Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[knight66]

I streamed the work from my PC to my hi-fi and listened to it through speakers. I thought the broadcast caught the chorus particularly well.

I used to run my tuner/amp through my HiFi, but since we moved that is not viable. When I eventually renew the system, that will be addressed. Though, that still would not help for the catch-up service. I did use an iApple, but that malfunctioned.

Mike

[Oates]

Blimey, new RVW CDs are coming thick and fast this week! Look at this from Dutton:


https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDLX7351


The Blue Bird (1913)
Orchestrated by Martin Yates (2017)
1. No. 1 Introduction & First Dance (Moderato)
2. No. 2 The Clock Strikes (Più mosso)
3. No. 3 The Dance of the Hours (Andante piacevole)
4. No. 4 The Dance of the Loaves (Allegro giocoso)
5. No. 5 The Dance of the Fire (Allegro ma non troppo)
6. No. 6 The Dance of the Water (Molto moderato)
7. No. 7 The Fight between Fire and Water (Allegro con brio)
8. No. 8 General Dance (Allegro con brio)
9. No. 9 Finale (Molto adagio)

10. Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 in E minor (1906 rev. 1914)

11. Norfolk Rhapsody No. 2 in D minor (1906)
Edited and completed by Stephen Hogger (2001)

DAVID MATTHEWS

12. Norfolk March (2016)

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Variations for Orchestra (1957) Orchestrated by Gordon Jacob (1959)
13. Introduction (Andante maestoso) – Variation 1 (Poco tranquillo)
14. Variation 2 (Tranquillo cantabile)
15. Variation 3 (Allegro)
16. Variation 4 (Canon: Allegro)
17. Variation 5 (Moderato sostenuto)
18. Variation 6 (Tempo di valse)
19. Variation 7 (Arabesque: Andante sostenuto)
20. Variation 8 (Alla polacca)
21. Variation 9 (Adagio)
22. Variation 10 (Fugato: Allegro moderato)
23. Variation 11 (Chorale: Allegro moderato)

Music for an EFDS Masque (1934)
24. i A Folk Dance Medley Edited by Martin Yates (2017)
25. ii Little March Suite Orchestrated by Martin Yates (2017)

26. Christmas Overture (1934)

Edited and completed by Martin Yates (2017)
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS, EXCEPT [10-11, 13-23]
ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA conducted by MARTIN YATES

A great CD - it arrived yesterday. It should be noted that David Matthews' "Norfolk March" is in fact his recreation of RVW's lost Norfolk Rhapsody No.3 - recreated, I should add, from the original conductor's notes and not any of the music scores (long gone). Hence it is credited to Matthews, who does his best to sound like pre-WWI RVW. I think it all works well as an orchestral collection - I got the new John Ireland CD as well (but not played it yet). Dutton really do manage to succeed in digging up obscurities and making odds and ends very presentable. Martin Yates has triumphed again I would say.

[vandermolen]

I've enjoyed the new Dutton CD as well (and the John Ireland film music one). I enjoyed every work on the VW disc although I found the experience, as a whole, a bit like having a meal which consisted of several enjoyable starters rather than a main course (is that mean?) The 'Norfolk March' really by David Matthews sounded like a cross between VW and Percy Grainger. I've always liked the 'Variations for Orchestra' in whatever format and that is probably my favourite work on the CD although 'The Blue Bird' was a very nice discovery. I'm sure that I will get to appreciate this disc more as time goes on and recommend it to all admirers of the composer.

[Karl Henning]

I've enjoyed the new Dutton CD as well (and the John Ireland film music one). I enjoyed every work on the VW disc although I found the experience, as a whole, a bit like having a meal which consisted of several enjoyable starters rather than a main course (is that mean?)

I don't think that is necessarily mean.  To my eye, the disc does look fully charged with a combination of minor works and re-scorings—and after all, we do not expect at this point that there are major RVW works which have not yet seen light.  This does not at all 'invalidate' the endeavor, but only seats it in a fair context.

[vandermolen]

I don't think that is necessarily mean.  To my eye, the disc does look fully charged with a combination of minor works and re-scorings—and after all, we do not expect at this point that there are major RVW works which have not yet seen light.  This does not at all 'invalidate' the endeavor, but only seats it in a fair context.

