Vaughan Williams's Veranda

Started by karlhenning, April 12, 2007, 06:03:44 AM

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Papy Oli

Turns out the specs of my PC are too old to use the BBC download manager - i gave it a try anyway but that crashed everything, so not going further in the experiment  :-\
Olivier

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: papy on May 25, 2008, 08:06:27 AM
Turns out the specs of my PC are too old to use the BBC download manager - i gave it a try anyway but that crashed everything, so not going further in the experiment  :-\

We don't want you to wreck your computer! A pity you can't see it, though...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Papy Oli

it only took an uninstall and a reboot to bring things back in order  ;D

Olivier

J.Z. Herrenberg

Phew! That's a relief. I only narrowly averted cardiac arrest...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Christo

Since one or two weeks (?), all Amazons and other music stores of this planet, are presenting an EMI 30CD box called The Collector's Edition, to be released towards the end of June. And costing around 40 GBP, 60 USD, 50 Euros. Does anyone know, what recordings these are? Supposedly most of the well-known EMI recordings of the last decades? Any news on that?

                         
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Wanderer

Quote from: Christo on May 30, 2008, 12:54:05 PM
Since one or two weeks (?), all Amazons and other music stores of this planet, are presenting an EMI 30CD box called The Collector's Edition, to be released towards the end of June. And costing around 40 GBP, 60 USD, 50 Euros. Does anyone know, what recordings these are? Supposedly most of the well-known EMI recordings of the last decades? Any news on that?

                         



CD 1

A Sea Symphony - Joan Rogers, William Shimell / RLPO / Vernon Handley

CD 2

London Symphony & Symphony No. 8 - RLPO / Vernon Handley

CD 3

Pastoral Symphony and Symphony No. 4 Alison Barlow, RLPO / Vernon Handley

CD 4

Oboe Concerto & Symphony No. 5 - Jonathan Small, RLPO / Vernon Handley

CD 5

Symphonies Nos. 6 & 9 - RLPO / Vernon Handley

CD 6

Serenade to Music (choral), Partita for Double String Orchestra, Sinfonia Antartica - RLPO / Vernon Handley

CD 7

The Wasps Suite, Prelude & Fugue in C minor, Piano Concerto in C - LPO / RLPO / Piers Lane / Vernon Handley

CD 8

Piano Concerto in C for two pianos, Job - Vitya Vronsky, Victor Babin / LPO / Adrian Boult

CD 9

Serenade to Music (16 soloists), English Folk Song Suite (orch), Norfolk Rhapsody, The Lark Ascending etc - High Bean / LSO / New Phil Orch / Adrian Boult

CD 10

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, English Folk Song Suite (band), Concerto grosso, Tuba Concerto, - Various Artists

CD 11

Serenade to Music (orch), King Cole, 5 Mystical Songs, Sea Songs etc. Northern Sinfonia of England / Richard Hickox

CD 12

Variations for Brass Band (orch), Concerto accademico for violin and orchestra in D minor, String Quartet No. 1 - Bournemouth SO / Northern SInfonia of England / Richard Hickox / Britten Quartet

CD 13

Violin Sonata in A minor, String Quartet  No. 2 etc - Music Group of London

CD 14

Toward the Unknown Region, Dona nobis pacem, Magnificat etc - LPO / Adrian Boult

CD 15

An Oxford Elegy, Flos campi, Whitsunday Hymn, Sancta Civitas - KCC / LSO / David Willcocks

CD 16

Five Tudor Portraits, Benedicite, FIve variants of 'Dives and Lazarus - John Carol Cawe, Bcah Choir, New Phil Orch / LSO / David Willcocks

CD 17

Hodie, Fantasia on Christmas Carols (w/strings & organ) - Janet Baker, Bach Choir / LSO / David Willcocks

CD 18

Fantasia on Christmas Carols (w/orch), In Windsor Forest, SOngs of travel, On Wenlock Edge - Various Artists

CD 19

Mass in G minor, All People that on Earth Do Dwell, Te Deum in G, Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn tunes, othern sacred choral - KCC / David Willcocks

CD 20

Four Hymns, Merciless Beauty, Ten Blake Songs, Wenlock Edge - Ian Partridge / Music Group of London

