A Happy and Prosperous New Year

To All Readers of

The Land of Lost Content

 Some Significant (and less so) Composer Anniversaries for 2026:

 Bi-Centenaries:

William Thomas Best

Guillaume Ignace Gibsone

Henry Hiles

Henry Lahee

Walter Cecil Macfarren

Charles Steggall

John Thomas

 150 Years:

Havergal Brian

William Yeates Hurlstone

William Gillies Whittaker

 Centenaries:

Brian Brockless

Francis Burt

Anthony Foster

Stanley Glasser

Tony Hewitt-Jones

Arthur Oldham

Denis Wickens

Arthur Wills

 Continental & American Composers Anniversaries

John Alden Carpenter 150 (USA)

Manuel de Falla 150 (Spain)

Carl Ruggles 150 (USA)

Ermano Wolf-Ferrari 150 (Italian)

Earle Brown 100 (USA)

Morton Feldman 100 (USA)

György Kurtág 100 (Hungarian)

Hans Werner Henze 100 (German)e Henze

The most significant (in British Music) event in 2026 is Havergal Brian’s (1876–1972) sesquicentennial anniversary. He was a fiercely independent English composer best known for his monumental Gothic Symphony, one of the largest ever written. Self-taught and prolific, he composed thirty-two symphonies, many in his later years, defying obscurity, and poverty with relentless creativity. His music blends late Romantic grandeur with quirky modernism, often dark, complex, and structurally daring. Though neglected for decades, Brian’s work has gained a niche interest for its originality and ambition. His musical ethos was driven by vision, rather than fashion or fame. Hopefully the Havergal Brian Society will have several events marking his achievement.

The gifted composer William Yeates Hurlstone (1876-1906) died tragically young, aged only thirty years. Charles Villiers Stanford at the Royal College of Music, London considered him to be one of his most talented students. Hurlstone was admired for his lyrical invention, elegant harmony, and chamber music sophistication. Important works include his Piano Concerto, a set of Variations on an Original Theme, the Magic Mirror Suite based on Snow White and a wealth of chamber music. It would be good to have some revivals during this anniversary year.

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, William Gillies Whittaker (1876-1944) began as a science student before turning to music, eventually teaching at Armstrong College, and founding the Newcastle Bach Choir in 1915. His passion for J.S. Bach led to landmark performances and scholarly work, including his posthumously published The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian. As Principal of the Scottish National Academy of Music and Gardiner Professor at Glasgow University, he revolutionized music education, introducing a Diploma in Music Education and promoted Dalcroze’s Eurhythmics. His compositions often reflected northern English folk elements, and a robust, lyrical style influenced by Gustav Holst. Whittaker edited educational music for Oxford University Press, leaving a lot of accessible choral and orchestral repertoire. I would like to see a performance/recording of Among the Northumbrian Hills, free variations on an original theme for piano and string quartet completed in 1922. His A Lyke-Wake Dirge for chorus and orchestra (1925) is too much to hope for.

It does not look like there are any celebrations planned for Arthur Wills (1926–2020) (Hopefully I am mistaken). He was an eminent English composer, organist, and educator, prominent for his long tenure as Director of Music at Ely Cathedral (1958–1990). He composed extensively for organ, choir, and orchestra, blending a traditional Anglican mood with modern harmonic language. Hopefully, a few of his anthems and organ pieces will be included in recitals and at church services.

Other composers celebrating their centenaries do not appear to have champions. Certainly, music by Brian Brockless (1926-95) and Arthur Oldham (1926-2003) may deserve unearthing. Tony Hewitt-Jones (1926-89) has little on record.

There will be few celebrations of bi-centenary composers. Walter Cecil Macfarren (1826-1905) trained under W.H. Holmes and Cipriani Potter and latterly taught notable pupils like Henry Wood and Tobias Matthay. His compositions - overtures, piano pieces, and vocal works -echoed Mendelssohn and Sterndale Bennett. Presto CDs list two of his compositions on disc – the most significant being the attractive Concertstück in E minor for piano and orchestra on the Hyperion label.

Organists may pull out dusty copies of original music or arrangements by William Thomas Best (1826-1897).

I would like to think that the continental and American composers will be celebrated at home and abroad. Manual De Falla (1876-1946) has retained his place in the British concert hall with works such as the ballet-pantomime El Amor Brujo, the Diaghilev commissioned ballet The Three-Cornered Hat and the evocative Noches en los jardines de España.

It would be disappointing if John Alden Carpenter’s (1876-1951) Skyscrapers and Krazy Kat ballets were not given an airing. And then there are the two rarely encountered Symphonies.

Hopefully, an enterprising orchestra will perform Carl Ruggles’s (1876-1971) dissonant, and uncompromising, Sun-Treader or even the Men and Mountains.

Italian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) is often heard on Classic fM with his ever-popular Il segreto di Susanna Overture. Sadly, most of his other operas have been sidelined.

Finally, the Avant Garde composers Earle Brown (1926-2002) and Morton Feldman (1926-87), both from the United States will have their enthusiasts. The same applies to the near-centenarian György Kurtág (b.1926) (Hungarian) and Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012) (German).