Introduce yourself here.....

[Alan Howe]

You are, of course, very welcome.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I was born in 1943, in The Netherlands, and listen to classical music since 1955, the moment I was presented with a record with Bach's 3td Suite coupled by Mozert's 5th Violin Concerto.
A fair part of my pocket money has been spent on bying records, since.
In later years I travelled several times to London to buy records, for friends (and myself of course).

I am strictly a music listener (lover) and collector of music.
Among the composers I love most, is Havergal Brian (thanks to this forum I completed my collection of the the symphonies). I'm not so interested in music earlier than Beethoven's (with exceptions of course) and although I like many modern compositions, I have possibly not the intelligence, nor the technically knowledge, to listen to the so-called avant-garde.
I' m busy digitizing my old records so I can pay you back for the music I downloaded so far.

Hi Elroel,

There are quite a lot of 'our kind' around here, even a couple of fellow Dutchmen with similar weird preferences. THE expert and Havergal Brian enthusiast is of course Johan Herrenberg, but there are more Dutchmen who share his enthusiasm. Johan and me actually met in London in 1995 in the course of a Havergal Brian festival organized by the Havergal Brian Society and have continued to meet since then. Some of us were active on another forum, but nowadays this one is the place to be.

I myself became an enthusiast for especially British and Scandinavion music in my teens, in the 1970s, and that's still my main focus. Composers like Vaughan Williams, Holst, Brian, Berkeley, Cooke, Bate, Arnold, Nielsen, Holmboe, Tubin and dozens more. I "discovered" most of them on Lyrita and other LPs available in a public library in Zwolle when I was sixteen and continued exploring with the help of the Amsterdam public library (Prinsengracht) as a student, often hiring LPs that I discovered twenty years later to have shared (unknowingly) with Johan Herrenberg (same age, similar preferences, also living in Amsterdam in the 1980s).

Great to meet you here! BW, Christo (Johan Snel)

Hello, Elroel!

Quite extraordinary to find another Dutchman who, unbeknownst to Johan and myself, loves Havergal Brian's music! Welcome to UC. Could you tell us how you discovered Brian's music? I encountered the name 'Havergal Brian' in that Amsterdam library Johan mentioned, in 1977, on the spine of vol. 1 of Malcolm MacDonald's seminal study... The rest is history.

[ElliotViola]

Hey all,

I am a 17 year old Viola player and Composer, looking to find new music to influence my style of writing, and possibly get some feedback on some of my work! I am aiming to write in the gaps into the Viola repertoire throughout my life, as there are massive holes in the Classical and Romantic repertory- I'm currently having my work published by OLC Barcelona Music and am always writing more inbetween being told to study my A-Levels.

I live in Brighton, in the UK and attend the Royal College Junior Department on Saturdays, and Christ's Hospital School otherwise (any old Blues on here?)

I like the idea of a forum for "unsung composers", I'm hoping I fit this because nobody wants to sing my choral piece

Seriously though, I love hearing new music. My favourite composers are Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Bartok (and I'm quite partial to Skryabin as well). I really like Rebecca Clarke too, don't know if she's been heard of on here...?

Anyway, looking forward to the discussion

Elliot

[Mark Thomas]

Welcome to UC, Elliot.

[EdwardHan]

Hey all:

I'm born in southeastern China, and living in a small town in north New Jersey, US now. My main interests are late 19th and early 20th century music, especially Russian and Soviet, Scandinavian and German music, and to some extent Vaughn Williams era in Britain. Generally I prefer chamber music than symphonism, maybe for I'm a piano player.

I grew up in an environment almost totally absent of classical music, and it's hard to image, even for me, that how can I develop such an interest. I discovered the field of unsung composers mostly by myself, since I got rid of some of the famous works. I tried to promote the idea in China, but it didn't go well at all, since most Chinese classical music fans, if there is any, care performers much more than composers. Then I studied in Indiana University, where one of the best music school in the world locates. I took some music course there and after that, I have to say it's quite a fortune for me to join such a great forum, particularly for the downloads. I'm thinking of earning a music degree in the future.

I don't have a lot of things for share since most of my collections are CDs, but I really looking forward for discussion. And I'll be quite happy to know and meet any friends here that live around New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

[Mark Thomas]

Welcome, Edward.

[Jimfin]

Welcome Edward! It's nice to see someone else with an Asian connection, though I am the opposite, born in England but now living in Japan.

[phoenixmusic1]

Hi,

I've been lurking around this forum for a little while now so thought I should introduce myself!

My name's Peter and I'm 21 years old. I've just finished an undergraduate degree in music and will be starting a postgraduate degree in September. My main interest is in 19th and 20th century British music so I've found the British Music Broadcasts downloads on here incredibly helpful and interesting. I hope I'll be able to contribute some useful comments myself occasionally, as well as reading other people's! I'm particularly interested in the composer Cyril Scott as my undergraduate dissertation was about his music.

Peter.

[jerfilm]

Hey, welcome Peter.   So glad to see young folks interested in the classics.  My daughter and step daughter were both music majors, the former doing her graduate work in Music Therapy at KU. 

Jerry

[Alan Howe]

Indeed. Welcome, Peter!

[febnyc]

Gee - many impressive bios.  A worthy lot, to be sure.

I was born in September, 1940, in New York City.

My working life was in the reinsurance business, always located in the Wall Street area of the Big Apple.  For a number of years, from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s I was CEO of an American subsidiary company of Pearl Assurance (any Brits remember "Cover Yourself with Pearl" adverts around town?).  I made countless trips to London - to the headquarters building in High Holborn (now an exclusive hotel) - and had the good fortune to know much of Great Britain during those sojourns.

I retired in 1997, at age 56, after the last 16 years employment in charge of a US company owned by a large outfit in Munich, Germany.  I made six trips annually to the Continent during those years.  Now, after 15 years away from the battlegrounds (I had a daily two-hour trip each way between home and office) I continue to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside in rural Westchester County, about 50 miles NNE of NYC.

I have two married children and four grandkids, all of whom live in New Jersey - about 75 miles from my wife and me.

My CD collection totals about 3,000 - about 60% dedicated to composers who would qualify for this forum.

I have very much valued the information gleaned here at UC.  The breadth of knowledge is impressive, as are the instant "heads-ups" about new releases.  As a result my wallet is lighter and my "want list" very full.  Long may this site thrive!

[jerfilm]

Welcome, febnyc.   As a retired CEO of a small property and casualty company in Minnesota, I understand a bit about the reinsurance business.  And I share your love of peace and quiet and romantic era music.

Jerry

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks for the background, febnyc. My grandfather was for many years a door-knocking salesman and collector for "The Pearl" here in the UK.

[Mark Thomas]

G'day Mike!

[febnyc]

Hi Jerry and Mark - thanks for your comments.

Jerry, we share a similar vocational background and you probably are one of the scant few who know anything about the reinsurance business!

Mark:  The Pearl has quite a history and your grandfather was part of the early days of the penny-a-week policy sales.  It was a shame when this grand company was bought up by the Australians and, in essence, ceased to exist.  Gosh! I remember in late 1970s watching the Chairman (Sir Geoffrey Kitchen by name) swoop into the interior courtyard of that mighty HQ building in High Holborn, in a long black Daimler, with flags flying.  Those were the glory days.  Today he probably would be thrashed in the public square for his upper-class ostentation.