Ralph (pronounced "Rafe") Vaughan Williams was born in Gloucestershire
in 1872, and was arguably the greatest British composer of the 20th century.
A champion of British cultural heritage in his own way, he died at the age of
85 in 1958, and his ashes are fittingly interred in Westminster Abbey.
Vaughan Williams received his training from Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers
Stanford, both composers influenced by Brahms. Early Vaughan Williams works
have their moments of Brahms and sometimes Wagner, but it is also very original,
due to Vaughan Williams' interest in English folksong (he was a major collector).
His original pieces and arrangements of British folksongs and hymn tunes are
some of the most songful and durable in the English language.
Vaughan Williams influences are diverse. Stravinsky, Brahms, Parry, Debussy,
Ravel, Bach, Byrd, and Hindemith -- and yet his style remained unique. He absorbed
French impressionism ("In the Fen Country," String Quartet No. 1)
and studied for a short time with Ravel (who called him "the only pupil
who does not write my music"). But then he came into his own with the incidental
music to a production of Aristophanes' "The Wasps," the song cycle
"On Wenlock Edge," and the classic "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas
Tallis." These works show a Vaughan Williams where his voice is unmistakably
his own.
Vaughan Williams composed in almost every genre. He is one of the great setters
of English poetry, and vocal music comprises a large part of his output. Major
works include "Five Mystical Songs," "Merciless Beauty,"
"Sancta Civitas," "Serenade to Music," "Hodie,"
"10 Blake Songs," and "Dona nobis pacem." His several operas
have not become stage staples: "Hugh the Drover," "The Poisoned
Kiss," "Riders to the Sea," "Sir John in Love," and
"Pilgrim's Progress." He is one of the greatest contributors to church
music in the 20th century.
At the turn of the century he was among the very first to travel into the countryside
to collect folk-songs and carols from singers, notating them for future generations
to enjoy. As musical editor of The English Hymnal he composed several hymns
that are now world-wide favourites (For all the Saints, Come down O love Divine).
Later he also helped to edit The Oxford Book of Carols, with similar success.
Vaughan Williams volunteered to serve in the Field Ambulance Service in Flanders for the 1914–1918 war, during which he was deeply affected by the carnage and the loss of close friends such as the composer George Butterworth. Before the war he had met and then sustained a long and deep friendship with the composer Gustav Holst. For many years Vaughan Williams conducted and led the Leith Hill Music Festival, conducting Bach’s St Matthew Passion on a regular basis. He also became professor of composition at the Royal College of Music in London. The symphonies, in particular, contain much variety and range, with each representing a unique approach to the symphonic form. All have great emotional as well as spiritual power.
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The Dark-Eyed Sailor The Springtime Of The Year Just As The Tide Was Flowing The Lover's Ghost Wassail Song Ave Maria, Op. 9b Valiant For Truth O Vos Omnes The Evening-Watch, Op.43, No 1 O Taste And See The Souls Of Righteous This Have I Done For My True Love, Op. 34, No. 2 Nunc Dimittis Sing Me The Men, Op. 43, No. 2 Full Fathom Five The Cloud-Capp'd Towers Over Hill, Over Dale O Lady, Leave That Silken Thread Soft And Gently The Autumn Is Old Winter And The Birds The Turtle Dove |
As directed by Paul Spicer, this English mixed ensemble has devoted themselves
to the promulgation of British choral works. The relatively obscure Gustav Holst
composed during the turn of the century, whereas Vaughan Williams began his
career slightly later, by collecting English folk songs, ultimately accumulating
over eight hundred! Later, Williams wrote various pieces for royal occasions
and the like, such as "The Souls Of The Righteous" to dedicate the Battle Of
Britain chapel. Sometimes dark and mournful ("Valiant For Truth"), hearty and
powerful ("Sing Me The Men"), eerie and captivating ("Full Fathom Five") or
gentle and pure ("O Lady, Leave That Silken Thread"), this collection is always
uncompromised in excellence.
| 6472 CD $15.98 |
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Prayer to the Father of Heaven A Sequence for St Michael A Vision of Aeroplanes The House of the Mind Lord, Thou hast been our Refuge Requiem: I Salvator mundi II Psalm 23 III Requiem aeternam (1) IV Psalm 121 V Requiem aeternam (2) VI I heard a voice from heaven |
Here is another excellent record by the Finzi Singers in a series which is proving as valuable as anything in the current lists. They have standards in their choice of music as in their manner of performance, and everything they have undertaken in their recordings has been in a tradition of good workmanship and good taste. This present programme, with its alternation of works by Howells and Vaughan Williams, illustrates the individuality of both composers as well as the shared possession of a culture deeply loved and richly imbued. All are finely caught in these performances, not least the aeroplanes in Harry Bickett's imaginative registration and skilful playing. Choral tone, the work of soloists drawn from the choir, recorded sound, written presentation, all are admirable features of a highly recommendable disc.
| 6895CD $15.98 |
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Missa Brevis: Introitus - Maestoso Kyrie - Andante Gloria - Allegro Credo - Allegro moderato Sanctus - Larghetto Bendictus - Tranquillos Agnus - Adagio Ite, missa est - Maestoso Mass in G Minor Kyrie - Slow Gloria in excelsis - Moderato Credo - Con moto Sanctus, Osanna I - Lento, Moderato maestoso Benedictus, Osanna II - Moderato tranquillo Agnus Dei - Moderato |
Hungary's Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) and England's Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958 ) were contemporaries who composed beautiful, dramatic Christian sacred music. NYC's Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys brings us examples of the best work of the two men, the 8 movements of Kodaly's "Missa Brevis" and the 6 movements of Williams' "Mass in G Minor." Now 75 years old, the Mass has long been a masterpiece of the first order, calling for no formal analysis. An extraordinary interplay of solo voices and choir, this powerful revival of Tudor church music places the listen at the very center of a medieval cathedral choir. "Missa Brevis," written by Kodaly in the middle of WWII, is a dramatic sacred piece that carries us aloft with the main theme of the Kyrie, finally bringing us back to a quieter space with "Sanctus Larghetto," "Benedictus—Tranquillo, Larghetto. Beautiful, stunning music performed by the pride of New York City, the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys.
| 6920CD $15.98 |
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O Thou Who Art Unchangeable Lord Jesus Christ, Who Suffered All Life Long Father In Heaven, Well We Know That It Is Thou Father In Heaven! Hold Not Our Sins Up Against Us Agnus Dei Beat! Beat! Drums! Reconciliation Dirge For Two Veterans Angel Of Death O Man Greatly Beloved |
Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation in 1942, but the composer did not complete the work until January, 1954. It is a setting, in the form of a single-movement cantata, of four prayers by the Danish theologian and philosopher S¿ren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Robert Shaw gave the American premiere of Bart?k's Cantata Profana at Carnegie Hall in 1952. For this recording, he has used a refined version of the English translation of the text he made for that premiere performance. Vaughan Williams's Dona Nobis Pacem was intended as a warning of the threat of war in Europe in the mid-1930s. The texts are taken from the poetry of Walt Whitman, the Bible, the Latin Mass, and from a speech made in the British House of Commons during the Crimean War in the 1850s by John Bright
| 6236 CD $15.98 |
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