Cumberland) for soli, choruses and orchestra, Stoke–on–Trent. Vocal score published, full score now lost
18 January 1908 31

Bantock conducts English suite 1 in Liverpool
1908–09 32–33

Composes The soldier’s dream for orchestra, or voices and orchestra – now lost
1908–09 32–33

Composes work for chorus and orchestra – now lost
c1908 32

Arranges JS Bach’s cantata 34 »O ewiger Feuer« for tenor and piano – now lost
August 1908 32

Completes Festal dance, originally the fourth and last movement of Fantastic Symphony, Stoke–on–Trent
1908 32

Composes partsong Fairies’ song (Cumberland)
3 December 1908 32

Beecham conducts Hero and Leander in Hanley
1909–13 33–36

Sponsored by Herbert Minton Robinson, Secretary of the bone china firm Minton
27 February 1909 33

Bantock conducts English suite 1 in Liverpool
1909 33

Revises By the waters of Babylon. FS now lost
25 September 1909 33

By the waters of Babylon performed in Liverpool
14 October 1909 33

The vision of Cleopatra performed at the Southport Festival
3 January 1910 33

Composes song Why dost thou wound and break my heart? (Herrick)
3 January 1910 33

Completes The mad maid’s song (Herrick), mezzo and pno (or orch?), Stoke–on–Trent – orch score now lost
6 January 1910 33

Composes song The night piece, tenor and pno (or orch?), Stoke–on–Trent – orch score now lost
1910 34

Composes partsong Daybreak (Longfellow)
27 October 1910 34

Completes In memoriam, Trentham
1911–12 35–36

Composes Doctor Merryheart (Comedy overture 1), Trentham
27 June 1911 35

For valour is given at the Festival of Empire, Crystal Palace
1911 35

Gustav Mahler dies
1912 36

Composes three Herrick partsongs, SSAA and orch, one now lost
14 February 1912 36

Beecham conducts For valour in Birmingham
April 1912 36

North Staffordshire performance of For valour
1913–14 37–38

Composes Pilgrimage to Kevlaar (Heine), ballad for chorus and orch – now lost
3 January 1913 36

Birmingham performance of Dr Merryheart
1913 37

Benjamin Britten born
7 October 1913 37

Sir Henry Wood conducts Dr Merryheart at the Proms
1913 37

In memoriam published
1914 38

Composes The maiden and the flower garden (Cumberland), children’s operetta for voices and piano – now lost
1914 38

Composes Three dances – arranged from The maiden and the flower garden (1914) – now lost
1914 38

Composes many songs and partsongs (in addition to those listed below)
2 January 1914 37

Composes partsong Grace for a child (Herrick)
c 15 January 1914 37

Composes unison song with piano, What does little birdie say? (Tennyson)
c February 1914 38

Composes unison song with piano, Robin redbreast
late March – April 1914 38

Composes unacc partsong, The sands of Dee (Kingsley)
mid April 1914 38

Composes male unacc partsongs, Legend of Altenahr, Meg Merrilies, female unacc partsong, The owl, unison song The mountain and the squirrel
25 April 1914 38

Composes unacc partsong Clown’s song (Shakespeare)
end April 1914 38

Composes unison song, Piping down the valleys wild (Blake)
1 May 1914 38

Composes unison song, The chimney sweeper (Blake)
7 May 1914 38

Commences Red May, military march for orchestra – now lost
15 May 1914 38

Completes Red May
mid–late May 1914 38

Composes unison song, The little black boy (Blake)
late May 1914 38

Composes unison song, The blossom (Blake)
early June 1914 38

Composes partsong, Summer has come, little children (Cumberland)
6 or 7 June 1914 38

Composes unison song, The fly (Blake)
?7 June 1914 38

Composes partsong, The dream (Blake)
25 August 1914 38

Private Number 1546 No 1 Company of Honorable Artillery Company. Finsbury, East London
26 November 1914 38

Brian conducts a Bournemouth performance of English suite 1
December 1914 38

Bantock premieres Festal dance, Birmingham
1915 39

Composes English suite 2 – now lost
1915 39

Composes two partsongs
1915 39

Composes Legend for orchestra – now lost
1915 39

Composes work for orchestra – now lost
4 May 1915 39

Discharged from Army because of flat feet
25 May 1915 – 13 Dec 1915 39

Clerk at Audit Offices of Canadian Forces Contigent at Westminister House, Millbank, London
June 1915 39

Beecham conducts Festal Dance at the Proms
1916 40

Composes Razamoff, symphonic drama for orchestra, but does not finish it – now lost
1916 40

