VW, Elgar, Walton, Britten and Holst: rank in the order you prefer

[kyjo]

Picking up where my favorite British composer poll excluding these five left off......

1. VW. He will always be my numero uno Brit. There's such depth and humanity in all of his music, whether it be the lyrical outpurings of the Tallis Fantasia and Symphony no. 5 or the searing power and drive of Symphonies 4 and 6.

2. Elgar. His music doesn't reveal all its secrets on first hearing, and that is one of the things I love most about it. Both of the symphonies and the violin and cello concertos are magnificently noble and powerful works. I also love his more extroverted side, as shown in the Wand of Youth Suites and the glorious In the South. I rank him behind RVW simply because there are more works by RVW than Elgar that I love.

3. Walton. His music is quite inspiring in its lyrical vigor. His Symphony no. 1, Belshazzar's Feast and the string concertos are works I would not want to be without. I rank him behind VW and Elgar because his music doesn't leave as much of a lasting impression on me as the above composers'.

4. Britten. He is a composer I have never been able to connect with fully. I very much like the piano and violin concertos, Sinfonia da requiem, Young Apollo, Frank Bridge Variations, Simple Symphony, Four Sea Interludes and the Guide, but works such as the War Requiem, Cello Symphony and Spring Symphony leave me cold. Despite the fact that I enjoy a number of his works, he's not a composer I find myself returning to that often. I just don't think he had that strong of an individual voice.

5. Holst. He is a strange bird. The Planets is one of my all-time favorite pieces of classical music. But, apart from the St. Paul's Suite and the ballet suite from The Perfect Fool, I can't express much enthusiasm for the rest of his output. Why couldn't he continue writing in the visionary, viscerally exciting style of The Planets? Works such as the First Choral Symphony and the Cotswold Symphony pretty much bore me to tears. Why, Holst, why?

Now, let's hear from you!

[TheGSMoeller]

1. Britten
2. Elgar
3. RVW
4. Holst
5. Walton

[Mirror Image]

1. VW
2. Elgar
3. Britten
4. Walton
5. Holst

[Mirror Image]

4. Britten. He is a composer I have never been able to connect with fully. I very much like the piano and violin concertos, Sinfonia da requiem, Young Apollo, Frank Bridge Variations, Simple Symphony, Four Sea Interludes and the Guide, but works such as the War Requiem, Cello Symphony and Spring Symphony leave me cold. Despite the fact that I enjoy a number of his works, he's not a composer I find myself returning to that often. I just don't think he had that strong of an individual voice.

The bolded texts is what left me very surprised. Britten has as much as a distinctive voice as RVW or Elgar. I think you should really reconsider this opinion. It's one thing to not enjoy the man's music fully but it's another matter completely to say he didn't have a unique compositional persona.

[kyjo]

The bolded texts is what left me very surprised. Britten has as much as a distinctive voice as RVW or Elgar. I think you should really reconsider this opinion. It's one thing to not enjoy the man's music fully but it's another matter completely to say he didn't have a unique compositional persona.

Yeah, I knew that comment would be controversial (which I sort of intended it to be)! OK, he did have a unique voice, but it's not an easily recognizable one. He doesn't come out and hit you in the face with his personality like Wagner, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky etc. and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But it's not often that I'm listening to a piece of his and think in my mind "Oh, that section is so Britten-esque!"

[Mirror Image]

Yeah, I knew that comment would be controversial (which I sort of intended it to be)! OK, he did have a unique voice, but it's not an easily recognizable one. He doesn't come out and hit you in the face with his personality like Wagner, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky etc. and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But it's not often that I'm listening to a piece of his music and think in my mind "Oh, that section is so Britten-esque!"

Then who could have written Serenade, Les Illuminations, the War Requiem, Peter Grimes, etc.? Every work Britten composed has his individual stamp on it whether it was an opera, a choral work, an orchestral suite, etc. I don't think your comment is controversial, I just don't think it's firmly rooted in what Britten was actually about as a composer. Musical styles don't have to come right out and hit you, but they reveal themselves over a lot of serious listening.

[Sammy]

1.  Vaughan Williams
2.  Walton
3.  Britten
4.  Elgar
5.  Holst

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

1. VW
2. Elgar
3. Walton
4. Holst
5. Britten

I don't get what's the big whoop about Britten, so he goes last. Picking between Elgar and VW for the top slot is difficult - I went with VW because of his greater range of expression, but that's just how I feel today.

