This volume of British Tone Poems features outstanding works by lesser-known composers and lesser-known works by outstanding composers. Either way, it’s a win-win for the listener, especially with these performances. Rumon Gamba and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales deliver beautiful and insightful performances of a mixed bag of music. This round features two world-premiere […]
Ralph Vaughan Williams
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalSpring Weeks 4 & 5
Classical Spring For January 2019 the #ClassicsaDay team made #ClassicalWinter then theme. It seemed only right to continue the trend and celebrate Spring. So for April 2019, everyone is encouraged to share classical works inspired by the season. Some famous pieces may readily come to mind, such as the “Spring” movement from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” or […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalWinter Week 2
For January 2019, #ClassicsaDay went with a winter theme. December’s theme, #ClassicalChristmas centered around sacred works of the season. #ClassicalWinter is about sharing secular compositions. that have a snow or winter theme. Here are my Classical Winter posts for the second week of January. Ralph Vaughan William – Scott of the Antarctic (soundtrack) This 1948 […]
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A Vaughan Williams Christmas – A Refreshing Return to Basics
I tire easily of Christmas music — especially the traditional carols. Part of the reason is that I’ve heard the same overblown arrangements (and variations thereof) over and over. That’s what made this new Albion release so refreshing. It gets back to basics, and let me hear these pieces as Ralph Vaughan Williams intended when […]
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#ClassicsaDay #PoetryMonth Week 1
What’s the connection between classical music and classic poetry? That was theme some of us decided to explore with #ClassicsaDay. For April 2018 we posted examples of settings of poetry in classical music, works inspired by poetry, and more. Here’s an annotated list of the works I posted for the first week of #PoetryMonth. […]
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Ralph Vaughan Williams: Beyond My Dream — Music for Greek Plays
“Beyond My Dream” brings some early music of Ralph Vaughan Williams to light — and gives us a hint of what might have been. George Gilbert Murray published what were considered to be the definitive English translations of ancient Greek plays. And he had very definite ideas of how they should be staged — including […]
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British Tone Poems, Vol. 1 – Luminous English Idylls
I’ll start with the bottom line. If you love the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frederic Delius, and Gerald Finzi and want more of the same, buy this disc. The works may not be familiar, but they’ll take you to that same idyllic English countryside as “The First Cuckoo of Spring” or “Egdon Heath.” This […]
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Ralph Vaughan Williams: Discoveries
Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of my favorite composers. For me, then, Discoveries is a delight — and an aptly named one. The works on this album all emerge from the obscure corners of Vaughan Williams’ catalog. Though there’s very little “pure” RVW here (almost every work is either an arrangement or orchestration), it all […]
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Tasmin Little – British Violin Sonatas Vol. 2
You don’t have to be Czech to play Dvorak, Spanish to play Rodrigo, nor British to play Vaughan Williams. And yet an artist who shares the composer’s nationality often brings a deeper understanding to the music, a certain authenticity to the performances. That thought occurred to me as I listened to British Violin Sonatas, Volume […]