Composes Three illuminations for piano
1916 40

Composes Three comedy dances for orchestra – possibly arrangement of Three illuminations (1916) – now lost
? October 1916 40

Begins work on The grotesques [subsequently retitled The tigers ]
1918 42

Composes songs, and two scenas for baritone and piano or orch – now lost
1918–19 42–43

Composes three songs
1918–20 42–44

Composes Four miniatures for piano
26 January 1919 42

Composes song, The birds (Blake)
1919 43

Completes draft sketch of The Tigers
1919 43

Composes Tales of olden times, 3 pieces for small orchestra – now lost
1919 43

Composes many songs and partsongs, some now lost
4 June 1919 43

Bantock performs Festal dance, Birmingham
?1919 43

Composes Legend for violin and piano
?1919 43

Starts work on The Gothic
1919 43

Starts English suite 3. A piano version of mvts 1–3 will be made, but is now lost
28 June 1920 44

Wood conducts Festal Dance at the Proms
?early 1920s

Sketches A Buster Keaton overture for orchestra. Doesn’t complete this and recycles material in other, unspecified, works
1921 45

Fanfare from »The Grotesques« published in Musical Opinion 1(5) p91
1921 45

Commences orchestration of six orchestral pieces from The Tigers
1921 45

Composes partsong Full fathom five
2 March 1921 45

Robert Simpson born
28 April 1921 45

First performance of Fantastic variations at Bournemouth; work repeated
29 April 1921 45

Brian conducts Fantastic variations at Bournemouth
30 April 1921 45

Brian conducts Fantastic variations at Bournemouth
1 May 1921 45

Brian conducts Fantastic variations at Bournemouth
2 May 1921 45

Brian conducts Fantastic variations at Bournemouth
5 May 1921 45

Completes English suite 3
26 December 1921 45

Premiere of In memoriam, Edinburgh, Scottish Orchestra/Sir Landon Ronald
27 December 1921 45

Performance of In memoriam, Glasgow, Scottish Orchestra/Sir Landon Ronald
1922 46

Completes orchestration of six orchestral pieces from The tigers
1922 46

Composes songs, most now lost
16 March 1922 46

Premiere of English suite 3 performed at Bournemouth
25 January 1923 47

Fantastic variations performed at Bournemouth
2 April 1923 47

Fantastic variations performed at Bournemouth
1924 48

Charlers Villiers Stanford dies
1924 48

Composes Introit amen [sic] for chorus
1924 48

Composes four Choral canons
1924 48

Composes Double fugue in Eb for piano, Moulsecoomb, Sussex
1924 48

Composes Prelude and fugue in C minor for piano, Moulsecoomb, Sussex
1924 48

Composes Prelude and fugue in D minor/major for piano
?1924 48

Composes English suite 4 »Kindergarten« – now lost
28 February 1924 48

Symphonic variations from The Tigers premiered at Bournemouth
4 May 1924 48

Symphonic variations from The Tigers performed at Bournemouth
1925 49

Arranges vocal score of Vaughan Williams’ Sancta civitas
1925 49

Teaches at Royal College of Music
1925 49

Composes songs and partsongs
1925 49

Composes songs
1926 50

Commences vocal score of The Tigers, Brighton
1926 50

Makes a piano transcription of unidentified work by Elgar, now lost
1927 51

Completes The Gothic
1927 51

Completes vocal score of The Tigers, Brighton
2 December 1927 51

Gargoyles from The Tigers given as a BBC New Music Rehearsal
June 1927 –1939 51–63

Assistant Editor, Musical Opinion
1928 52

Begins orchestration of remainder of The Tigers
22 August 1928 52

Karlheinz Stockhausen born
3 December 1928 52

Birth of daughter – Elfreda Brian – by Hilda Mary Hayward
1929 53

Completes orchestration of The Tigers
1930s

Arranges Te Deum of Basil Maine for chorus and orchestra – now lost
June 1930 54

Starts sketches for Symphony 2 in E minor for large orchestra
1 September 1930 54

Completes draft for Symphony 2
26 October 1930 54

Completes revison and fair copy of Symphony 2
2 November 1930 54

Starts full score of Symphony 2
winter 1930–31 54–55

Composes Battle song for brass band – only short score survives
6 April 1931 55

Completes full score of Symphony 2
12 April 1931 55

Starts sketching Symphony 3 in C sharp minor for 2 pianos and large orchestra
23 May 1931 55

