Ralph Vaughan Williams - Symphonies & Orchestral Works (Adrian Boult)

Information

Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams

CD1:

• (01-15) A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1)

CD2:

• (01) Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
• (02-05) A London Symphony (Symphony No. 2)

CD3:

• (01-04) A Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 3)
• (05-08) Symphony No. 5 in D major

CD4:

• (01-04) Symphony No. 4 in F minor
• (05-08) Symphony No. 6 in E minor

CD5:

• (01-05) Sinfonia Antartica (Symphony No. 7)
• (06-10) The Wasps, suite from incidental music after Aristophanes

CD6:

• (01-04) Symphony No. 8 in D minor
• (05-08) Symphony No. 9 in E minor

CD7:

• (01) Serenade to Music (original version for 16 soloists & orchestra)
• (02-04) English Folk Song Suite
• (05) Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 in E minor
• (06) Fantasia on Greensleeves (arr. Ralph Greaves; from the opera "Sir John in Love")
• (07) In the Fen Country, symphonic impression
• (08) The Lark Ascending, romance for violin & orchestra

CD8:

• (01-04) Concerto for 2 pianos & orchestra in C major
• (05-16) Job, A Masque for Dancing, ballet

Various Soloists
London Philharmonic Orchestra
New Philharmonia Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
Adrian Boult, conductor

Date: 1967-1975
Label: EMI

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Review

Enticing value and an ideal supplement to Belart’s super-bargain box of Boult’s mono VW cycle for Decca

No one was a doughtier champion of Vaughan Williams than Boult, and if EMI’s elegant, slimline repackaging of Sir Adrian’s admittedly variable stereo symphony cycle (together with a generous assortment of other orchestral items) serves to introduce a whole new clutch of listeners to VW’s remarkable odyssey, then it will have fulfilled its purpose admirably.

Highlights? Well, although it can’t rival the implacable grip and thrilling authority of Boult’s own legendary mono predecessor, I’ve always had a soft spot for this September 1968 version of A Sea Symphony. Certainly, it remains a wonderfully wise and affectionate traversal. Rehearing Boult’s New Philharmonia recording of A Pastoral Symphony (of which he gave the premiere in 1922), I now wonder whether I’ve tended to underestimate its subtle merits in the past. How movingly Boult conveys both the tugging heartache and wondrous ebb and flow of this elusive masterwork. The Kingsway Hall sound here is very fine, though not quite as bloom-laden as it was on the original full-price issue (1/87 – nla; like the Fifth, with which it shares a disc, it was remastered for its mid-priced resuscitation on British Composers). Elsewhere, the Ninth comes off pretty well – a reading of characteristic integrity, if just a little wanting in tingling concentration (the first half of the finale tends to hang fire by the side of Boult’s 1958 world-premiere recording – Everest, 4/95, just deleted, alas). As for A London Symphony and No 5, they also possess their fair share of treasurable qualities, though I continue to hold a marked preference for Sir Adrian’s altogether tauter mono versions (truly inspirational performances, both, that of the Fifth finishing top of the heap in my June 2000 Gramophone Collection).

On the downside, Boult and the LPO make surprisingly heavy weather of the Sinfonia Antartica and Eighth (the latter receives strangely lacklustre treatment all round, in fact), and in Nos 4 and 6, for all the abundant character and spirit displayed by the hard-working, sometimes distractingly fallible New Philharmonia, Boult fails to rekindle the fires so memorably stoked on his earlier mono interpretations (do investigate his electrifying 1949 LSO account of the Sixth, newly restored on Dutton).

Among the valuable clutch of extras, I was especially pleased to see the inclusion of Job. This was Boult’s fourth and final recording of a masterpiece he conducted with supreme understanding for more than 40 years (he was, of course, the dedicatee). There are many collectors (myself included) who retain an especial affection for this particular document, but it seldom blazes in the way that Boult’s blistering BBC SO account does (Dutton, 1/97 – nla). Job shares a disc with VW’s 1946 two-piano arrangement of his remarkable Piano Concerto (1926-31). Unfortunately, the 1968 Abbey Road sound here is unpleasantly coarse and restricted; nor is the actual performance untouched by routine. (That superlatively engineered Markham/Broadway version with Menuhin – formerly on Virgin Classics’s bargain Virgo label, 1/94 – deserves a new lease of life.) Infinitely more palatable, to my mind, are the warm-hearted renderings of Serenade to Music (with a strong vocal line-up), In the Fen Country and The Lark Ascending (featuring Hugh Bean in radiant form). The Tallis Fantasia is enjoyable but again doesn’t eclipse memories of Boult’s passionately fervent, superbly shaped wartime account with the BBC SO.

Despite occasional foibles, this set is definitely worth its extremely modest outlay – just don’t deprive yourself of hearing Boult’s mono cycle as well.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 8
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vaughan-Williams-Complete-Symphonies-Adrian/dp/B00004YA0V
http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Williams-Complete-Symphonies-Orchestral/dp/B00004YA0V

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Ralph Vaughan Williams (12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958) was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his output marked a decisive break in British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century. Vaughan Williams is among the best-known British symphonists, noted for his very wide range of moods, from stormy and impassioned to tranquil, from mysterious to exuberant. His works have continued to be a staple of the British concert repertoire, with all his major compositions have been recorded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Vaughan_Williams

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Adrian Boult (8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Boult was known for his championing of British music. He gave the first performance of Gustav Holst's The Planets, and introduced new works by, among others, Bliss, Britten, Delius, Tippett, Vaughan Williams and Walton. In his BBC years he introduced works by foreign composers, including Bartók, Berg, Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Webern. As well as a series of extensive recordings that have remained in the catalogue for decades, Boult's legacy includes his influence on prominent conductors of later generations, including Colin Davis and Vernon Handley.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Boult

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