Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[Mirror Image]

Flos Campi



Vaughan Williams played the viola, and frequently professed it was his favorite instrument. Along with the Suite for viola and orchestra of 1934, his most significant work for the instrument is the unusual Flos Campi (Flower of the Field), which combines the viola with a spare orchestral backing of strings, winds, tabor, and celesta, along with a mixed choir that sings wordlessly. It was first performed on October 10, 1925, in London, with violist Lionel Tertis, voices from the Royal College of Music, and the Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood. The reaction was mixed, and even such close friends of the composer as Gustav Holst admitted themselves puzzled by this subtle and voluptuous work.

In a program note for a 1927 performance, Vaughan Williams admitted "The title Flos Campi was taken by some to connote an atmosphere of 'buttercups and daisies....'" This is, in fact, far from the atmosphere of this work. Each of its six movements is headed by a quotation from the Old Testament's Song of Solomon, and it is the passionate quality of that text which informs Flos Campi. The work opens with the juxtaposition of viola and oboe, both playing melodically but in different keys, creating palpable tension. This opening movement is languorous and mysterious, its associated text speaking of the sickness of love, of how it is a "lily among thorns." Nature springs to life in the second movement, with the "singing of birds" and the "voice of the turtle." But the beloved is not present, and the third movement is passionate and agitated, with the viola accompanied mostly by the women of the choir. Men "expert in war" are at Solomon's bed in the vigorous fourth-movement march, in which the violist has an opportunity for some virtuoso display. The music builds to a rather tense climax, at which point we hear the murmuring of voices, over which the viola soars longingly. The orchestra takes up this music in a more peaceful strain, and the choir sings in sweet polyphony. The opening viola-oboe duet returns, but its ambivalence is resolved as the melodic material of the fifth movement is taken up again in a quiet and magical coda.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flos Campi is certainly one of the most mystical, enigmatic, but heart-renderingly beautiful works that RVW had penned IMHO. Perhaps for some, it's a work that doesn't work given it's strange hybrid-like compositional style, but how RVW treats the musical material is nothing short of extraordinary. For those that do love this work, why do you feel it works as well as it does? Are there any other works in music that have this kind of instrumentation with a solo instrument upfront and incorporate a chorus into the orchestral fabric? I haven't heard a work like this one yet. It's that unique.

[vandermolen]

Flos Campi



Vaughan Williams played the viola, and frequently professed it was his favorite instrument. Along with the Suite for viola and orchestra of 1934, his most significant work for the instrument is the unusual Flos Campi (Flower of the Field), which combines the viola with a spare orchestral backing of strings, winds, tabor, and celesta, along with a mixed choir that sings wordlessly. It was first performed on October 10, 1925, in London, with violist Lionel Tertis, voices from the Royal College of Music, and the Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood. The reaction was mixed, and even such close friends of the composer as Gustav Holst admitted themselves puzzled by this subtle and voluptuous work.

In a program note for a 1927 performance, Vaughan Williams admitted "The title Flos Campi was taken by some to connote an atmosphere of 'buttercups and daisies....'" This is, in fact, far from the atmosphere of this work. Each of its six movements is headed by a quotation from the Old Testament's Song of Solomon, and it is the passionate quality of that text which informs Flos Campi. The work opens with the juxtaposition of viola and oboe, both playing melodically but in different keys, creating palpable tension. This opening movement is languorous and mysterious, its associated text speaking of the sickness of love, of how it is a "lily among thorns." Nature springs to life in the second movement, with the "singing of birds" and the "voice of the turtle." But the beloved is not present, and the third movement is passionate and agitated, with the viola accompanied mostly by the women of the choir. Men "expert in war" are at Solomon's bed in the vigorous fourth-movement march, in which the violist has an opportunity for some virtuoso display. The music builds to a rather tense climax, at which point we hear the murmuring of voices, over which the viola soars longingly. The orchestra takes up this music in a more peaceful strain, and the choir sings in sweet polyphony. The opening viola-oboe duet returns, but its ambivalence is resolved as the melodic material of the fifth movement is taken up again in a quiet and magical coda.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flos Campi is certainly one of the most mystical, enigmatic, but heart-renderingly beautiful works that RVW had penned IMHO. Perhaps for some, it's a work that doesn't work given it's strange hybrid-like compositional style, but how RVW treats the musical material is nothing short of extraordinary. For those that do love this work, why do you feel it works as well as it does? Are there any other works in music that have this kind of instrumentation with a solo instrument upfront and incorporate a chorus into the orchestral fabric? I haven't heard a work like this one yet. It's that unique.

