Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[Elgarian Redux]

I suddenly had a brainwave. Maybe, I thought, there's a recording of the Phantasy Quintet in that big EMI 30CD VW box, which I haven't looked at in a while. And there is! It's the Music Group of London playing, and it has Hugh Bean in it (yes, really: Hugh Bean of Elgar's Violin Concerto fame). Into the player it went.

Well it was nice of course. Very nice, actually. But unlike my repeatedly blubbering response to the Maggini (Naxos) version, my eyes stayed stubbornly dry throughout the slow movement.

I await the arrival of Nash, Medici, and English String versions, and have a new box of Kleenex at the ready.

[Karl Henning]

I suddenly had a brainwave. Maybe, I thought, there's a recording of the Phantasy Quintet in that big EMI 30CD VW box, which I haven't looked at in a while. And there is! It's the Music Group of London playing, and it has Hugh Bean in it (yes, really: Hugh Bean of Elgar's Violin Concerto fame). Into the player it went.

Well it was nice of course. Very nice, actually. But unlike my repeatedly blubbering response to the Maggini (Naxos) version, my eyes stayed stubbornly dry throughout the slow movement.

I await the arrival of Nash, Medici, and English String versions, and have a new box of Kleenex at the ready.

May your Kleenex ever suffice!

[bhodges]

Well, it's been a while. But a few days ago I stumbled across a CD I haven't played for ages, and popped VW's Phantasy Quintet into the player. When I got to the slow movement, and that exquisite tune, my eyes filled with tears and I just heartached my way through to the end. Since then I've played it every day.

For some unaccountable reason I had forgotten completely about this piece, even though I have a vague memory of having discussed it here years ago. It's not that I don't listen to VW: I do. I listened to most of the symphonies recently, and the Wasps, and stuff like that. But not this. How on earth did I ever forget about this?

Anyway, be that all as it may. My reason for resurrecting myself and troubling my old chums at GMG with this news is that maybe you can explain to me why this piece is (relatively) little known, and rarely commented on? Is it musically simplistic in some way that makes it of less interest to people who really understand music? (You'll realise that I don't number myself among them.) What does Karl think, for instance? Am I on my own in finding it utterly adorable? Are there any Old Softies out there like me who reach for the Kleenex when they hear it?

I've just been scouring the web for alternative recordings of it, and have found a few and ordered them (Nash, English String Quartet, and Medici), so my New Year will be flooded with Phantasy Quintetness. That seems like something to perk up 2022.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you're all OK in these troubled times.

Greetings, Elgarian, and glad to see you back! Despite being a VW fan, I have never heard this piece, and intend to rectify that over the holidays. Replying to the part bolded above, I can only comment on what I perceive in the U.S., which starts with VW being generally underplayed in this country. Aside from a handful of works like The Lark Ascending, the fantasias on Tallis and Greensleeves, and perhaps a few others, you just don't see many opportunities to hear his work. I can't remember when a major orchestra here programmed any of the symphonies. And chamber music is (sadly) often at the bottom of the list, for some listeners. Looking at his enormous catalogue, it is a bit eye-opening, realizing how much we haven't heard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Ralph_Vaughan_Williams

So I'll listen soon, and am off to replenish tissues, just in case. 

--Bruce

[Spotted Horses]

Nice to see you in these parts again, Elgarian! I have the EMI recording featuring Hugh Bean, as well as the Nash Ensemble recording. I seem to remember listening to the Nash Ensemble, but I don't have a distinct memory of it. Will try to find time to give a listen to it soon (probably the Nash Ensemble).

[Elgarian Redux]

May your Kleenex ever suffice!

I suppose we can measure the success of the experiment by the boxfuls of Kleenex consumed, Karl.

[Elgarian Redux]

Despite being a VW fan, I have never heard this piece, and intend to rectify that over the holidays.

This is exactly what I mean, Bruce. I've been a VW fan since I was nobbut a lad, and I had never heard of the Phantasy Quintet until really quite recently. So here's you, and here's me - two of us just for starters - and that Sarabande movement is so heartmeltingly beautiful that our ignorance of it beggars belief.

Replying to the part bolded above, I can only comment on what I perceive in the U.S., which starts with VW being generally underplayed in this country. Aside from a handful of works like The Lark Ascending, the fantasias on Tallis and Greensleeves, and perhaps a few others, you just don't see many opportunities to hear his work. I can't remember when a major orchestra here programmed any of the symphonies. And chamber music is (sadly) often at the bottom of the list, for some listeners. Looking at his enormous catalogue, it is a bit eye-opening, realizing how much we haven't heard.

More understandable outside the UK of course. But even so here in England it evaded me for over 50 years.

