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Post by Fafner on Sept 29, 2016 23:17:34 GMT
Vaughan Williams is my latest composer obsession, and here's one of his most famous pieces. Too bad that his music is so seldom performed outside of Britain (he was English himself), it's very pretty and accessible. Just wanted to share this piece with you. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 8:35:20 GMT
Fantastic piece of music. Magnificent live (especially if the orchestra's set up right.)
Even in Britain, RVW's suffered down the decades from categorisation as a purveyor of 'cowpat' music. In the last decade or so that seems to have changed, fortunately, not least because of the massive popularity that 'The Lark Ascending' has deservedly attained. (My personal favourite being the Julia Fischer version, though I've got a soft spot for Kennedy's.) Putting those two pieces to one side, my RVW 'top ten' (in no particular order) would be:
- Pastoral Symphony
- Symphony 5, 3rd mvmt
- Sinfonia Antartica
- Linden Lea
- Three Preludes Founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes
- Norfolk Rhapsody
- Oboe Concerto
- Five Mystical Songs
- On Wenlock Edge song cycle
- Fantasia on Christmas Carols.
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Post by Fafner on Sept 30, 2016 12:12:52 GMT
@thisboycries , Did you hear the Fantasia live? If yes, lucky you! Where I live (Israel) there's little chance to hear this piece live, or any British music for that matter.
Very interesting list, and I have to admit that I don't know all the pieces that you list, there's still so much to explore! I'm surprised that you list the pastoral symphony as your favorite, I think that it's got quite a bad reputation (a cow looking over a fence etc.), but I've been listening to this piece a lot lately, and it really grew on me, it's quite wonderful and atmospheric (the trumpet solo in the 2nd mvt. and the off-stage soprano in the finale are so evocative). Great choice!
Some of my favorites:
- London symphony (no.2) (perhaps the first piece by VW that got me hooked on his music, Previn on Telarc is a really strong recommendation both in terms of performance and phenomenal sound quality)
- Symphony no.8 (very underrated, listen to the finale! I think he used here the material from the last movement of "Five Mystical Songs")
- Serenade to Music (there are at least three different versions by the composer; 16 soloists/soloists + choir/only orchestra - and all of them are very enjoyable, great piece)
- Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'
- Flos Campi
- Norfolk Rhapsody no.2(!) (the piece was withdrawn by the composer for some reason, but there's a recording by Hickox on Chandos)
Concerning the Lark Ascending, I want to add Nicola Benedetti (DG), which must be the lushest version ever recorded, very sumptuous sound both by the violin and the orchestra with quite a large dynamic range.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 16:56:24 GMT
thisboycries , Did you hear the Fantasia live? Yes, a couple of times. Once, at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, 10(?) years ago, they stuck the string quartet up in the gallery and the whole effect sounded brilliant from where we were sitting in the side stalls by the main orchestra. 'London' is a great symphony. Saw that at the Proms too, back in 2003(?), conducted by Slatkin. I think all 9 symphonies have something going for them. 6 is another favourite of mine - RVW generates some incredible sounds in that one. But yes, I'd put the Pastoral top of the shop - I wholeheartedly agree about the highlights you pick out, but I'd also add the entire 3rd movement (one of my favourite 'short' movements from any symphony). 'Dives' and 'Flos Campi' - both great shouts! Not that keen on Benedetti in general, to be honest. Just a personal taste thing, but hard to define why. Will need to chase up Norfolk Rhap 2 - not sure I've ever heard it, so thanks for that tip! My RVW 'guilty pleasure' would be 'Oxford Elegy'. I've also got a soft spot for 'Songs of Travel', though they're possibly (dare I say?) a bit cheesy in places. What about other English 20th Century stuff? Have you ever come across E J Moeran's Symphony in G Minor? Well worth a listen. Peter Warlock, Arthur Bliss and Frank Bridge are three other lesser known figures that are well worth investigating, if you haven't done so already. Not forgetting the 'big names', of course - Britten, Walton etc. |
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Post by Fafner on Sept 30, 2016 20:42:59 GMT
