Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[vandermolen]

A good survey of the symphonies on record. Surprised and delighted he picked my favourite "London".

Nice video - less opinionated than Hurwitz.
I like his memory of 'Behold the Sea!!'
I agree with him - I also like the spoken extracts in Sinfonia Antartica.
I like his comments on No.9 as well 'dark, dramatic and probing' also his appreciation of Boult's introductory speech, informing 'Our American friends that VW had just passed away'.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

Great to see VW on CPO. I see that they have chosen a stereotypical Ye Olde Teashop English village scene for the cover but, then again, why not? Thanks Cesar for alerting us to this interesting-looking release.

Yeah, some art from John Constable, Samuel Palmer or even Corot would've been more appropriate I think.

[vandermolen]

I attended a very good Prom Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London last night (Prom 33) with my wife, brother, daughter and son-in-law. First we had a nice Polish meal in South Kensington near my childhood and early-adult home. The concert featured:
Elgar: Cockaigne Overture
Holst: Hammersmith (orchestral version)
Stanford: 'Songs of Faith' 'The Fairy Lough'
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (1920 Version)
BBC SO, Martyn Brabbins.
This was basically a London-themed concert.
In the programme notes Martyn Brabbins wrote:
'I'm convinced that the extended Epilogue in the 1920 version provides a stronger conclusion to this beautifully atmospheric symphony, as the extra music [which the composer later cut out] balances the opening minutes of the first movement, thereby enhancing the symphonic structure of this most poetic and descriptive of Vaughan Williams's symphonies'
I couldn't agree more and was delighted to be able to hear this live. I was very moved (as was my brother) by the extended ending of the symphony. I enjoyed all the other works as well. I think that the concert is being broadcast again at 2.00PM UK time today on BBC Radio 3 and it would be well worth catching up with it on the BBC iPlayer.

[Roasted Swan]

I attended a very good Prom Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London last night (Prom 33) with my wife, brother, daughter and son-in-law. First we had a nice Polish meal in South Kensington near my childghood and early-adult home. The concert featured:
Elgar: Cockaigne Overture
Holst: Hammersmith (orchestral version)
Stanford: 'Songs of Faith' 'The Fairy Lough'
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (1920 Version)
BBC SO, Martyn Brabbins.
This was basically a London-themed concert.
In the programme notes Martyn Brabbins wrote:
'I'm convinced that the extended Epilogue in the 1920 version provides a stronger conclusion to this beautifully atmospheric symphony, as the extra music [which the composer later cut out] balances the opening minutes of the first movement, thereby enhancing the symphonic structure of this most poetic and descriptive of Vaughan Williams's symphonies'
I couldn't agree more and was delighted to be able to hear this live. I was very moved (as was my brother) by the extended ending of the symphony. I enjoyed all the other works as well. I think that the concert is being broadcast again at 2.00PM UK time today on BBC Radio 3 and it would be well worth catching up with it on the BBC iPlayer.

One of the few Proms concerts this year I was really tempted to attend.  Hearing the 1920 version live would be a real treat.  I'll certainly be listening to the iplayer relay!  Also one of just 2 pieces in this year's Proms to mark the Holst 150th - an anniversary that is all but being ignored except for a few lazy/obvious "The Planets" programming/recordings......

[relm1]

I attended a very good Prom Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London last night (Prom 33) with my wife, brother, daughter and son-in-law. First we had a nice Polish meal in South Kensington near my childghood and early-adult home. The concert featured:
Elgar: Cockaigne Overture
Holst: Hammersmith (orchestral version)
Stanford: 'Songs of Faith' 'The Fairy Lough'
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (1920 Version)
BBC SO, Martyn Brabbins.
This was basically a London-themed concert.
In the programme notes Martyn Brabbins wrote:
'I'm convinced that the extended Epilogue in the 1920 version provides a stronger conclusion to this beautifully atmospheric symphony, as the extra music [which the composer later cut out] balances the opening minutes of the first movement, thereby enhancing the symphonic structure of this most poetic and descriptive of Vaughan Williams's symphonies'
I couldn't agree more and was delighted to be able to hear this live. I was very moved (as was my brother) by the extended ending of the symphony. I enjoyed all the other works as well. I think that the concert is being broadcast again at 2.00PM UK time today on BBC Radio 3 and it would be well worth catching up with it on the BBC iPlayer.

Sounds like a lovely evening!  I found the link and will listen later today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021ptr

[vandermolen]

Sounds like a lovely evening!  I found the link and will listen later today.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021ptr

Excellent!