[Elgarian Redux]

Nice to see you in these parts again, Elgarian! I have the EMI recording featuring Hugh Bean, as well as the Nash Ensemble recording. I seem to remember listening to the Nash Ensemble, but I don't have a distinct memory of it. Will try to find time to give a listen to it soon (probably the Nash Ensemble).

Scarps!! Why, this is a regular gathering of the clans. Delighted to see you.

[bhodges]

Will simply repost what I wrote on the WAYLT thread:

Vaughan Williams: Phantasy Quintet (Daishin Kashimoto, Natalia Lomeiko - violins; Yuri Zhislin, Joaquin Riquelme Garcia - viola; Claudio Bohorquez - cello) -- A live recording from the International Chamber Music Festival in Provence, from August 2020.

First time hearing this piece, after praise from others here, and heavens, it's well worth a listen. (And if you hate it, it's only 15 minutes.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGMVS9Zk3tI

--Bruce

[Spotted Horses]

Well, it's been a while. But a few days ago I stumbled across a CD I haven't played for ages, and popped VW's Phantasy Quintet into the player. When I got to the slow movement, and that exquisite tune, my eyes filled with tears and I just heartached my way through to the end. Since then I've played it every day.

For some unaccountable reason I had forgotten completely about this piece, even though I have a vague memory of having discussed it here years ago. It's not that I don't listen to VW: I do. I listened to most of the symphonies recently, and the Wasps, and stuff like that. But not this. How on earth did I ever forget about this?

Anyway, be that all as it may. My reason for resurrecting myself and troubling my old chums at GMG with this news is that maybe you can explain to me why this piece is (relatively) little known, and rarely commented on? Is it musically simplistic in some way that makes it of less interest to people who really understand music? (You'll realise that I don't number myself among them.) What does Karl think, for instance? Am I on my own in finding it utterly adorable? Are there any Old Softies out there like me who reach for the Kleenex when they hear it?

I've just been scouring the web for alternative recordings of it, and have found a few and ordered them (Nash, English String Quartet, and Medici), so my New Year will be flooded with Phantasy Quintetness. That seems like something to perk up 2022.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you're all OK in these troubled times.

I retrieved my recording by the Nash Ensemble, and I find the music enchanting and but the recording/performance somewhat unsatisfactory. It is hard to quantify, but it gives me the impression that there is a gauze over the music that the performers can't quite break through, perhaps due to the rather dry audio environment, lacking a sense of space in which the music unfolds. Undaunted, I have other performances at my fingertips to try.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I suddenly had a brainwave. Maybe, I thought, there's a recording of the Phantasy Quintet in that big EMI 30CD VW box, which I haven't looked at in a while. And there is! It's the Music Group of London playing, and it has Hugh Bean in it (yes, really: Hugh Bean of Elgar's Violin Concerto fame). Into the player it went.

Well it was nice of course. Very nice, actually. But unlike my repeatedly blubbering response to the Maggini (Naxos) version, my eyes stayed stubbornly dry throughout the slow movement.

I await the arrival of Nash, Medici, and English String versions, and have a new box of Kleenex at the ready.

Hello.

I have and have enjoyed the recording with the Maggini and also, like you, own that big EMI set (The Collector's Edition) too.  I'll revisit the Maggini recording later on today. 

PD

[Spotted Horses]

It's a brief piece, so easy to queue it up and listen again.

I put on the EMI recording with the Hugh Bean and the Music Group of London. I must say on a purely sensual level I found their sound production much more satisfying than the Nash Ensemble recording, although the dynamics were somewhat more reserved and some of the passages (particularly in the first movement) that blossom into an almost orchestral sensuality in the Nash Ensemble recording don't quite make the same impression. Overall, though, I found Hugh Bean and company more successful in conveying the mood of the piece. Perhaps the vintage 1973 Abbey Road engineering helped create the impression. The Maggini recording also made a strong case for the music, perhaps not as atmospheric to my ear as the Music Group of London, but bring out many interesting details.

In any case, thanks Elgarian for bringing attention to this wonderful music.

[vandermolen]

It's also available here:

[Elgarian Redux]

It's also available here:

Thanks Jeffrey. This is the one I've ordered by the same ensemble (see below) but I wonder if it's the same recording?

[Elgarian Redux]

It's a brief piece, so easy to queue it up and listen again.

I put on the EMI recording with the Hugh Bean and the Music Group of London. I must say on a purely sensual level I found their sound production much more satisfying than the Nash Ensemble recording, although the dynamics were somewhat more reserved and some of the passages (particularly in the first movement) that blossom into an almost orchestral sensuality in the Nash Ensemble recording don't quite make the same impression. Overall, though, I found Hugh Bean and company more successful in conveying the mood of the piece. Perhaps the vintage 1973 Abbey Road engineering helped create the impression. The Maggini recording also made a strong case for the music, perhaps not as atmospheric to my ear as the Music Group of London, but bring out many interesting details.