A very fair point Karl.

[Biffo]

Just ordered the new Dutton disc of orchestral rarities.

[vandermolen]

Just ordered the new Dutton disc of orchestral rarities.

I'm sure that you'll enjoy it.

[Roasted Swan]

I don't think that is necessarily mean.  To my eye, the disc does look fully charged with a combination of minor works and re-scorings—and after all, we do not expect at this point that there are major RVW works which have not yet seen light.  This does not at all 'invalidate' the endeavor, but only seats it in a fair context.

I must admit I agree with Karl.  I'm as big a RVW fan as the next person but he was - by his own description - a utilitarian composer very willing and able to produce works for just about any and every occasion.  But I don't think for a second that his saw them as central to his oeuvre.  That said, minor RVW is probably a lot better than many other composers!

I thought the recent Dutton disc of the complete Scott of the Antarctic film score was excellent and important/valuable for enthusiasts.  These newly created suites from operas and the like interest me far less.  Likewise I have an issue with things like the orchestrations/reconstructions of the early Bax Symphony or Moeran 2.  Brilliantly achieved both technically and as performances but *for me* just a conjectural reconstruction too far.  The "Norfolk March" on this new disc would be a case in point - but that said I really liked Colin Matthews' orchestrations of the Debussy Piano Preludes precisely because they were his own re-imaginings of the piano works not something 'in the style of.....'

And having said all that - if any of these discs appear at anything less than full price I'll snap them up - classic case of OCC - obsessive compulsive collector.....!!

[vandermolen]

I must admit I agree with Karl.  I'm as big a RVW fan as the next person but he was - by his own description - a utilitarian composer very willing and able to produce works for just about any and every occasion.  But I don't think for a second that his saw them as central to his oeuvre.  That said, minor RVW is probably a lot better than many other composers!

I thought the recent Dutton disc of the complete Scott of the Antarctic film score was excellent and important/valuable for enthusiasts.  These newly created suites from operas and the like interest me far less.  Likewise I have an issue with things like the orchestrations/reconstructions of the early Bax Symphony or Moeran 2.  Brilliantly achieved both technically and as performances but *for me* just a conjectural reconstruction too far.  The "Norfolk March" on this new disc would be a case in point - but that said I really liked Colin Matthews' orchestrations of the Debussy Piano Preludes precisely because they were his own re-imaginings of the piano works not something 'in the style of.....'

And having said all that - if any of these discs appear at anything less than full price I'll snap them up - classic case of OCC - obsessive compulsive collector.....!!

I largely agree with this as well. That early Bax Symphony was very disappointing as far as I was concerned. I also really liked the complete Scott of the Antarctic CD.

[Biffo]

I'm sure that you'll enjoy it.

It arrived today and I immediately had to give it a try. The Blue Bird made a very pleasant start to the day.

[Karl Henning]

Fleeting mention of RVW on my blog today.

[vandermolen]

Fleeting mention of RVW on my blog today.

Interesting Karl and all the best for your interesting-sounding project. The 'Five Mystical Songs' are one of his greatest work I think, especially 'Love bade me welcome' and the final one.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks!

We performed the whole cycle at St Paul's here in Boston, some time ago (in the Mark Engelhardt era).

Curiously, the latest I have performed them, I was a tenor ringer in the Framingham State College Chorus for a program which included Antiphon (the final of the Five).

[vandermolen]

Fantasia on the Old 104th (1949)

Any other admirers of the strange, oddly poetic, craggy work for piano, chorus and orchestra?
I've always liked it since discovering it attached to Boult's EMI LP of Symphony 9 in the early 1970s. I don't think that it has ever been recorded again. When I played the record to my older brother he said that it sounded like the children's record 'Sparky's Magic Piano'.

I emailed Peter Katin the pianist, expressing my admiration for the work. He sent a nice response saying that he remembered that it had not been easy to play.

