Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[eyeresist]

It's always nice to discover new pleasures After my recent breakthrough with choral music, I decided to give the Sea Symphony a listen. I listened to recordings by Haitink, Handley, Thomson, Previn and Boult (EMI).

For the most part, the qualities of the various recordings add up to make them about of equal worth. I'll only mention the exceptions:

Handley was exceptionally convincing in the first movement. He produced a swashbuckling "Sea Hawk" energy to make me overlook the bathetic qualities of the words (not a big Whitman fan here). Sadly, after this Handley loses a bit of energy until midway through the finale; the end of "On the beach at night" really needs more molding, and I believe his scherzo to be the slowest on record. He also has the least satisfactory sound of the selections, being colourless and a bit overreverberant. Still, definitely worth hearing for any admirer of this work.

Thomson I thought would fit with the others into the "pretty good" category - until he came to "O thou transcendent" and rushed past it as though it was nothing much. In all the other recordings, this is a big "goosebumps" moment (no wonder it was the title of the documentary), but not here - this is a big problem of interpretation that rules Thomson out for me.

[Lethevich]

For such a (relatively) divisive work, I am also surprised at how most cycles seem to nail this work. It's often one of the highlights of any conductor's traversal. I wonder why? I suppose that perhaps there are a lot of very well-drilled choirs who have lived in this idiom, and can somewhat lead the conductor's vision of the work in a way that an orchestra alone could not.

Daniel on Naxos is also very good, but my favourites remain Haitink, Handley and Boult (both). It's the biggest success of the Haitink set in particular in part because of those wonderful sonics. Handley is less driven and committed than Boult, but it feels to be quite a thoughtful take on the work for me and offers an appealingly different take without being odd. Perhaps an introspective Sea Symphony, if that is even possible.

[Karl Henning]

For such a (relatively) divisive work, I am also surprised at how most cycles seem to nail this work.

Perhaps the divisiveness is a matter of what it is, rather than how it was composed.  RVW had a native knack for the choral/oratorio tradition, and I don't think he went out of his way to write a "tough nut" here.

[Mirror Image]

It's always nice to discover new pleasures After my recent breakthrough with choral music, I decided to give the Sea Symphony a listen. I listened to recordings by Haitink, Handley, Thomson, Previn and Boult (EMI).

For the most part, the qualities of the various recordings add up to make them about of equal worth. I'll only mention the exceptions:

Handley was exceptionally convincing in the first movement. He produced a swashbuckling "Sea Hawk" energy to make me overlook the bathetic qualities of the words (not a big Whitman fan here). Sadly, after this Handley loses a bit of energy until midway through the finale; the end of "On the beach at night" really needs more molding, and I believe his scherzo to be the slowest on record. He also has the least satisfactory sound of the selections, being colourless and a bit overreverberant. Still, definitely worth hearing for any admirer of this work.

Thomson I thought would fit with the others into the "pretty good" category - until he came to "O thou transcendent" and rushed past it as though it was nothing much. In all the other recordings, this is a big "goosebumps" moment (no wonder it was the title of the documentary), but not here - this is a big problem of interpretation that rules Thomson out for me.

I really like Hickox/EMI, Boult/EMI, and Haitink/EMI. Contrary to your opinion, I like Thomson's too, but A Sea Symphony isn't one of my favorites of the cycle, so I can easily skip over it, but it's one of those works that does hold together quite well in my opinion. My favorite movement is the last one, The Explorers: Grave e molto adagio. At nearly 30 minutes, this explores such a wide range of emotions. I love it. How do you feel about the other symphonies?

[Bogey]

Twice through this piece of vinyl tonight....



This on the back of the sleeve:

[mahler10th]

This on the back of the sleeve:

What a fabulously constructed picture of the big shaggy composer. 
I think I will play him tonight too.  By Previn.

[Sergeant Rock]

Twice through this piece of vinyl tonight....

Thanks, Bogey. Quite enjoyed that profile of the shaggy dog    Do you like the Fourth? It's one of his tougher nuts but appealed to me on first listen. In fact, bowled me over. Love it still.

Sarge

[Bogey]

Thanks, Bogey. Quite enjoyed that profile of the shaggy dog    Do you like the Fourth? It's one of his tougher nuts but appealed to me on first listen. In fact, bowled me over. Love it still.

Sarge

Yup....but then I love film music.   He waists no time with the Allegro opening.  The capstone was nothing short of brilliant.  This is one of those pieces that you can loop, start at any point, and still lap it up. 

Just popped in the Boult 4th....BOOM!

[Bogey]

What a fabulously constructed picture of the big shaggy composer. 
I think I will play him tonight too.  By Previn.

We're cool!

[Sergeant Rock]

Yup....but then I love film music.   He waists no time with the Allegro opening.  The capstone was nothing short of brilliant.  This is one of those pieces that you can loop, start at any point, and still lap it up. 

Yeah, I know what you mean. I first heard it in a Bernstein Young People's concert where he played the transition from the Scherzo on into the Finale. Just that hooked me. A few months later I finally heard the entire symphony on the radio.

Sarge

[vandermolen]

Haitink's Sea Symphony was a revelation to me (after c 40 years relative indifference to the work!). Loved the Mitropolous Symphony No 4 LP sleeve and great 'shaggy dog' notes. Mitropolous is even better than VW I think as a conductor of that work.

[Lethevich]

Has anybody heard Colin Davis's 4th? Also has it been issued outside of this box at any point?

[Dundonnell]

I have just returned from a concert in Glasgow given by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze. The Britten Cello Symphony(a work I have never warmed to), played by Alban Gerhardt, was followed by RVW's 6th Symphony. To my ears the performance was a curate's egg, good in parts, but under-characterised in others. The finale was too loud (of course ) and lacked that feeling of icy desolation possessed by the best performances. Overall I was insufficiently gripped by the sheer savagery of the piece.

I have-exceptionally for me- six versions of the 6th: Boult(1953), Boult(1967), Thomson, Handley, Hickox and Andrew Davis.........and it is the Davis I still prefer; quite the best work he has ever done on cd in my opinion.

Still....good to hear RVW again in Scotland Next month the same team will be doing the 4th and 5th symphonies in the same concert

[Sergeant Rock]

Has anybody heard Colin Davis's 4th? Also has it been issued outside of this box at any point?

I haven't heard it but thanks for pointing this out. I once asked about Davis and VW. I wondered if he'd conducted VW much, or at all. Nice to see more proof that he hasn't entirely ignored the composer.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Still....good to hear RVW again in Scotland Next month the same team will be doing the 4th and 5th symphonies in the same concert

That would be worth a trip to Scotland. Well, that and I've suddenly got the jones for some haggis 

Sarge

[Elnimio]

His fourth symphony is my favorite symphony of all time.


There are no appropriate words to describe it, in my opinion.


That fugal ending in the fourth movement is just 

[Karl Henning]

. . . and I've suddenly got the jones for some haggis 

And they scoff at the idea of miracles!

[Dundonnell]

And they scoff at the idea of miracles!

Very seldom eat the stuff myself Contrary to ridiculous rumour and stereotyping it is by no means all that popular in Scotland.

[eyeresist]

Technically, isn't haggis just sausage on a larger scale?

[Sergeant Rock]

Technically, isn't haggis just sausage on a larger scale?

Well, the Pfälzer (Palatinate) form of haggis is: Saumagen (sow's stomach).



The contents (the ingredients that are stuffed into the stomach) are more palatable than haggis: pork, diced potatoes and carrots, onions, spices. After it's slow cooked in hot (not boiling) water, it's usually sliced and fried, served with potatoes and sauerkraut:



Sarge