CD 21

The House of Life, Songs of Travel (piano) - Anthony Rolfe Johnson / David Willison

CD 22

Songs with piano, choral folksong arrangements - Various Artists

CD 23

Solo folksong arrangements, A Song of Thanksgiving - LPO / Adrian Boult 

CD 24

Epithalamion, Riders to the Sea - LPO / David Willcocks / Orch Nova of London / Meredith Davies

CD 25 & CD 26

Hugh the Drover - Robert Tear Sheila Armstrong, Michael Rippon, Robert Lloyd / Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral / RPO / Charles Groves

CD 27 & CD 28

Sir John in Love - Felicity Palmer, Robert Tear, Robert Lloyd, Helen Watts, New Phil Orch / Meredith Davies

CD 29 & CD 30

Pilgrim's Progress & rehearsal sequence - Ian Partridge, John Shirley-Quirk, Jean Temperley, John Noble / LPC / LPO / Adrian Boult

sound67

"Vivaldi didn't compose 500 concertos. He composed the same concerto 500 times" - Igor Stravinsky

"Mozart is a menace to musical progress, a relic of rituals that were losing relevance in his own time and are meaningless to ours." - Norman Lebrecht

Christo

Quote from: sound67 on May 31, 2008, 04:48:07 AM
Nothing new there.  :(

Indeed. Still, I don't own CDs nos. 27/28 (Sir John in Love) yet, and should perhaps buy the set for its sake alone ...  ;)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

#408
I wish that EMI would reissue Paavo Berglund's Bournemouth recording of Symphony 6: Very frustrating that it has been (once again) missed out in all the 50th anniversary stuff.

On a separate note HMV have issued a useful four CD box "The Essential Vaughan Williams Collection" (not to be confused with a new EMI double CD with the same title). There is much overlap between the two sets but the HMV box is better value at £15 in the UK. It includes "A Sea Symphony" (Haitink), "A London Symphony" (Boult EMI version). "On Wenlock Edge" (Partridge etc), "Job" (Hickox)...excellent version..never heard it before. "Serenade to Music" (Boult), "Mass" (Willcocks), "All people that on earth do dwell"+ that well known disc of Boult doing "The Lark Ascending" (Bean), Wasps Overture, Engish Folk Song Suite, Norfolk Rhaosody, Greensleeves Fantasia+ Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus (Del Mar) and Tallis Fantasia (Barbirolli). Hickox's "Job" was the most interesting discovery for me.

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#409
Quote from: vandermolen on May 31, 2008, 02:45:59 PM
I wish that EMI would reissue Paavo Berglund's Bournemouth recording of Symphony 6: Very frustrating that it has been (once again) missed out in all the 50th anniversary stuff.

Obviously my wish is EMI's command ;D

Here it is. Most interesting anniversary release as Gibson's No 5 and Berglund's No 6 were only ever very briefly available on a very old HMV own label CD. They are both excellent performances.

Stupid wasp photo on sleeve however.

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

sound67

Got the Tony Palmer DVD in the mail yesterday, along with Spano's new account of the 5th Symphony and Vaughan Williams' own historic (1952) performance, coupled with a 1936 Dona Nobis Pacem.


"Vivaldi didn't compose 500 concertos. He composed the same concerto 500 times" - Igor Stravinsky

"Mozart is a menace to musical progress, a relic of rituals that were losing relevance in his own time and are meaningless to ours." - Norman Lebrecht

vandermolen

#411
BBC Music Magazine has a whole issue devoted to Vaughan Williams (July Issue). Now in the UK shops.  The accompanying CD features Symphony No 5 (BBC SO 2007 Proms, Andrew Davis) and the Mass in G Minor.

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: sound67 on June 14, 2008, 05:31:24 AM
Got the Tony Palmer DVD in the mail yesterday, along with Spano's new account of the 5th Symphony and Vaughan Williams' own historic (1952) performance, coupled with a 1936 Dona Nobis Pacem.

The VW Symphony No 5/Dona Nobis Pacem, conducted by VW is a wonderful CD. I am seeing The Pilgrim's Progress as my birthday treat next weekend. :)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Dundonnell

Quote from: vandermolen on June 14, 2008, 05:37:10 AM
BBC Music Magazine has a whole issue devoted to Vaughan Williams (July Issue). Now in the UK shops.  The accompanying CD features Symphony No 5 (BBC SO 2007 Proms, Andrew Davis) and the Mass in G Minor.



