Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony and Serenade To Music

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A warmly affectionate studio recording of Serenade to Music, in the version for choir and four soloists, is included on a bonus disc. But it's Russell Davies’s distinctive, richly enjoyable Sea... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2023, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd Dec 2022
Catalogue No: SM415
Label: Solo Musica
Length: 86 minutes

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Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 1 'A Sea Symphony'

Work length1:11:49

Album only

Eleanor Lyons (soprano), Christopher Maltman (baritone)
MDR Rundfunkchor, MDR Sinfonieorchester
Dennis Russell Davies

I. A Song for All Seas, All Ships (Live)

Track length20:15

Album only

II. On the Beach at Night, Alone (Live)

Track length10:53

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

III. Scherzo. The Waves (Live)

Track length8:03

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

IV. The Explorers (Live)

Track length32:38

Album only

Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music

Work length15:08

$4.00

$5.15

$7.00

Joanne Marie D'Mello (soprano), Michelle Neupert (alto), Yongkeun Kim (tenor), Alexander Knight (bass)
MDR Rundfunkchor, MDR Sinfonieorchester
Dennis Russell Davies

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About

He was born "with a little silver spoon in his mouth", Ralph Vaughan Williams jokingly said of himself, which made him independent of time-consuming teaching and instrumentalist activities that otherwise rob a composer of a lot of energy. Thus, he immediately gave up the post of organist at the London parish of St. Barnabas after his studies, when he was sure of his creative vocation. When Vaughan Williams died in 1958 at the age of 85, he was acknowledged as the most important figure between Edward Elgar and Benjamin Britten and was buried next to Henry Purcell in Westminster Abbey, the pantheon of the greats from England's past. Vaughan Williams, who also conducted the highly successful premiere at the Leeds Festival in 1910 arranged by Stanford, worked on the Sea Symphony for almost seven years. Originally conceived as a symphonic poem - temporarily titled The Ocean - it marks the turning point in his output from smaller-scale works to large-scale and large-scale choral and orchestral compositions. The Serenade to Music was written in 1938 for the Golden Jubilee Concert of Sir Henry Wood (1869 - 1944), a conductor of great merit to English musical life. To mark the 150th anniversary this year, the Solo Musica label is now releasing an up-to-date recording with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Radio Choir under the direction of principal conductor Dennis Russell Davies.

Reviews

February 2023

A warmly affectionate studio recording of Serenade to Music, in the version for choir and four soloists, is included on a bonus disc. But it's Russell Davies’s distinctive, richly enjoyable Sea Symphony that truly demands attention. It is rewardingly insightful, and VW enthusiasts will want to hear it.

Offer,Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony and Serenade To Music

2 CDs

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