Completes draft of first movement, Symphony 3
21 June 1931 55

Starts drafting second movement, Symphony 3
1 July 1931 55

Completes draft of second movement, Symphony 3
12 July 1931 55

Starts drafting fourth movement, Symphony 3
16 July 1931 55

Completes draft of fourth movement, Symphony 3
18 July 1931 55

Starts drafting third movement, Symphony 3
19 July 1931 55

Completes draft of third movement, Symphony 3
1932 56

The Tigers vocal score published – full score lost and will not be rediscovered until 1977
1932 56

Cranz publishes full score of The Gothic
Sat 28 May 1932 56

Finishes Symphony 3 in full score
20 June 1932 56

Starts sketching Symphony 4 in C major for soprano, 2 choruses, v large orchestra
4 December 1932 56

Finishes draft of Symphony 4
15 April 1933 57

Isabel dies of a heart condition
9 June 1933 57

Marries Hilda at Camberwell Register Office
? 1933 57

Composes Prelude for soprano and double chorus – now lost
December 1933 57

Two broadcasts of Dr Merryheart from Hamburg
10 December 1933 57

Completes Symphony 4 in full score (40 staves!)
17 January 1934 57

Dr Merryheart is performed in Bournemouth and broadcast live by the BBC
23 February 1934 58

Edward Elgar dies at his home in Worcester
1 March 1934 58

Gargoyles and Wild horsemen from The Tigers broadcast live by the BBC
15 March 1934 58

Fantastic variations performed in Edinburgh by Sir Donald Tovey
1934 58

Starts Violin concerto 1
1934 58

Gustav Theodore [von] Holst dies
1934 58

Composes Prelude »John Dowland’s fancy«, the first of a projected John Dowland suite; however never writes down the remaining three movements
1934 58

Peter Maxwell Davies born
6 June 1934 58

Festal dance given by Bantock in Birmingham
8 June 1934 58

Loses – or is robbed of – the short score of Violin concerto (1934) on the Brighton train at Victoria Station
September 1934 58

Undergoes minor eye operation at Royal Eye Hospital, St George’s Circus SE London
17 October 1934 58

Festal dance given by Bantock in Birmingham
? 1935 59

Composes a work for organ, now lost
8 June 1935 59

Completes Violin Concerto 2 in C major based on some of the themes of the lost first violin concerto
30 September 1935 59

Festal dance given by Sir Henry Wood at the Proms
16 October 1936 60

Dr Merryheart broadcast live twice by the BBC
1937 61

Arranges two songs from Handel’s Venus and Adonis (Dear Adonis, Transporting joy) for voice and piano
early 1937 61

Starts a Solo cantata based on »Wine of summer« by Lord Alfred Douglas
8 April 1937 61

Draft vocal score of Solo cantata completed
8 May 1937 61

Dr Merryheart broadcast live by the BBC
April 1937 61

Brian visits Douglas in Brighton and plays through Solo cantata
18 June 1937 61

Completes Solo cantata renaming it Symphony for solo voice [baritone] and orchestra – ie Symphony 5 »Wine of Summer«
31 August 1937 61

English suite 3 broadcast live by the BBC
10 November 1937 61

Begins vocal score of Act I of Prometheus unbound
1939–1948 63–72

Clerk at Chislehurst, Kent
22 March 1939 63

Completes vocal score of Act I of Prometheus unbound
27 March 1939 63

Dr Merryheart broadcast live by the BBC
31 March 1939 63

Begins vocal score of Act II of Prometheus unbound
26 August 1939 63

Suspends composition of Prometheus unbound
?1940 64

Performance of Dr Merryheart by CBS SO? Bernard Herrmann
27 November 1941 65

Resumes composition of Prometheus unbound
24 June 1942 66

Completes vocal score of Act II of Prometheus unbound
13 February 1944 68

BBC broadcasts Gargoyles and Wild horsemen from The Tigers
19 August 1944 68

Sir Henry Wood dies, aged 75
September 1944 68

Completes full score of Prometheus unbound
1945 69

Reconstructs Psalm 23, the full score having been lost
1945 69

Publication of Reginald Nettel, Ordeal by Music: the strange experience of Havergal Brian
9 May 1946 70

Song recital and performance of Preludes and fugues
16 October 1946 70

Granville Bantock dies in Lambeth Hospital, aged 78
?1947 71

Starts Adagio e dolente for cello and piano – leaves it as fragment
?1947 71

Starts sketches for an opera on JM Synge’s Deirdre of the sorrows, beginning with the prologue which, when he is obliged to abandon the opera for contractual reasons, will become Sinfonia tragica
27 January 1948 71

Starts sketching The tinker’s wedding, Comedy overture 2
21 Febuary 1948 72

Completes Sinfonia tragica, which will be included in the symphonic canon in 1967 as no 6
6 March 1948 72

