Page "Havergal Brian" Paragraph 14

However fragmentary Brian ’ s music is, it is never directionless ; he maintains strong symphonic cohesion by long-term tonal processes ( similar to Carl Nielsen's " progressive tonality ", where the music is aiming towards a key, rather than being in a home key and returning to it ).

Although the fragmentary nature of his music militates against classical thematic unity, he often employs structural blocks of sound, where similar rhythms and thematic material allude to previous passages ( as opposed to classical statement and recapitulation ).