Vaughan Williams composed 'Serenade to Music' in honour of Dr. Henry Wood's 50th anniversary as a conductor in 1938. It was written for sixteen named soloists, and recorded by them on 15 October 1938 - ten days after the first performance. This album - uniquely - comprises 18 newly remastered tracks from 78 rpm records, including the Serenade to Music itself, and one track featuring each of the sixteen named singers, as well as one singer (Keith Falkner) who would have been among their number had he not been abroad at the time. There is considerable variety among the eighteen tracks, with songs and operas represented. The album notes include biographies of the singers and full texts.

Artists

Isobel Baillie (soprano), Berkeley Mason, Elsie Suddaby (soprano), Madame Adami, Eva Turner, Lillian Stiles-Allen, Lilian Stiles-Allen, Muriel Brunskill, Astra Desmond, Margaret Balfour, Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (band), Mary Jarred, Walter Widdop, Percy Kahn, Parry Jones, William Thomas Best, Frank Titterton, Roy Henderson, Heddle Nash (tenor), Gerald Moore (piano), Robert Easton, BBC Symphony Orchestra (band), Harold Williams, Orchestra of British National Opera Company (band), Norman Allin, Keith Falkner

Royal Choral Society, BBC Choir, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Edward Elgar, Hugh Allen, Eugene Goossens (Snr), Henry Wood