Walton is superb in the works I like, but there aren't that many of them. He should have composed more. As for Holst, I love The Planets and Egdon Heath, but nothing else I've heard.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I don't get what's the big whoop about Britten, so he goes last. Picking between Elgar and VW for the top slot is difficult - I went with VW because of his greater range of expression, but that's just how I feel today.

And I've never gotten what the big whoop is about RWV.

It's Britten for me by a landslide.

[North Star]

1. Britten
2. RVW
3. Elgar
4. Holst
5. Walton

Need to hear more Walton, though.

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams
Walton
Elgar
Holst
Britten

[Lisztianwagner]

1. Holst
2. Elgar
3. Britten
4. Vaughan Williams
5. Walton

But I need to get to know Walton's music better.....

[North Star]

1. Holst
2. Elgar
3. Britten
4. Vaughan Williams
5. Walton

But I need to get to know Walton's music better.....

Wow, didn't realize you like Holst enough to put him first here, Ilaria!
What are some of your favourites from him, say 5-10 works?

[mc ukrneal]

Hard choices. I like all of them, but when forced to choose:
Elgar
Holst
Britten
Walton
Vaughan Williams

[dyn]

5. Holst. He is a strange bird. The Planets is one of my all-time favorite pieces of classical music. But, apart from the St. Paul's Suite and the ballet suite from The Perfect Fool, I can't express much enthusiasm for the rest of his output. Why couldn't he continue writing in the visionary, viscerally exciting style of The Planets? Works such as the First Choral Symphony and the Cotswold Symphony pretty much bore me to tears. Why, Holst, why?

The Planets aren't actually that different from most of the rest of his music apart from being louder and longer. If you enjoy them you'd probably enjoy at least the Fugal Overture, the Suites for military band/orchestra, Indra, etc as well. Personally i like Hammersmith and Egdon Heath the best, but they are some of the least Planets-like music he wrote.

i don't listen to most of these people too often (and wouldn't put any of them in my "top 20" for british composers) but these are the order i'd pick
- VW Symphonies 5 and 3, last movement of Symphony 6
- Walton Concertos, Symphony 2
- Britten Serenade, Illuminations, Nocturne, String Quartet 2
- VW other symphonies, orchestra music and Job
- Holst Hammersmith, Egdon Heath, concertante works
- Britten orchestra music, String Quartet 3
- Walton chamber music & remaining orchestra music
- Holst Planets
- other Holst i've heard
- Britten piano & other chamber music
- Elgar

i don't know any of VW's chamber music, very much music by Holst or Elgar, or choral music by any of the above composers. i know Britten perhaps the best but not any of the operas. Belshazzar's Feast is one of those things i always meant to get around to listening to but never did.

[Lisztianwagner]

Wow, didn't realize you like Holst enough to put him first here, Ilaria!
What are some of your favourites from him, say 5-10 works?

I absolutely love his music, I could easily put Holst in my top 15 composers.
Some of my favourites, in no specific order:

The Planets
Egdon Heath
A Somerset Rhapsody
Two Songs without Words
The Golden Goose
The Cloud Messenger
St. Paul's Suite
A Choral Fantasia
Capriccio
Lyric Movement
Choral Hymns

[North Star]

I absolutely love his music, I could easily put Holst in my top 15 composers.
Some of my favourites, in no specific order:

The Planets
Egdon Heath
A Somerset Rhapsody
Two Songs without Words
The Golden Goose
The Cloud Messenger
St. Paul's Suite
A Choral Fantasia
Capriccio
Lyric Movement
Choral Hymns

Thanks for the list, I think I'll listen to some Holst now.
The ones I have (in the 4 disc EMI box) are bolded. Egdon Heath is great stuff, for sure.

[Lisztianwagner]

Thanks for the list, I think I'll listen to some Holst now.
The ones I have (in the 4 disc EMI box) are bolded. Egdon Heath is great stuff, for shure.

Very glad to hear that.
It's great stuff indeed, what a gorgeous, hauntingly beautiful work! Holst himself thought Egdon Heath was his best composition.

[springrite]

1. Britten
2. Elgar
3. RVW
4. Holst
5. Walton

There!

[TheGSMoeller]

There!

Cool, we can share.