It is a beautiful and quite magical work with a uniquely poetic and dream-like atmosphere. It's a while since I listened to it but will do so soon and report back. Its refined and haunting atmosphere was undermined by the composer referring to it as 'Camp Flossie'.

[Mirror Image]

It is a beautiful and quite magical work with a uniquely poetic and dream-like atmosphere. It's a while since I listened to it but will do so soon and report back. Its refined and haunting atmosphere was undermined by the composer referring to it as 'Camp Flossie'.

I didn't know RVW didn't like the work. 'Camp Flossie' haha! Yes, I'll definitely look forward to your report, Jeffrey.

[calyptorhynchus]

Flos Campi is one of those works that when I play it to friends elicits the response: one this sounds like film music!

Bit difficult to explain that scores like this were written, and then the idiom was taken up in film music!

[Mirror Image]

There is an ongoing narrative in Flos Campi that does have an almost cinematic quality to it. That I can't deny.

[Mirror Image]

What does everyone think of Andrew Davis' cycle on Teldec (later reissued by Warner)?

[Christo]

What does everyone think of Andrew Davis' cycle on Teldec (later reissued by Warner)?

I'm not 'everyone', but Davis' cycle is by far the weakest of them all, IMHO. I know there was wide praise for his Sixth, that opened the series, but he fares bad in literally all other symphonies. Underpowered and lacking in concentration.

[vandermolen]

I didn't know RVW didn't like the work. 'Camp Flossie' haha! Yes, I'll definitely look forward to your report, Jeffrey.

Oh, I'm sure he liked it John - just his humour I think.
Like Walton referring to Belshazzar's Feast as 'Belly's Binge', John Ireland referring to 'May Dun' as 'May not be done' and 'The Forgotten Rite' (a great work) as 'The Forgotten Quite' as they were hardly ever performed. All examples of creaking British humour. 

[vandermolen]

I'm not 'everyone', but Davis' cycle is by far the weakest of them all, IMHO. I know there was wide praise for his Sixth, that opened the series, but he fares bad in literally all other symphonies. Underpowered and lacking in concentration.

Largely agree with this but I liked the Symphony 9 and 'Job' CD but neither are the best versions.

[Mirror Image]

I'm not 'everyone', but Davis' cycle is by far the weakest of them all, IMHO. I know there was wide praise for his Sixth, that opened the series, but he fares bad in literally all other symphonies. Underpowered and lacking in concentration.

This pretty much sums up my opinion of the Davis cycle.

[Mirror Image]

Oh, I'm sure he liked it John - just his humour I think.
Like Walton referring to Belshazzar's Feast as 'Belly's Binge', John Ireland referring to 'May Dun' as 'May not be done' and 'The Forgotten Rite' (a great work0 as 'The Forgotten Quite' as they were hardly ever performed. Al examples of creaking British humour. 

[Mirror Image]

Vandermolen (Jeffrey) mentioned Berglund's performances of the 4th and 6th earlier and he's right about those performances being incredible. Absolutely brutal and captures the eerie atmosphere (esp. in the 6th) to great effect. I've owned these Berglund performances for years. Always nice to revisit them.

[vandermolen]

Vandermolen (Jeffrey) mentioned Berglund's performances of the 4th and 6th earlier and he's right about those performances being incredible. Absolutely brutal and captures the eerie atmosphere (esp. in the 6th) to great effect. I've owned these Berglund performances for years. Always nice to revisit them.

Yes, they are great John - very sibelian - especially No.6 and No.4 was BBC Radio 3's 'Building a Library' top choice.

[Mirror Image]

Yes, they are great John - very sibelian - especially No.6 and No.4 was BBC Radio 3's 'Building a Library' top choice.

