"A Major Figure of 20th century Music"

There really shouldn't be a need any longer to defend Ralph Vaughan Williams from the charge of merely being a member of some English pastoral school. but I will make an exception to my rule of not quoting too much from the cd booklet notes and repeat some of what the conductor here of the London Philharmonic Orchestra says ( Sir Roger Norrington ) "In these performances, I want to portray a major figure of 20th century music. A marvellously individual composer who just happened to be English, who chose his tonalities as freely as Debussy and Ravel and his unique rhythms as deftly as Stravinsky or Bartok. He may have worn tweed and enjoyed cream buns but his soul was ablaze with glory, pity and anger." The symphony in question on this particular disk is no 2, the London Symphony. It must be remembered that the London of 1913 was a massively different place to the London of today but no less vibrant and the music reflects that. Also on the cd is the wonderful Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for double string orchestra and solo quartet. Another good quote concerning the premiere of this piece from the composer Herbert Howells, "It all seemed so incredibly new at the time but I soon came to realise how very, very old it actually was." Although sometimes programmed in the US, VW remains little known in Europe. I recall hearing that when the Tallis Fantasia was programmed quite recently for the Vienna Philharmonic, the strings fell in love with the piece and wondered where this music had been all their careers. Finishing off this cd is a performance of Serenade to Music, setting words by Shakespeare and with a very strong cast of English singers such as Felicity Lott and Anthony Rolfe Johnson.