Completes The tinker’s wedding
c8 March 1948 72

Starts Symphony 7 in C major
14 September 1948 72

Completes Symphony 7
1949 73

Richard Strauss dies, aged 85
25 January 1949 72

Starts sketching Symphony 8 in Bb minor
27 March 1949 73

Completes pencil short score of Symphony 8
11 April 1949 73

Completes second short score, in ink, of Symphony 8
17 May 1949 73

Completes full score of Symphony 8
23 June 1949 73

BBC New Music Rehearsal of The tinker’s wedding
April 1950 74

Starts Turandot, Prinzessin von China, ‘ein tragikomisches Märchen nach Gozzi von Schiller’, abridged by the composer and set in German without English translation
June 1950 74

The tinker’s wedding broadcast in Scotland only [BBC Scottish SO/Eric Warr] – first premiere for 16 years
7 June 1950 74

Finishes pencil sketches of Turandot, vocal score
13 September 1950 74

Finishes ink copy of Turandot, vocal score
18 May 1951 75

Completes full score of Turandot
July 1951 75

Commences Symphony 9 in A minor
September 1951 75

Completes draft of Symphony 9
October 1951 75

The tinker’s wedding broadcast by BBC [BBC Scottish SO/Eric Warr]
November 1951 75

Completes full score of Symphony 9
1951 75

Starts The Cenci, music drama in eight scenes, libretto abridged by the composer from Acts I,IV,V of Shelley’s eponymous poem
29 May 1952 76

Finishes pencil sketches of The Cenci, vocal score
24 July 1952 76

Finishes ink copy of The Cenci, vocal score
1 September 1952 76

Completes full score of The Cenci – Overture
29 September 1952 76

Completes full score of The Cenci – Scene I
11 October 1952 76

Completes full score of The Cenci – Scene II
4 December 1952 76

Completes full score of The Cenci – Scene IV
12 June 1953 77

Commences English Suite 5 »Rustic scenes«
27 June 1953 77

Completes English Suite 5
1953 77

Copies out complete set of parts for forthcoming BBC performance of Symphony 8
1953 77

Starts Symphony 10 in C minor
16 January 1954 77

Finishes full score of Symphony 10
1 February 1954 78

First broadcast by BBC of a Brian symphony: Symphony 8 (first performance), London PO/Sir Adrian Boult
2 February 1954 78

Second broadcast by BBC of Symphony 8, London PO/Sir Adrian Boult
10 February 1954 78

Starts sketching Symphony 11
11 February 1954 78

Sketches second movement Symphony 11
15 February 1954 78

Finishes sketching Symphony 11
29 April 1954 78

Finishes full score of Symphony 11
7 June 1954 78

Completes Elegy for orchestra
April 1955 79

Starts vocal score of Faust, music drama in a prologue and four acts, libretto abridged by the composer from part 1 of Goethe’s Faust and set in German with no English translation
19 August 1955 79

Completes vocal score of Faust
1956 80

Play through by a BBC orchestra of Symphony 11
11 May 1956 80

Completes full score of Faust
27 December 1956 80

BBC broadcasts Dr Merryheart
4 February 1957 81

Completes Symphony 12
April 1957 81

Finishes full score of Agamemnon, music drama in one act, libretto abridged and adapted by the composer from Blackie’s ‘Everyman’ translation of Aeschylus
1958 82

Ralph Vaughan Williams dies, aged 86
22 March 1958 82

First performance (BBC broadcast) of Symphony 9, London Symphony Orchestra/Norman del Mar
3 November 1958 82

First performance (BBC broadcast) of Symphony 10, Philharmonia Orchestra/Stanley Pope
20 December 1958 82

BBC broadcasts Symphony 8, BBC SO/Rudolf Schwarz
5 February 1959 83

BBC broadcasts second performance of Symphony 9, London SO/Norman del Mar
November 1959 83

Starts Symphony 13 in C major
5 November 1959 83

First performances (BBC broadcast) of Symphonies 11, 12 plus Dr Merryheart, London SO/Harry Newstone
December 1959 83

Finishes Symphony 13
1959 83

Starts Symphony 14 in F minor
10 February 1960 84

Finishes Symphony 14
1960 84

Composes Symphony 15 in A major
1960 84

Composes Symphony 16
26 November 1960 84

Sketches for Symphony 17
8 January 1961 84

Full score of Symphony 17
February 1961 85

Commences Symphony 18
May 1961 85

Completes Symphony 18
24 June 1961 85

First performance (semi–professional) of Symphony 1 »The Gothic«, conductor Bryan Fairfax, Westminster Hall, London
5 November 1961 85

