Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer: Heather Lowe, Joyful Company of Singers
Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia
Conductor: Alan Tongue
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Albion
Catalogue: ALBCD033
Release: 2018
Size: 222 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
The Bacchae
01. Thou Immaculate on High
Electra
02. Onward O Labouring Tread
03. O for the Ships of Troy
Iphigenia in Tauris
04. Prelude
05. Dark of the Sea
06. Bird of the Sea Rocks
07. O, Fair the Fruits of Leto Blow
08. Go Forth in Bliss
Albion Records is proud to present this new album of unknown music from the early maturity of Ralph Vaughan Williams. In 1911, RVW wrote music for three plays by Euripides, then newly translated into English verse by Gilbert Murray. He wrote music that he considered worthy of the plays, while also satisfying the requirements of Isadora Duncan (for dancing) and Gilbert Murray (who was anxious that the music should not overwhelm the poetry). Whether experimental or not, Murray finally concluded that he liked it very much.There was a single public performance, of which we know very little, but none of the music was ever performed with the plays for which it had been written. This beautiful music, for mezzo soprano, female chorus and orchestra has been transcribed from the scores and parts, and is recorded for the first time.
Incidental music for plays has largely fallen into historical eclipse, which is unfair, considering that it was the direct ancestor of the film soundtrack. All three of the works here are world premieres, brought forth by the British conductor Alan Tongue, who has delved into early Ralph Vaughan Williams manuscripts and emerged with interesting finds including a Cambridge Mass Vaughan Williams wrote as a doctoral thesis. Here you get music for three Greek plays, with spoken passages, songs, choruses, and instrumental music. Certainly the album is a must for Vaughan Williams fans and also for those of the American dancer Isadora Duncan, for whom some of this music was written (the productions involved never materialized). All the music is competent or better, but the highlight may be the final music for Iphigenia in Taurus, which existed only in short score and has been expertly realized here by Tongue. Sample the ecstatic “Go forth in bliss” finale for a strong dose of the mature Vaughan Williams. The exhaustive booklet notes by Tongue, covering Duncan’s involvement, the stage tradition in which Vaughan Williams worked, and a dozen other matters, are another attraction, and the performances by the Britten Sinfonia and the Joyful Company of Singers are ideal.