[vandermolen]

One of the few Proms concerts this year I was really tempted to attend.  Hearing the 1920 version live would be a real treat.  I'll certainly be listening to the iplayer relay!  Also one of just 2 pieces in this year's Proms to mark the Holst 150th - an anniversary that is all but being ignored except for a few lazy/obvious "The Planets" programming/recordings......

Hope you enjoy it - let us know. Yes, I'd love, for example, to hear The Cloud Messenger or the First Choral Symphony in concert. Still, it was a treat to hear Hammersmith live and the 1920 London Symphony was very special.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Hope you enjoy it - let us know. Yes, I'd love, for example, to hear The Cloud Messenger or the First Choral Symphony in concert. Still, it was a treat to hear Hammersmith live and the 1920 London Symphony was very special.

Thanks for that link!  Looks like it's available to listen to for 60 days.

Glad that you enjoyed the concert!

Now tell us about your lunch/dinner. 

PD

[Roasted Swan]

Hope you enjoy it - let us know. Yes, I'd love, for example, to hear The Cloud Messenger or the First Choral Symphony in concert. Still, it was a treat to hear Hammersmith live and the 1920 London Symphony was very special.

The Cloud messenger is the other Holst work in this year's Proms I think?

[Roasted Swan]

Hope you enjoy it - let us know. Yes, I'd love, for example, to hear The Cloud Messenger or the First Choral Symphony in concert. Still, it was a treat to hear Hammersmith live and the 1920 London Symphony was very special.

The more I hear the 1920 version the more I am convinced by it.  Yes some of the editing for the "final" version makes the form tighter and the work less discursive but I do feel this is a work where atmosphere and the evocation of time and place perhaps triumphs over strict academic form.  As such I prefer the greater "space" RVW allows the music - especially the transition into the final glorious epilogue which feels a bit hasty - in any conductor's hands - in the final version.  Interesting to note that every movement is a bit quicker "live" with Brabbins than it is on his studio recording....... the joy of adrenalin?!

[vandermolen]

The more I hear the 1920 version the more I am convinced by it.  Yes some of the editing for the "final" version makes the form tighter and the work less discursive but I do feel this is a work where atmosphere and the evocation of time and place perhaps triumphs over strict academic form.  As such I prefer the greater "space" RVW allows the music - especially the transition into the final glorious epilogue which feels a bit hasty - in any conductor's hands - in the final version.  Interesting to note that every movement is a bit quicker "live" with Brabbins than it is on his studio recording....... the joy of adrenalin?!

Good to know. I very much agree with you. I thought that the opening of the symphony was unusually slow under Brabbins - but very atmospheric and effective. I forgot to mention that we were sitting in the choir seats by the organ which was great when the organ started to boom in Elgar's 'Cockaigne Overture'! My wife commented that she liked those seats as we were facing the conductor and had a great view of the whole Albert Hall. I can't listen to the final version of A London Symphony any more without being acutely aware of that missing final section. Having said that I recently really enjoyed listening to Henry Wood's recording of the 1936 version.

[relm1]

Excellent!

I think that extended coda is very much influenced by Holst's Saturn coda.  This is a very good work having such a range and depth.  I don't fully recall the differences between the 1913 (I think it has a longer coda after the scherzo), 1920, and 1936 but I agree 1920 is an excellent version and keeps some of that magic that gets cut in later revisions.  Part of what I adore about this work is the expressive and philosophical range and depth.  At its simplest description, it's a richly atmospheric work that evokes the diverse moods and scenes of early 20th-century London blending pastoral, folk melodies with moments of grandeur with melancholy, capturing both the bustle of the city and its more reflective aspects of that time.  But on a deeper, more philosophical level, it's an exploration of modern existence, where the tension between the individual and the collective is reflected in its contrasting themes. What seemed clear in youth is questioned through experience.  It captures both the fleeting, transitory nature of life within the metropolis and the deeper, timeless currents of what makes the human experience valuable, longing, nostalgia, and anxiety coexist without easy answers to the essence of place and the passage of time. 