Completes Symphony 19 in E minor
26 February 1962 86

Premiere of Symphony 18, Polyphonia Orchestra/Bryan Fairfax
13 April 1962 86

Completes Jolly Miller, Comedy overture no 3
31 May 1962 86

Completes Symphony 20 in C sharp minor
1962 86

Extracts Three pieces from »Turandot«
1963 87

Composes Symphony 21 in E flat major
13 April 1964 88

Completes Cello concerto
June 1964 88

Completes Concerto for orchestra
22 December 1964 88

Completes first movement of Symphony 22 »Symphonia brevis«
8 January 1965 89

Completes second movement of Symphony 22
1965 89

Composes Symphony 23
1965 89

Composes Symphony 24 in D major
10 January 1966 89

Completes Symphony 25 in A minor
1966 90

Composes Symphony 26
4 August 1966 90

HB attends concert of Symphony 12 performed at the Proms, conductor Norman del Mar (first work at Proms for 53 years)
21 September 1966 90

First performance (BBC broadcast) of Symphony 6 »Sinfonia tragica«, Orchestra of Royal Opera House/Douglas Robinson
30 October 1966 90

HB attends first professional performance of The Gothic – at the Royal Albert Hall, London, BBC forces/Sir Adrian Boult
10 December 1966 90

Completes Symphony 27 in C major
1967 91

HB renumbers his early symphonies, dropping A fantastic symphony (1907–08) to make The Gothic (1919–27) number 1, and inserting Sinfonia tragica (1948) as number 6
26 February 1967 91

Second broadcast by BBC of Symphony 6 »Sinfonia tragica«, Orchestra of Royal Opera House/Douglas Robinson
April 1967 91

Completes Symphony 28 in C minor
3 July 1967 91

BBC broadcasts Das Siegeslied, BBC Northern forces/Maurice Handford
31 July 1967 91

Completes Symphony 29 in Eb major
1967 91

Commences Oedipus Coloneus, opera after Sophocles, but does not complete it and probably destroys the manuscript
13 November 1967 91

Completes Symphony 30 in Bb minor
26 November 1967 91

Second broadcast of The Gothic, Boult performance
Christmas 1967 91

Composes Fanfare for the orchestral brass, later to be renamed Festival fanfare
16 April 1968 92

Completes Symphony 31
13 March 1968 92

First performance (BBC broadcast) of Symphony 7, Royal PO/Harry Newstone
31 May 1968 92

Completes Legend for orchestra »Ave atque vale«
June 1968 92

Starts Symphony 32 in Ab major
October 1968 92

Finishes Symphony 32
1969 93

Publication of Lewis Foreman (ed), Havergal Brian: A Selection of Essays
20 June 1969 93

BBC broadcasts Violin concerto, Ralph Holmes, NPO/Stanley Pope
11 December 1969 93

First performance of Symphony 5 »Wine of summer«, Brian Rayner Cook (bar), Kensington SO/Leslie Head
10 May 1970 94

BBC broadcasts Symphonies 14, 21
11 January 1971 94

Song recital by Brian Rayner Cook
28 January 1971 95

95th birthday concert: English suite 3, Symphony 32 [premiere] _, Agamemnon_ [premiere], Kensington SO/Leslie Head
5 February 1971 95

First performance of Cello concerto, QEH, Thomas Igloi, Polyphonia/Sir Adrian Boult
1971 95

Thomas Adès born
27 June 1971 95

BBC broadcasts Symphony 8, Royal PO/Myer Fredman
19 July 1971 95

BBC broadcasts Cello concerto, from 5 February 1971 performance, Thomas Igloi, Polyphonia/Sir Adrian Boult
15 August 1971 95

BBC broadcasts Symphonies 9, 22 [premiere], Royal PO/Myer Fredman
1972 96

HB’s youngest daughter, Elfreda (b1928) dies; HB retrospectively dedicates Symphony 2 to her
12 February 1972 96

Performance of The tinker’s wedding, Fulham Municipal Orchestra/Josef Vandernoot
7 May 1972 96

Premiere of Festival fanfare, University of Illinois Wind Ensemble/Robert Gray
28 November 1972 96

William Havergal Brian dies at Shoreham–by–Sea, Sussex, England

Material by Lewis Foreman (1974) and Malcolm MacDonald (1981), published in Havergal Brian Society Newsletter 37, December/October 1981.
Additional material by Lewis Foreman (from Havergal Brian and the Performance of his Orchestral Music) and Malcolm MacDonald (various dates to 1998).
Further information from the Havergal Brian Society Archives.
Based on a chronology by Tim Horwood. Collated, with ‘non-Brian’ events added by Jeremy Marchant and Martyn Becker.