Review:

on 2011-05-11 CharlesMartel Said:

Probably the best English classical composer of modern times, Vaughan Williams is perhaps best known today for his many film scores which he produced in the forties and fifties. However, Vaughan Williams was more than a composer for the film industry. He did produce some glorious pieces of quintessentially English music covering the whole period from the English renaissance right up to the present day.

This CD brings some of those together. This is one of those music collections which you can just imagine yourself listening to in the garden of a country pub on a warm autumn evening, looking over the fields as the last of the hay is gathered in for the winter. A flask of beer sits on the table and the remnants of a meal of cheese, bread and pickles sit nearby as the birds tentatively edge towards it to peck at the crumbs. Anyone who is English, or has lived here for any length of time may well recognise that moment. If so, this really is the music for you on those occasions.

And of course it contains that superb classic, "The Lark Ascending" which was recently voted by Classic FM listeners as the all time favourite classical work by an English composer. It is hard not to like this. However, much of this album is taken up with Vaughan Williams own take on the work of a much earlier English composer, Thomas Tallis. Tallis was probably the greatest of all English composers and musicians (yes, I make that claim) but is today all but forgotten by most people. He plays a pivotal role in early English church music as well as the preservation of a number of old secular songs and melodies.

The most recognisable piece to most will be "Fantasia on Greensleeves" which is a rework of a well-known Elizabethan secular piece, something that Tallis himself would have been familiar with. In fact, Vaughan Williams was, throughout his life, fascinated with Tudor and Elizabethan music, as evidenced by his "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis".

Musical structure was different then, before the discovery of the minor key, and much more formulaic. Vaughan Williams revisits those works and adapts them to more modern musical structures with quite beautiful effects. His modern interpretations have allowed him a freedom to express himself in his music in a manner which would not have been open to Tallis, hence the adoption of the Fantasy format by Vaughan Williams in this case. As if to emphasise the popularity of this piece, it has featured in a number of films including "Master and Commander" and "The Passion of the Christ".

This is one of those albums which just sums up a time and a place. It does for me, it brings back a whole host of pleasant memories, perhaps idealising a time into better than it may have been in reality. In many ways, that is what good music should really be about  the ability to conjure up images and memories in the minds of the listeners. As a consequence, whenever I wish to recapture the spirit of those moments, I turn to Vaughan Williams for the soundtrack, sit back and simply enjoy.
Rating: 6/10