[Irons]

I think that extended coda is very much influenced by Holst's Saturn coda.  This is a very good work having such a range and depth.  I don't fully recall the differences between the 1913 (I think it has a longer coda after the scherzo), 1920, and 1936 but I agree 1920 is an excellent version and keeps some of that magic that gets cut in later revisions.  Part of what I adore about this work is the expressive and philosophical range and depth.  At its simplest description, it's a richly atmospheric work that evokes the diverse moods and scenes of early 20th-century London blending pastoral, folk melodies with moments of grandeur with melancholy, capturing both the bustle of the city and its more reflective aspects of that time.  But on a deeper, more philosophical level, it's an exploration of modern existence, where the tension between the individual and the collective is reflected in its contrasting themes. What seemed clear in youth is questioned through experience.  It captures both the fleeting, transitory nature of life within the metropolis and the deeper, timeless currents of what makes the human experience valuable, longing, nostalgia, and anxiety coexist without easy answers to the essence of place and the passage of time. 

A brilliant summery.

[Roasted Swan]

I think that extended coda is very much influenced by Holst's Saturn coda.  This is a very good work having such a range and depth.  I don't fully recall the differences between the 1913 (I think it has a longer coda after the scherzo), 1920, and 1936 but I agree 1920 is an excellent version and keeps some of that magic that gets cut in later revisions.  Part of what I adore about this work is the expressive and philosophical range and depth.  At its simplest description, it's a richly atmospheric work that evokes the diverse moods and scenes of early 20th-century London blending pastoral, folk melodies with moments of grandeur with melancholy, capturing both the bustle of the city and its more reflective aspects of that time.  But on a deeper, more philosophical level, it's an exploration of modern existence, where the tension between the individual and the collective is reflected in its contrasting themes. What seemed clear in youth is questioned through experience.  It captures both the fleeting, transitory nature of life within the metropolis and the deeper, timeless currents of what makes the human experience valuable, longing, nostalgia, and anxiety coexist without easy answers to the essence of place and the passage of time. 

As the London Symphony went from longest to shortest and the longest (1st version) was written before Holst's Planets not sure that part of your description holds up......

[relm1]

As the London Symphony went from longest to shortest and the longest (1st version) was written before Holst's Planets not sure that part of your description holds up......

I don't know...I know they were very close friends for decades by this time and often played piano arrangements/reductions of their works in progress to each other.  Here both works are contemporaneous, and Saturn was one of the first four movements completed so think it's not that out of possibility. 

[Roasted Swan]

According to

I don't know...I know they were very close friends for decades by this time and often played piano arrangements/reductions of their works in progress to each other.  Here both works are contemporaneous, and Saturn was one of the first four movements completed so think it's not that out of possibility. 

According to Michael Short in his "Gustav Holst - The Man and the Music" [OUP 1990] Saturn was mainly composed during 1915 and in fact made use of a chord progression from a choral work "Dirge and Hymeneal" written earlier the same year which definitely suggests that movement post-dates "A London Symphony" 1st version.  If there is a linkage perhaps it is Holst influenced by the RVW work rather than the other way around....?

[vandermolen]

66th Anniversary of VW's death today (26th August 1958)
Played Tallis Fantasia on Alexa in my holiday cottage in Norfolk yesterday.

[LKB]

66th Anniversary of VW's death today (26th August 1958)
Played Tallis Fantasia on Alexa in my holiday cottage in Norfolk yesterday.

A few days ago, work was slow and l was able to compare back-to-back the famous 1963 Barbirolli ( which I'd never heard ) and 1972 Marriner recordings of the work.

My personal verdict: Barbirolli seemed to have better internal balance between sections ( transparency ), and was the more emotional performance.

Marriner has better overall sound quality, better ensemble and, l think, slightly more tonal contrast between the three ensembles ( possibly due more  to recording quality than actual tonal differences ).

My main preference remains Marriner, but l certainly wouldn't blame anyone for carrying Sir John's banner in this piece.

Happy Birthday, RVW. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

66th Anniversary of VW's death today (26th August 1958)
Played Tallis Fantasia on Alexa in my holiday cottage in Norfolk yesterday.

So, how are you able to "sneak in" the music listening Jeffrey? 

And careful, your wife is going to start being jealous of Alexa! 

PD

[vandermolen]

So, how are you able to "sneak in" the music listening Jeffrey? 

And careful, your wife is going to start being jealous of Alexa! 

PD

Actually PD she quite likes VW and over the past few years she has appreciated two VW concerts with me including Symphony No.5. The Wasps Overture and The Lark Ascending and, at this year's Proms, A London Symphony (1920 version). Actually Alexa has been fun on this holiday although she doesn't always liked to be turned off and carries on playing anyway. We are talking about getting one at home but I'm not sure how this wold work out. Meeting 'Alexa' has certainly been fun.