I have just noticed, Jeffrey...you have started posting CD covers! You have obviously mastered the technique!

vandermolen

Quote from: Dundonnell on June 14, 2008, 06:23:54 AM
I have just noticed, Jeffrey...you have started posting CD covers! You have obviously mastered the technique!

Thanks to you Colin. There's no stopping me now with my advanced knowledge of technical wizardry  ;D
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: vandermolen on June 14, 2008, 06:43:32 AM
Thanks to you Colin. There's no stopping me now with my advanced knowledge of technical wizardry  ;D

I'll upgrade my system specs. The Sussex Whizzkid is coming...  :o ;D
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

vandermolen

Quote from: Jezetha on June 14, 2008, 06:54:11 AM
I'll upgrade my system specs. The Sussex Whizzkid is coming...  :o ;D

;) ;D
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

J.Z. Herrenberg

I am going to watch 'O Thou Transcendent' either this evening or tomorrow. I have seen the BBC documentary last week, thanks to you, Jeffrey. I'll be able to compare and contrast.

I liked the documentary. One criticism: if your theme is 'the artist inspired to make great things by the female of the species', I want some stab at a possible explanation why this should be so. It's not at all self-evident. Think of all the nth-rate poetry inspired by love... Now you simply got a mention and/or picture of every woman RVW ever took a fancy to or found attractive. Which is the kind of thing most heterosexual males would recognize, but tells us nothing about creativity and its origins.

As a writer who thinks he understands something of the mechanisms involved, I would have been interested to learn something new.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

vandermolen

Quote from: Jezetha on June 14, 2008, 11:54:50 AM
I am going to watch 'O Thou Transcendent' either this evening or tomorrow. I have seen the BBC documentary last week, thanks to you, Jeffrey. I'll be able to compare and contrast.

I liked the documentary. One criticism: if your theme is 'the artist inspired to make great things by the female of the species', I want some stab at a possible explanation why this should be so. It's not at all self-evident. Think of all the nth-rate poetry inspired by love... Now you simply got a mention and/or picture of every woman RVW ever took a fancy to or found attractive. Which is the kind of thing most heterosexual males would recognize, but tells us nothing about creativity and its origins.

As a writer who thinks he understands something of the mechanisms involved, I would have been interested to learn something new.

You make a very interesting point Johan. My own feeling is that because Vaughan Williams' private life (especially his relationship with Adeline and Ursula) was such a closed book until now (Ursula's biography, good as it is, is something of an account of VW's desk diary rather than an attempted exploration of his inner life and relationships), there was bound to be an over-reaction the other way after the death of Ursula. Hence Michael Kennedy's description of Symphony 4 as "rage against Adeline". I am unconvinced, although the revelations about VW's affair with Ursula, her wartime pregnancy by Ralph (possibly) when she was still married to her first husband do help us to fill out the picture of VW. Nothing I saw on either documentary really changed the way I feel about VW as a man of great integrity and a truly great composer. The juxtaposition of images of dead children, in horrific war newsreel footage, alonside Vaughan Williams's 9th Symphony, in the Palmer TV documentary was the least convincing thing I saw in either film.

Good articles in the BBC Music Mag this month on VW and a nice CD with Andrew Davis doing Symph 5 (better than his studio recording I think).
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

karlhenning

Quote from: Jezetha on June 14, 2008, 11:54:50 AM
I liked the documentary. One criticism: if your theme is 'the artist inspired to make great things by the female of the species', I want some stab at a possible explanation why this should be so. It's not at all self-evident. Think of all the nth-rate poetry inspired by love... Now you simply got a mention and/or picture of every woman RVW ever took a fancy to or found attractive. Which is the kind of thing most heterosexual males would recognize, but tells us nothing about creativity and its origins.

Excellent point.

The fact is, that inspiration for creative work comes from many sources, not all of them 'emotionally close' to the artist.

Trying to tie all (or even, the most 'important') aspects of an artist's creative work, to love/romance, makes for long shelf-life, but is as red a herring as ever flew.