Vaughan Williams

[walt]

William Lawes (1602-1645) was another English composer whose consort works are well worth a listen.Naxos has a excellant cd of these pieces.Good stuff.

[gregory]

We had some of great composers between Byrd and Elgar!
I can't believe nobody's mention Purcell! For me, the greatest native English composer.
And Handel was a naturalized British citizen, and wrote most of his greatest masterpieces after that - plenty of them in English, too. So he counts.
Also, Dowland wasn't bad either.

Purcell is truly great. Dowland is fantastic. But, as I noticed, talk of the tread was British composers of XXth Century.

[Dodie]

Just trying to redress a common perspective that no English music worthy of note existed before Elgar (plenty of British classical music folks think that too!)
I meant to add though that my favourite Vaughan Williams works are 'Dona nobis pacem', 'Fantasia on Christmas Carols' and the Tallis Fantasia.
I keep meaning to get to know the symphonies better, but I'm more drawn to the choral works (yes, I know two of the symphonies have choruses in them, but I'm not counting them!) and the shorter tuneful orchestral suites.

For my money, Britten isn't really anything like Vaughan Williams at all. His harmonic language seems much more knowingly cerebral, and he's much more like Stravinsky than Holst, so to speak. My favourite Britten pieces are the Hymn to St Cecilia and the song cycle 'Winter Words', but there's a lot of it I don't know.

[singring57]

British music is probably my most neglected region in classical listening. I did hear Vaughan Williams no. 5 on the radio a little while back, and there are some beautiful passages I remember.

Totally agree. The closing moments of the 5th Symphony is the most beautiful music i have ever heard.

[Jondon4]

RVW was a nationalist and grounded in English follksong tradition. You can hear it in most of his work. He also penned or arranged many, many hymns found in Protestant hymnals. Britton did too but his music was much more rooted in world music traditions, exploring modern musical forms and techniques. RVW's first symphony, The Sea Symphony is roiling but if you prefer pastoral, try his third. The Lark Ascending, a violin piece is as beautiful as you can find and other shorter pieces like Dives and Lazarus, In the Fenland, Norfolk Rhapsody have all the same pastoral elements. He did study briefly with Ravel and his Aristophanic Suite - the Wasps is great fun!

[Zeuhlmate]

English composer William Mathias: Lux Aeterna is quite a piece.
The only piece I know by him.

[rob martino]

Count me in as someone who also loves RVW's music and his harmonic language.

The Tallis Fantasia was my introduction to RVW in college and immediately I was blown away by those mystical modal harmonies. I have a few recordings of that one- it's one of those pieces that makes me stop whatever I'm doing to listen, it's incredibly mesmerizing.



I have a fascinating CD- recordings of two English composers conducting their own music from the 20s/30s- Holst (The Planets) and Vaughan Williams (Symphony 4)- despite the limited recording technology these are fiery, brisk performances in comparison with many of the modern versions.

[walt]

What one Vaughan Williams cd would y'all recommend for me(i have none).Thanks.

[rob martino]

What one Vaughan Williams cd would y'all recommend for me(i have none).Thanks.

That's a tough one, he's done so much important music, but any CD would have to include the Tallis Fantasia, so this is a collection of 4 of his more well known pieces by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Willia...sim_dmusic_a_2

[walt]

That's a tough one, he's done so much important music, but any CD would have to include the Tallis Fantasia, so this is a collection of 4 of his more well known pieces by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Willia...sim_dmusic_a_2

Thanks again Rob.Just ordered this from Amazon.Looking forward to hearing it.

[khapahk]

Since you brought it up I now have the opportunity to say something I have thought about for many years.

In concert halls throughout the United States very little British music is played. Oh yeah the occasional RVW or Elgar but there are so many great British composers
very often neglected. Here is a short list of some you should check out.

Of course RVW, Thomas Tallis and William Byrd all of whom you mention.
William Walton
Gerald Finzi
Benjamin Britten
Gustav Holst
Sir Michael Tippett
Edward Elgar
John Tavener

Gerald Finzi's very beautiful music is often overlooked but he wrote incredibly subtle yet gorgeous music.

A good list for starters ! To this I'd add the following :-

John Ireland
Arnold Bax
Richard Arnell
George Lloyd
William Alwyn
Robert Simpson
Havergal Brian
Edmund Rubbra
Lennox Berkeley
Herbert Howells

For my money, Arnell, Bax and Simpson are particularly worth listening to, for their larger scale orchestral music.

If you have a keen interest in RVW there is a Ralph Vaughan Williams Society which is worth looking into.

Yes, I am keen on 20th Century British composers !!

k

[Fracktured]

Thanks again Rob.Just ordered this from Amazon.Looking forward to hearing it.

Had this one for years. It's a great recording. You'll love it.

[rob martino]

I do have a few recordings of the Tallis Fantasia, and for that one piece this is probably my favorite recording both in terms of performance and sound quality, conducted by John Barbirolli in the 1960s:

http://www.amazon.com/English-String.../dp/B00004R95R

[rob martino]

As an excuse to resurrect this thread I thought I'd share a Stick arrangement I just recorded of a RVW tune, a short and relatively simple piece- The Call (from Five Mystical Songs) which is a nice example of the lovely harmonic language he uses, bringing modal flavors from centuries past into 20th century music...

http://soundcloud.com/rob-martino/th...-ralph-vaughan

[Lieto]

Vaughan Williams has also been a recent discovery for me, and a favorite. His music is stunning. He's right up there with Mahler and Shostakovich for me. The symphonies and Lark Ascending are among the best of the best

[Homburg]

Probably my favourite classical composer.

[rob martino]

I put together this video on Saturday, my Chapman Stick arrangement of The Call from Five Mystical Songs.

[presdoug]

Thanks again Rob.Just ordered this from Amazon.Looking forward to hearing it.

There is a marvellous recording of the Tallis Fantasia with Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony from '38-a must have.

[Oreb]

RVW's fifth symphony s IMO by far the best thing he ever wrote.

I fid a lot of the early-mid 20th C British composer's deeply uninteresting, but for genuinely progressive classical definitely recommend Harrison Birtwistle (Gawain is a masterpiece) and even more George Benjamin's Written on Skin.

[Jondon4]

I do have a few recordings of the Tallis Fantasia, and for that one piece this is probably my favorite recording both in terms of performance and sound quality, conducted by John Barbirolli in the 1960s:

http://www.amazon.com/English-String.../dp/B00004R95R

Barbirolli for my money was the greatest interpreter of VW's music. You're right about his Tallis recording. Most conductors focus upon VW's pastoral passages but Barbirolli builds the piece to a frenzy that's very powerful.

[100423]

I put together this video on Saturday, my Chapman Stick arrangement of The Call from Five Mystical Songs.

Very cool, thanks for posting this, Rob!

[sherrynoland]

From Colin's facebook page:

Flash fans from the early days may remember we used to use a section of Ralph Vaughn Williams' "Sinfonia Antartica" as intro music while we came onstage and plugged in, before we opened with "Small Beginnings ." ~ Colin Carter