Here is a link to the work if you want to sample it:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RZI3qFW1htI

PS The Sunday Times gave an enthusiastic review to the new Hyperion/Brabbins recording of 'A Sea Symphony':
'...he brings us this surging account of the great Sea Symphony. The choral singing is magnificent throughout, and the BBCSO vividly capture VW's tangy, salty orchestration - especially in the scherzo...'

[Biffo]

Fantasia on the Old 104th (1949)

Any other admirers of the strange, oddly poetic, craggy work for piano, chorus and orchestra?
I've always liked it since discovering it attached to Boult's EMI LP of Symphony 9 in the early 1970s. I don't think that it has ever been recorded again. When I played the record to my older brother he said that it sounded like the children's record 'Sparky's Magic Piano'.

I emailed Peter Katin the pianist, expressing my admiration for the work. He sent a nice response saying that he remembered that it had not been easy to play.

Here is a link to the work if you want to sample it:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RZI3qFW1htI

PS The Sunday Times gave an enthusiastic review to the new Hyperion/Brabbins recording of 'A Sea Symphony':
'...he brings us this surging account of the great Sea Symphony. The choral singing is magnificent throughout, and the BBCSO vividly capture VW's tangy, salty orchestration - especially in the scherzo...'

Strange that the Fantasia hasn't been recorded more often. I only have the Boult/Katin version on LP, part of a box set of RVW choral music. I haven't listened to it very often but enjoyed it when I did.

I still haven't received the Brabbins Sea Symphony - Presto seem to be sticking to the official release date.

[vandermolen]

Strange that the Fantasia hasn't been recorded more often. I only have the Boult/Katin version on LP, part of a box set of RVW choral music. I haven't listened to it very often but enjoyed it when I did.

I still haven't received the Brabbins Sea Symphony - Presto seem to be sticking to the official release date.

Thank you Biffo  .
Glad you liked it too (unlike the commentator under the You Tube clip who said that it was his least favourite VW work).
My copy of the Brabbins 'A Sea Symphony' arrived a while back. Clearly it was a good idea to order from Hyperion direct.

[Biffo]

Thank you Biffo  .
Glad you liked it too (unlike the commentator under the You Tube clip who said that it was his least favourite VW work).
My copy of the Brabbins 'A Sea Symphony' arrived a while back. Clearly it was a good idea to order from Hyperion direct.

I don't think I have a 'least favourite'  RVW work. I suppose amongst the juvenilia, early works he discarded and the works he wrote for amateurs there are ones that I have only listened to once or very rarely but I haven't done any conscious ranking. I have never made it to the end of the Halle/Elder complete 'Wasps' but that is down to the twee narration not the music.

Last Saturday I watched 'The Loves of Joanna Godden' with music 'specially composed by Vaughan Williams'. It is on an Ealing Studios Rarities DVD. The picture looks to have been remastered but the music part of the soundtrack was often quite foggy and not typical RVW. The story is a rehash of 'Far from the Madding Crowd' - strong-willed young woman inherits a farm and is determined to run it herself, various suitors vie for her hand in marriage, lots of dead sheep. For the RVW completists only; I don't think I will ever watch it again and I have a suite of the music on a Chandos CD in vastly superior sound.

[Karl Henning]

I guess that the combination of its craggy character, and not being easy to play, has meant that that Fantasia has not ingratiated itself more with performers.

[vandermolen]

Thank you both (Biffo and Karl) I liked the Joanna Godden music as part of the Chandos series but have no great desire to watch the film. Having said that I recently ordered a copy of 'The Story of a Flemish Farm' film and oddly enjoyed the film, despite its obvious propagandist component, and the music by VW.

[Biffo]

Thank you both (Biffo and Karl) I liked the Joanna Godden music as part of the Chandos series but have no great desire to watch the film. Having said that I recently ordered a copy of 'The Story of a Flemish Farm' film and oddly enjoyed the film, despite its obvious propagandist component, and the music by VW.

'49th Parallel' is another propaganda film. The Tony Palmer documentary 'O Thou Transcendent' has an excerpt from it and it is hilarious (unintentionally). Laurence Olivier plays a French-Canadian and his accent is outrageous - he sounds like John Cleese in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' when he taunts the English knights.

Again, I will stick to the Chandos disc from Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic