Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[SonicMan46]

In any case the midde 'D' in those codes is somewhat ambiguous - by present standards a mid-80s RCA CD of older analogue material would be AAD - by these standards ADD wasn't really possible before the early/mid '90s - however if such a CD (I can't find one in my collection) was indeed labelled ADD that could also be correct by the standards pertaining at the time (analogue session tapes mixed down onto a digital recorder) - or it could be borderline mis-labelling but very commonly done (analogue session tapes mixed down onto an analogue recorder, at some point subsequently copied as a digital recording).

Well, not to belabor the point - below is the description on the lower back of the box - possibly the first CD releases were ADD, then the recordings were re-done to 24-bit DDD?  Just my guess, plus I have no booklet that might explain the mixing sequences - out of interest, I would send Sony an email but would not expect an answer so a waste of time, in my mind.  Dave

[SonicMan46]

I thought this documentary was a good overview of RVW and his life/music/loves.


Have any of you seen it?

Guys - documentary piques my interest - the Amazon USA MP has an offering for $17 USD - curious what the running time on the DVD may be? Thanks - Dave

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Well, not to belabor the point - below is the description on the lower back of the box - possibly the first CD releases were ADD, then the recordings were re-done to 24-bit DDD?  Just my guess, plus I have no booklet that might explain the mixing sequences - out of interest, I would send Sony an email but would not expect an answer so a waste of time, in my mind.  Dave

A recording cannot be "redone to DDD" since the first letter specifies the technology of the original recording.

Normally when a CD is marked ADD/DDD it means some content is ADD and other content is DDD. In this case it may mean that one or more tracks is from a digital recording, or that they made a mistake.

The middle D is basically meaningless, since there is more than one editing step. If multichannel analog master tapes were mixed, edited and processed to a stereo tape for cutting and LP, and that tape was then digitized, that is AAD. I have rarely seen a recording marked AAD. If raw multichannel master tapes were digitized and subsequent mixing, editing, equalization, etc were done digitially to produce a CD master, then that is ADD. But what if an analog system is used to mix a multichannel recording to stereo, then the stereo tape is edited and equalized digitally. Is that AAD or ADD? I assume they label that ADD, because even when they brag about "going back to the original session tapes" invariably the previous release (which didn't go back to the session tapes) was labeled ADD.

[vandermolen]

Guys - documentary piques my interest - the Amazon USA MP has an offering for $17 USD - curious what the running time on the DVD may be? Thanks - Dave

Just checked - 'approx. 90 minutes'.

[aligreto]

Vaughan Williams gets a lot of traction and positive press around here. A friend of mine always referred to Yawn Williams. I have heretofore been indifferent to the music of Vaughan Williams. I am open to persuasion and prepared to give the music another chance so let me see if I can dispel both of these sentiments with a survey of his music which is in my admittedly very modest collection:

Symphonies 1-9 Boult [CD]
Symphonies 1-9 Previn [LP]
A Sea Symphony Boult [LP + CD]
A Sea Symphony Previn [LP + CD]
A Sea Symphony Haitink [CD]
A Sea Symphony Hickox [CD]
A London Symphony Barbirolli [LP]
Sinfonia Antartica Boult [LP X 2 - Previn & Boult]
Symphony No. 8 Vaughan Williams [CD]
Symphony No. 8 Barbirolli [10" vinyl]

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams gets a lot of traction and positive press around here. A friend of mine always referred to Yawn Williams. I have heretofore been indifferent to the music of Vaughan Williams. I am open to persuasion and prepared to give the music another chance so let me see if I can dispel both of these sentiments with a survey of his music which is in my admittedly very modest collection:

Symphonies 1-9 Boult [CD]
Symphonies 1-9 Previn [LP]
A Sea Symphony Boult [LP + CD]
A Sea Symphony Previn [LP + CD]
A Sea Symphony Haitink [CD]
A Sea Symphony Hickox [CD]
A London Symphony Barbirolli [LP]
Sinfonia Antartica Boult [LP X 2 - Previn & Boult]
Symphony No. 8 Vaughan Williams [CD]
Symphony No. 8 Barbirolli [10" vinyl]

My recommendations:
symphonies 4-6 and 'Job - a Masque for Dancing'. See if they change your mind. He is not everyone's cup of tea.

[aligreto]

My recommendations:
symphonies 4-6 and 'Job - a Masque for Dancing'. See if they change your mind. He is not everyone's cup of tea.

Thank you for the recommendations Jeffrey. I do have a version of 'Job - a Masque for Dancing' by Boult in my collection which I obviously did not list above. I will of course give that another listen.

[aukhawk]

Personally I would happily trade 'Job' for symphonies 4 and possibly 9 as well.

[Roasted Swan]

I think RVW's Symphony No.3 is his "marmite" work (does that translate to all readers.......? - you'll love it or hate it!)  For me his most individual/characteristic work of genius - remarkable in its sound world and aesthetic.  BUT - if English Pastoralism brings you out in hives.... AVOID!

[aligreto]

Personally I would happily trade 'Job' for symphonies 4 and possibly 9 as well.

Interestingly I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of "Job" but I will definitely revisit the work at some stage.

[aligreto]

I think RVW's Symphony No.3 is his "marmite" work (does that translate to all readers.......? - you'll love it or hate it!)  For me his most individual/characteristic work of genius - remarkable in its sound world and aesthetic.  BUT - if English Pastoralism brings you out in hives.... AVOID!

Yes, it can and often does but hopefully I will not let that prejudice me in any way this time around.

[vandermolen]

Symphony 8 is getting quite a lot of approval on the forum, so that is worth a listen as well. Hope you find something you like Fergus.

[aligreto]

Symphony 8 is getting quite a lot of approval on the forum, so that is worth a listen as well. Hope you find something you like Fergus.

Thank you again Jeffrey. I have no doubt that I will for reasons that I will document later. What I will endeavour to do with this particular listening project is to get a better understanding and appreciation of the Symphonies as a body of work. I believe that my approach in the past was not continuous or focused enough to achieve this. We will see.

[Irons]

Yes, it can and often does but hopefully I will not let that prejudice me in any way this time around.

I'm with Jeffrey. It is odd-ball but in a good way. Go for the 8th.

[aukhawk]

Symphony 8 is getting quite a lot of approval on the forum, so that is worth a listen as well. Hope you find something you like Fergus.

I think that is because this is GMG, and GMG-ers in general seem to have a marked preference for the road less travelled.

(Witness for example a Composer forum where VW runs to 207 pages, and Havergal Brian to 394, whilst Beethoven has just 91 pages, Bach 32 and Wagner 2.)

[vandermolen]

I think that is because this is GMG, and GMG-ers in general seem to have a marked preference for the road less travelled.

(Witness for example a Composer forum where VW runs to 207 pages, and Havergal Brian to 394, whilst Beethoven has just 91 pages, Bach 32 and Wagner 2.)

Yes, but Haydn runs to about ten million pages (598 actually)

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I do find it remarkable that people find something new to say about Vaughan Williams every day, sometimes multiple times per day. 

[vandermolen]

I do find it remarkable that people find something new to say about Vaughan Williams every day, sometimes multiple times per day. 

Oh, I'm quite good at that! 

[Irons]

I do find it remarkable that people find something new to say about Vaughan Williams every day, sometimes multiple times per day. 

And the most amazing thing is we never repeat ourselves.

[aukhawk]

This is just a conspiracy to get the page count up to 208 ...