In any case, thanks Elgarian for bringing attention to this wonderful music.

Your descriptions are more valuable than mine because you're actually describing what you heard. The best I've managed is the Old Softie's distinction: 'It made me cry'/ 'It did not make me cry'.

[Spotted Horses]

Your descriptions are more valuable than mine because you're actually describing what you heard. The best I've managed is the Old Softie's distinction: 'It made me cry'/ 'It did not make me cry'.

I have never felt myself teary-eyed after listening to music. The strongest reaction I can have is a feeling of awe, sort of like cresting a hill to unexpectedly see a panoramic overlook. It happened with Barbirolli's recording of the Tallis Fantasia, and more recently with Barbirolli's recording of RVW's second symphony, 'Lento' movement. I guess Barbirolli/RVW is a combination with high likelihood of creating a feeling of awe in me.

The Phantasy Quintet didn't quite get me to that level, but listening to the 1973 Hugh Bean recording I had a vision of those old school, large diaphragm condenser microphones on cumbersome microphone booms, glowing vacuum tubes, and a man in a tweed suite leaning over an open-reel tape recorder, muttering to himself, "jolly good," as the reels spun rapidly.

[Elgarian Redux]

I have never felt myself teary-eyed after listening to music. The strongest reaction I can have is a feeling of awe, sort of like cresting a hill to unexpectedly see a panoramic overlook. It happened with Barbirolli's recording of the Tallis Fantasia, and more recently with Barbirolli's recording of RVW's second symphony, 'Lento' movement. I guess Barbirolli/RVW is a combination with high likelihood of creating a feeling of awe in me.

The Phantasy Quintet didn't quite get me to that level, but listening to the 1973 Hugh Bean recording I had a vision of those old school, large diaphragm condenser microphones on cumbersome microphone booms, glowing vacuum tubes, and a man in a tweed suite leaning over an open-reel tape recorder, muttering to himself, "jolly good," as the reels spun rapidly.

I should say that weepiness with music is not a common thing for me either. Few pieces have made me weepy in the past, but much depends on mood. However, I do like your description of 'a feeling of awe, sort of like cresting a hill to unexpectedly see a panoramic overlook'. That's very like my usual reaction to music that moves me strongly.

The strange thing about the Phantasy Quintet is that the part that sets me off is really just the first 6 notes of the main tune in the third movement. I start tearing up at about note 3, and by the time I get to the sixth note, I'm experiencing a sort of ache - a sense of longing, of heartache, of hopes that can be dreamed of but never fulfilled - that I can barely cope with.

I've never understood what's going on at such times.

[Spotted Horses]

I should say that weepiness with music is not a common thing for me either. Few pieces have made me weepy in the past, but much depends on mood. However, I do like your description of 'a feeling of awe, sort of like cresting a hill to unexpectedly see a panoramic overlook'. That's very like my usual reaction to music that moves me strongly.

The strange thing about the Phantasy Quintet is that the part that sets me off is really just the first 6 notes of the main tune in the third movement. I start tearing up at about note 3, and by the time I get to the sixth note, I'm experiencing a sort of ache - a sense of longing, of heartache, of hopes that can be dreamed of but never fulfilled - that I can barely cope with.

I've never understood what's going on at such times.

I've just listened to a piece of music which has a generally similar effect on me, Sibelius 5th symphony. Particularly the final movement when the "swan theme" first enters on horns, and then is shortly joined by a countermelody played by woodwinds and strings. The swan theme, inexorably unfolding, suggests unyielding fate to me, while the counter melody suggests a poignant, vulnerable response. My brother described it as "like a memory of childhood" and I think that captures it. Or course the music moves on, first sort of disintegrating into dust, then building to a grinding climax with trumpets replacing horns in declaring the swan theme.

There are many recordings of this music that I enjoy; today I listened to Barbirolli/Halle.

[vandermolen]

Thanks Jeffrey. This is the one I've ordered by the same ensemble (see below) but I wonder if it's the same recording?

Yes, I'm sure it's the same. Alto often released recordings which were originally issued on labels which no longer exist. Unicorn issued many fine records.

[Irons]

The Phantasy Quintet didn't quite get me to that level, but listening to the 1973 Hugh Bean recording I had a vision of those old school, large diaphragm condenser microphones on cumbersome microphone booms, glowing vacuum tubes, and a man in a tweed suite leaning over an open-reel tape recorder, muttering to himself, "jolly good," as the reels spun rapidly.

Not sure Stuart Eltham ever wore a tweed suit but still loved your description of the recording sessions. Made me feel all nostalgic.

[aukhawk]

Hmph. Confusing 1972 with 1952 more like.  I should know, I was there for both.