Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer: Frank Ericson, Roderick Williams, Herbert Howells, Willam Vann, Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, Johnny Herford, Thomas Gould, Heather Lowe, Joyful Company of Singers, Hugh Rowlands, Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Les Sirènes, Martin Outram, Julian Rolton
Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia
Conductor: Paul Daniel, Martyn Brabbins, Alan Tongue, Willam Vann, Andrew Nunn
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Albion
Catalogue: ALBCD039
Release: 2019
Size: 280 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. The Robin’s Nest
02. Summum Bonum
03. Vaughan Williams Talking About Parry
04. Vocal Valse for Mixed Chorus & Piano “Winter”
05. Impression for Orchestra “Burley Heath”
06. The Last Invocation
07. Smile O Voluptuous Cool-Breath’d Earth
08. Herbert Howells Talking About RVW
Incidental Music to “Iphigenia in Tauris”
09. IV. O, Fair the Fruits of Leto Blow
8 Traditional English Carols
10. No. 3, The Twelve Apostles
11. Vaughan Williams Talking About Folk Song
12. A Farmer’s Boy (Arr. R. Vaughan Williams)
13. Dirge for Fidele
14. Roy Douglas Talking About RVW
15. Wither’s Rocking Hymn
16. The Running Set (Arr. V. Lasker & H. Bidder)
Suite for Viola & Piano
17. I. Prelude
The Poisoned Kiss (Excerpts Arr. A. Williams)
18. Dear Love
19. Love Breaks all Rules
20. The Bridal Day, Scene 4
21. Tippett talking about RVW
4 Last Songs
22. No. 1, Procris (Orch. by A. Payne
23. Vaughan Williams talking about Sibelius
The Pilgrim’s Progress
24. Christian & Hopeful Meet the Heavenly Hosts
This album largely comprises a selection of tracks from eleven of the recordings issued by Albion Records between 2013 and 2019, including two albums that were nominated for Grammy awards. However, there are seven tracks that are new. On six spoken-word tracks we hear the voices of Vaughan Williams himself, Herbert Howells, Michael Tippett and Roy Douglas. We learn something of the composer’s musical education, his views on folk song, his working methods, and the affection felt towards him by many of those who were close to him. Also, by popular demand, the album begins with the first recording of The Robin’s Nest, which is the first piece known to have been written by Vaughan Williams, in his sixth year. Albion Records specializes in world-première recordings, mainly but not exclusively of works by Vaughan Williams, and many of these have been fairly early works. Despite that, this album features works written in the reign of every monarch from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II, covering an 80 year span from 1878 to 1958. Our previous compilation, issued in 2015, ALBCDSAMP Albion’s Vision (still available), set out Albion’s early successes. This new release combines music with the spoken word to trace elements of the composer’s lifelong journey. Just as Pilgrim (or Christian in Bunyan’s novel and the 1943 radio play) is travelling towards the Celestial City, Vaughan Williams, much influenced by Blake, was on his own journey, in search of a New Albion. It concludes with the composer talking about the Pilgrim’s battle with Apollyon, followed by our 1943 recording of Christian’s passage through the waters, to be serenaded with Alleluias by the Heavenly Hosts. The cover is based on an unpublished photograph taken by Ursula Vaughan Williams on their honeymoon in 1953, on the shores of Lake Garda.