Vaughan Williams: The Nine Symphonies [Box Set]

Vaughan Williams: The Nine Symphonies [Box Set]

Vaughan Williams: The Nine Symphonies [Box Set]
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CD Details

Performer: John Shirley-Quirk
Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Conductor: André Previn
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Heather Harper
Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 2004-03-09
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. A Song For All Seas, All Ships - Andante Maestoso - London Symphony Chorus
  2. On The Beach At Night, Alone - Largo Sostenuto - London Symphony Chorus
  3. Scherzo: The Waves - Allegro Brillante - London Symphony
  4. The Explorers - Grave E Molto Adagio - London Symphony Chorus
Music CD 2
  1. Lento: Allegro Risoluto
  2. Lento
  3. Scherzo (Nocturne)
  4. Andante Con Moto; Maestoso Alla Marcia; Allegro; Lento; Epilogue
  5. Allegro Pesante - James Oliver Buswell IV
  6. Adagio - James Oliver Buswell IV
  7. Presto - James Oliver Buswell IV
  8. Overture
Music CD 3
  1. Molto Moderato - Douglas Cummings
  2. Lento Moderato - Douglas Cummings
  3. Moderato Pesante - Douglas Cummings
  4. Lento - Douglas Cummings
  5. Allegro
  6. Andante Moderato
  7. Scherzo: Allegro Molto
  8. Finale Con Epilogo Fugato: Allegro Molto
Music CD 4
  1. Preludio: Moderato
  2. Scherzo: Prestso
  3. Romanza: Lento
  4. Passacaglia: Moderato
  5. Explorer
  6. Poet
  7. Queen
  8. Allegro Moderato - John Fletcher
  9. Romanza: Andante Sostenuto - John Fletcher
  10. Finale: Rondo Alla Tedesca - John Fletcher
Music CD 5
  1. Allegro
  2. Moderato
  3. Scherzo: Allegro Vivace
  4. Epilogue: Moderato
  5. Moderato Maestoso
  6. Andante Sostenuto
  7. Scherzo: Allegro Pesante
  8. Andante Tranquillo
Music CD 6
  1. Spoken Introduction - The Ambrosian Singers
  2. Prelude: Andante Maestoso - The Ambrosian Singers
  3. Spoken Introduction - The Ambrosian Singers
  4. Scherzo: Moderato; Poco Animato - The Ambrosian Singers
  5. Spoken Introduction - The Ambrosian Singers
  6. Landscape: Lento - The Ambrosian Singers
  7. Spoken Introduction - The Ambrosian Singers
  8. Intermezzo: Andante Sostenuto - The Ambrosian Singers
  9. Spoken Introduction - The Ambrosian Singers
  10. Epilogue: Alla Marcia Moderato (Ma Non Troppo) - The Ambrosian Singers
  11. Fantasia (Variazioni Senza Tema)
  12. Scherzo Alla Marcia (Per Stromenti A Fiato)
  13. Cavatina (Per Stromenti Ad Arco)
  14. Toccata

Music reviews of Vaughan Williams: The Nine Symphonies [Box Set]

Music Review: Comprehensive and Impressive Collection
Rating: 5 Stars

Listen to the bold beginning of Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, and you've captured the essence of VW at his best. This is the first of 9 symphonies by a composer who is surely England's greatest Symphonist. His essays in the form span the first half of the twentieth century, but include few of its radical elements. Vaughan Williams was a traditionalist throughout, and surely it was that conservative outlook that drew him to the symphonic form in the first place.

Listening to his second symphony, A London Symphony, one hears typical Vaughan Williams-almost entirely melodic in its conception, with lots of diatonic, modal or pentatonic writing, and a touch of chromatic harmony to flavour the melody. It's beautiful, and the music spans a wide emotional gamut from intense introspection to joyous celebration. Only in the 4th Symphony does VW really open himself to a more contrapuntal and dissonant style, and the consequence is that the composition becomes quite reminiscent of Prokofiev or Schostakovich, the two other great Symphonists of the time. Following the 5th Symphony, however, I feel that VW's artistic output suffers. The later pieces, with the exception of the 7th Symphony, Sinfonia Antarctica-based on music he'd composed for the film Scott of the Antarctic--lack the vigor and excitement of the earlier works. They're more introspective, perhaps as befits an older composer, but they don't speak to me as strongly as, say, the later symphonies of Mahler or Schostakovich. Perhaps it is that VW was resistant to change in his basic musical outlook, but by the 1950's, the diatonic/pentatonic ideas he frequented had become increasingly irrelevant. That VW was brilliant and a master craftsman is unquestionable, but he seemed to need new fuel for his compositional fires and was unwilling to consider the atonality of Schoenberg and his followers, the rhythmic vitality of Stravinsky and Bartok, or even the orchestral colours and dramatic juxtapositions of Gustav Mahler. There are still many moments of brilliance, but as a whole the later works move me less.

All of the performances by Andre Previn and the London symphony Orchestra are superb-no one plays this music better. With 9 Symphonies and four other orchestral works-the Concerto Accademico, the Tuba Concerto, the Wasps Overture, and Three Portraits from The England of Elisabeth-this collection is packed with value, and I can scarcely do it justice in the limited room I have. While the Concerto Accademico seems aptly titled and not terribly engaging, the Three Portraits are a gem of VW's work for television. Its worth the price for the first two symphonies and the Sinfonia Antarctica alone, everything else is just gravy--or perhaps I should say, baked beans on toast! All in all, a terrific deal.

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