The Solent. Fifty years of music by Ralph Vaughan Williams - Albion Records

[patmos.beje]

 ;D Albion Records are releasing, what looks to be, an exciting CD of Vaughan Williams' premieres including his 'Three Impressions for Orchestra'. ;D

An absolute must buy for me :)

Fifty years of music by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Three Impressions For Orchestra (world première recording)
1 Burley Heath (completed by James Francis Brown) 5’31
2 The Solent 11’46
3 Harnham Down 6’54

Songs Of Travel (Book 1) arranged for baritone and orchestra by the composer
4 The Vagabond 2’57
5 The Roadside Fire 2’26
6 Bright is the Ring of Words 1’48

Four Hymns For Tenor, Viola Obbligato And Strings
7 Lord! Come away ~ Maestoso 3’52
8 Who is this fair one? ~ Andante moderato 4’43
9 Come Love, come Lord ~ Lento 3’40
10 Evening Hymn (O Gladsome Light) ~ Andante commoto 3’34
11 Weyhill Fair Song* 0’41

Incidental Music To The Mayor Of Casterbridge (world première recording)
12 Casterbridge 2’26
13 Intermezzo 2’19
14 Weyhill Fair (A to E) 1’57

Here is a link:http://www.mdt.co.uk/vaughan-williams-the-solent-fifty-paul-daniel-albion-records-2cds.html :D

[Dundonnell]

Excellent news :)

A must buy indeed. "The Solent" is quite quite beautiful :)

[Albion]

Great! I was hoping that all the surviving material from the Impressions for Orchestra would be recorded together. What we need next is the Cambridge Mass (1898-99) ...

 ;D

[kyjo]

Indeed, excellent news :) I was not aware there was so much early RVW that had been unrecorded up until now!

[suffolkcoastal]

Saw them advertised in last month's Society Journal, hopefully my continual nagging these past years to get all of these early works recorded has helped. We just need the Cambridge Mass and all of the piano/2 piano music recorded and then just about all of RVWs music is in recorded format.

[guest145]

Grin Albion Records are releasing, what looks to be, an exciting CD of Vaughan Williams' premieres including his 'Three Impressions for Orchestra'. Grin

An absolute must buy for me Smiley

I will be placing my order ASAP. Magnificent!

[jimfin]

Wonderful news! This is the kind of release that comes slightly ahead of paying the rent and buying food in my order of priorities!

[Christo]

Am playing the CD since yesterday. We knew The Solent (1902-3) already from the archives of this site, and it is indeed the finest piece here. But Harnham Down (1904-7) is equally interesting, especially since it fills the gap between In the Fen Country (1904) and the Tallis Fantasia (1910). It is, as the booklet states, probably the best illustration of the 'dead end' that Vaughan Williams in 1908 felt he had come to and that made him decide to take some lessons with Ravel in Paris.

It is indeed fascinating to learn to know so many of his early compositions, both because they are fine music on their own and because they help us understand much better why we felt that he had only found his own voice with the Tallis Fantasia. Yet we can now hear in as early as in The Solent, and even in the very early (1898) Serenade. The incidental music to The Mayor of Casterbridge (1951) consists of a few minor episodes. What we are really waiting for, I suspect, is more of his theater music from the 1910s.