Yes, a couple of times. Once, at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, 10(?) years ago, they stuck the string quartet up in the gallery and the whole effect sounded brilliant from where we were sitting in the side stalls by the main orchestra. 'London' is a great symphony. Saw that at the Proms too, back in 2003(?), conducted by Slatkin. I envy you so much, these pieces must've sound amazing live. I think all 9 symphonies have something going for them. 6 is another favourite of mine - RVW generates some incredible sounds in that one. Personally, I find it difficult to warm up to this piece, not one of my favorites (especially that repeated ostinato rhythm in the 2nd movement drives me nuts every time I listen). Though I admit that the short lyrical bit at the end of the 1st movement is very beautiful, pity it's so short... But yes, I'd put the Pastoral top of the shop - I wholeheartedly agree about the highlights you pick out, but I'd also add the entire 3rd movement (one of my favourite 'short' movements from any symphony). Yes of course, I wanted to mention that one as well - maybe his best scherzo movement of all? (together with the 5th) My RVW 'guilty pleasure' would be 'Oxford Elegy'. I've also got a soft spot for 'Songs of Travel', though they're possibly (dare I say?) a bit cheesy in places. I'll check those out, they surely must be included in that big EMI VW edition box... What about other English 20th Century stuff? Have you ever come across E J Moeran's Symphony in G Minor? Well worth a listen. Peter Warlock, Arthur Bliss and Frank Bridge are three other lesser known figures that are well worth investigating, if you haven't done so already. Not forgetting the 'big names', of course - Britten, Walton etc. Yes I know the Moeran symphony and I love it very much (as well as most of his other works that I heard). I know quite a few other British composers; aside from Vaughan Williams, 20th century British composers in general is an obsession of mine, and I've been exploring them for quite some time (I really like 20th century late romantic music in general, and British music is a particularly rich resource of this kind of stuff since most of them were quite conservative for their time). I even warmed up to Elgar - a composer that initially I thought I could never like. I would also add Arnold Bax (very big favorite, especially the tone poems), William Alwyn (check out Lyra Angelica), Malcolm Arnold (the 5th symphony is a kind of masterpiece), John Foulds, and of course Delius. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 21:50:35 GMT
Yes, big thumbs-up for Bax - the Vernon Handley symphony box-set is a perennial favourite.
Similar to yourself, never been really massive on Elgar but if I had to pick one piece, I'd go for the third Pomp & Circ march. Much prefer Holst, though.
Have dipped a little into Alwyn - I know symphonies 1 & 3 quite well (i.e. I've got them on CD) but a lot more to explore there.
Delius in small doses. Arnold's one of those I always think I should listen to more of, whenever his English Dances or something like that come on the radio. I know almost nothing about Foulds - there's always something new to discover!
Going back to scherzi, and moving away from English music for a moment, my all-time favourite would have to be the one from the New World symphony. I can still remember the first time I ever heard that, 30-odd years ago. Absolutely blew me away. The strings!
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Post by Fafner on Oct 1, 2016 12:01:56 GMT
@thisboycries , Similar to yourself, never been really massive on Elgar but if I had to pick one piece, I'd go for the third Pomp & Circ march. Much prefer Holst, though.-- The Enigma Variations is his first piece that really got me. It's a real masterpiece and well worth getting to know, you'll eventually get it if you listen enough times (you can also sample his pieces for strings like the ones on the classical Barbirolli English string music CD). Have dipped a little into Alwyn - I know symphonies 1 & 3 quite well (i.e. I've got them on CD) but a lot more to explore there.-- I highly recommend this CD - www.amazon.com/Alwyn-Symphonies-Nos-Concerto-Angelica/dp/B000QQR308/ref=sr_1_14I know almost nothing about Foulds - there's always something new to discover!-- He wasn't a major composer, but he has some nice things. Perhaps he is a bit reminiscent of Holst. He wrote a piece called "Three Mantras", where the second movement sounds a lot like a hybrid between Venus and Neptune from the planets, with a wordless female chorus and everything. Also like Holst, he was crazy about stuff from India and wrote pieces inspired by Indian texts. The piece is featured on this CD ( www.amazon.com/Three-Mantras-Celtica-Apotheosis-Mirage/dp/B0002VE20G/ref=sr_1_3) and you probably can find it on spotify to sample. Going back to scherzi, and moving away from English music for a moment, my all-time favourite would have to be the one from the New World symphony. I can still remember the first time I ever heard that, 30-odd years ago. Absolutely blew me away. The strings!
-- Well the New World is an old favorite, it's hard not to like that piece. Dvorak's scherzo was clearly inspired by the scherzo from Beethoven's 9th (probably the first real symphonic scherzo ever written). There are too many great scherzo movements to list, but I'll just pick one from the top of my head - the 2d movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd symphony (another piece which is on the top of my wish list for the pieces that I would love to hear live). |
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