I wish Berglund had recorded the whole symphony cycle. If the 4th and 6th performances are any indication, then the rest of his performances would been in a category all their own.

[vandermolen]

I wish Berglund had recorded the whole symphony cycle. If the 4th and 6th performances are any indication, then the rest of his performances would been in a category all their own.

Me too John.

[Karl Henning]

Berglund conducted the Sixth here in Symphony Hall, one of my favorite performances by the home band.

[Mirror Image]

Berglund conducted the Sixth here in Symphony Hall, one of my favorite performances by the home band.

Wow, that must have been something to behold, Karl.

[Karl Henning]

It was a beautiful evening, John.

[vandermolen]

Berglund conducted the Sixth here in Symphony Hall, one of my favorite performances by the home band.

I'm very jealous 

[Mirror Image]

A Pastoral Symphony



Vaughan Williams' Third Symphony, A Pastoral Symphony, puzzled more than a few hearers at its premiere on January 26, 1922. Here was a symphony in four movements, three of which were meditative and slow and which remained at a soft dynamic level, rarely rising to anything resembling a fortissimo climax until the third movement, a Moderato pesante functioning as a scherzo. The quiet modal themes, developing organically instead of according to classical form, the melismatic writing for section principals throughout, and the evocation through folk-like material of the English occasioned Peter Warlock's famous quip that it was like "a cow looking over a gate." In reality, A Pastoral Symphony can be heard as Vaughan Williams' "War Requiem," one of three works written in the early 1920s that employ an otherworldly atmosphere to express the dark reality of the war just finished. (Its companions are the one-act opera The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains, after Bunyan, and the Mass in G minor for unaccompanied double chorus.) Vaughan Williams drove an ambulance in France during the Great War, and some of his experiences made their way into the score, notably a bugler heard practicing at sunset.

The first movement, Molto moderato, opens with woodwinds in undulating consecutive triads, over which the solo violin sounds out its first folk-like theme, joined by other soloists in counterpoint that develops like the interweaving tendrils of plants. The overall mood is of great harmonic beauty, at once diatonic and modal, with an undercurrent of sadness. Subtle dissonance reigns as the second movement (Lento moderato) opens, though the gentle treatment impresses the listener more with the music's implied shadow than with the clash of notes. The solo horn sounds its call of A, G, E, and D against a string chord of F minor, which swirls upward into a theme of genuine sadness on middle strings, with solo oboe prominent. The distant bugler haunts the glowing middle section, an accompanied cadenza for trumpet that climaxes in an anguished tutti on the horn's initial call. As the movement subsides, the horn and trumpet themes, now on clarinet and horn respectively, intertwine. The scherzo uses sketches from a scene of Falstaff and the fairies, and is the only untroubled movement of the symphony. A heavy, dance-like tread on low strings is answered by horns and trombones in triple time, leading to a quicker section in which the trumpet is prominent. The themes are plainly folk-influenced and are presented in a straightforward manner, with the trumpet tune of the trio returning grandly at the conclusion, only to give way to a remarkable coda, very quiet and fast, in which new themes rush through in riotous counterpoint before disappearing with a soft and magical chord from the celesta. In the finale, a wordless soprano intones a plaintive, pentatonic melody over soft timpani, followed by a warm and consoling melody, the most fully developed of the symphony. The orchestration here is rich and glowing, though shadows darken a quicker section in which fragments of the soprano's theme protest against troubled harmonies, climaxing in a full-throated cry from the high strings, alone and unison, of the singer's tune. The consoling theme returns and the movement dies away to a high shimmering note on the upper strings, against which the soprano intones her distant vocalise.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is everyone's interpretation behind RVW's A Pastoral Symphony? Is it music that suggests cows looking over a fence as Peter Warlock proclaimed? Is it a requiem or elegy for those that died in World War I that were close to RVW? Is there really something brooding deep under the surface much like there is in Sibelius' 6th? What do you guys think? My favorite performance is Previn's (w/ Heather Harper), but I've quite enjoyed the newer Elder performance, which gives the work a bit more backbone like Previn does. I haven't really heard a bad performance of A Pastoral Symphony, but Haitink's isn't my cup of tea.