Customer Reviews

Vaughan Williams: The Collector's Edition - 30 CDs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For lovers of Ralph Vaughan Williams' music, the prospect of obtaining most of his works on 30 CDs for $50 or less should be irresistible. It's a great way to fill in the gaps in your collection, or to become acquainted with RVW's less familiar works. Among the highlights of this box are the Serenade to Music and the Pilgrim's Progress (both conducted by Adrian Boult), Partita for Double String Orchestra (Vernon Handley), Riders to the Sea and Sir John in Love (Meredith Davies), Hugh the Drover (Charles Groves), and On Wenlock Edge and Ten Blake Songs (sung by Ian Partridge). Vernon Handley's recordings of the symphonies have received uniform 5-star reviews on Amazon.

In most cases, the performances and sound quality are very good to excellent. Hard-core fans will appreciate the inclusion of variants of a few works, such as the vocal and purely orchestral versions of the Serenade to Music. As would be expected in a compendium of this sort, a few of the items have performances or sound that is less than ideal. For example, Matthew Best's recording of A Song of Thanksgiving is far better than the one included here, but the Hyperion disc is no longer in print, and a used copy costs half as much as this entire package. The booklet lists the performers and the contents of every track, but it lacks both notes and texts. Nonetheless, there's more than enough great stuff here to justify the modest price.

This splendid set, an amazing bargain, provides most of Vaughan Williams's music in various, sometimes relatively recent, vintages of recordings. VW is a vastly underrated composer. Some of the symphonies are bonafide masterpieces, especially numbers 4 and 6, but the London Symphony (#2) and the 8th and 9th are pretty top drawer as well, if not as stunning as 4 and 6. But then, 3 and 5 are excellent in a more "pastoral" way, though hardly the "cow music" written about in a recent New York Times article. If VW has written any "cow music" my ears have never detected it. The First Symphony, however, a choral work based on text by Walt Whitman, is as uncowlike as you can get but too hysterically pitched for my taste (like Mahler's Eighth).

The sublime Tallis Fantasy is given an expert performance, the marvelous Oboe Concerto is well done. The two string quartets are little known but very worth listening to.

In all, at less than $2 per disk, it's hard to see why anyone would turn it down. The set's only serious defect is the pathetically inadequate documentation. One can hardly figure out who's performing what. The disks themselves lack track numbers, very inconvenient, and the booklet lacks notes. But the set is nicely boxed and at this price it seems churlish to quarrel.

Vaughan Williams vies with Elgar as the most beloved British composer, and EMI has amassed an unrivaled catalog of great performances of his works. For that reason, most of us who love this music will own a goodly proportion of the CDs included here. Before offering any comments, let me list the major contents of the 30 CDs packaged in the set (the remaining minor works can be found at arkivmusic.com):


Symphonies Nos. 1-9
Vernon Handley (cond.)
Joan Rogers (soprano), William Shimell (baritone), Alison Barlow (soprano)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Oboe Concerto in A minor
Jonathan Small (oboe)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Serenade to Music (choral version)
Vernon Handley (cond.)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Partita for double string orchestra
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

The Wasps - Aristophanic Suite
Versnon Handley
Royal Liverpool Phil.

Prelude and Fugue in C minor
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Piano Concerto in C major
Piers Lane (piano)
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Concerto in C for two pianos
Vitya Vronsky & Victor Babin
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Serenade to Music (16 soloists)
London Symphony Orchestra & New Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

English Folk Song Suite(orchestral)
Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1
London Symphony Orchestra & New Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

The Lark Ascending
Hugh Bean (Violin)
London Symphony Orchestra & New Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Constantin Silvestri (cond.)
Bournemouth SO

English Folk Song Suite (band)
Royal Air Force Central Band , Etic Banks (cond.)

Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra
chalres Groves, cond.
London Philharmonic Orch.

Tuba Concerto in F minor
Philip Catelinet (Tuba)
London Sym. Orch, John Barbirolli, cond.

Serenade to Music (orchestral)
Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Old King Cole
Bradley Creswick (Violin)
Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Five Mystical Songs
Stephen Roberts (Baritone)
Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Sea Songs
Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Variations for Brass Band (orchestral)
Richard Hickox (cond.)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Northern SInfonia of England

String Quartet No. 1 in G minor
Britten Quartet

Violin Concerto in D minor 'Concerto Accademico'
Bradley Creswick (Violin)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Northern SInfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Violin Sonata in A minor
Hugh Bean (Violin), David Parkhouse (Piano)

String Quartet no. 1 in G minor
Britten quartet

String Quartet No. 2 in A minor
Music Group of London

Toward the Unknown Region
Adrian Boult (cond.)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir

Dona Nobis Pacem
Sheila Armstrong (Soprano), John Carol Case (Baritone)
Adrian Boult (cond.)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir


Magnificat
Christopher Hyde-Smith (Flute), Helen Watts (Alto)
Meredith Davis (cond.)
Ambrosian Singers Women's Voices, Orchestra Nova of London


An Oxford Elegy
Flos Campi
Whitsunday Hymn
Sancta Civitas
Kings College Cambridge & London Symphony Orchestra, David Willcocks

Five Tudor Portraits
Elisabeth Bainbridge (Mezzo Soprano), John Carol Case (Baritone)
Bach Choir, New Phil Orch & LSO, David Willcocks

Benedicite
Five Variants of `Dives and Lazarus'
Bach Choir, New Phil Orch & LSO, David Willcocks

Hodie (A Christmas Cantata)
Janet Baker
Bach Choir & LSO, David Willcocks

Fantasia on Christmas Carols (w/orch)
Barry Rose (cond.), Guildford Cathedral Choir

In Windsor Forest
Norman Del Mar, Bournemouth SO

Songs of Travel (orch. version)
Thomas Allen (bar)
Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham SO


On Wenlock Edge (orch. version)
Robert Teat (tenor)
Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham SO


Mass in G minor
The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune 'All people that on earth do dwell'
Te Deum in G
Preludes (3) on Welsh Hymn Tunes (Bryn Calfaria, Rhosymedre & Hyfrydol), for organ
Kings College Cambridge, David Willcocks

Four Hymns
Merciless Beauty
Ten Blake Songs
On Wenlock Edge
Ian Partridge (tenor), Music Group of London

Music Group of London
House of Life
Songs of Travel
Anthony Rolfe Johnson & David Willison (piano)

A Song of Thanksgiving
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Epithalamion
Meredith Davies
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Orchestra Nova of Londo, David Willcocks

Riders to the Sea
Meredith Davies
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Orchestra Nova of Londo, David Willcocks

Hugh the Drover
Robert Tear / Sheila Armstrong / Michael Rippon & Robert Lloyd
Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral & RPO, Charles Groves

Sir John in Love
Felicity Palmer / Robert Tear / Robert Lloyd & Helen Watts
New Phil Orchestra, Meredith Davies

The Pilgrim's Progress (complete)
& rehearsal sequence
Ian Partridge / John Shirley-Quirk / Jean Temperley & John Noble
LPC / LPO, Adrian Boult

Job - A Masque for Dancing
London Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Boult, cond.

My comments are very brief. It was astute of EMI to lure old hands who already own multiple versions of the nine symphonies with the fine but lesser known cycle under Vernon Handley. The alternative was the much reissued one under sir Adrian Boult, the composer's friend, sometime dedicatee, and quintessential interpreter. As authoritative as Boult is, Handley runs close behind. Even better would have been for EMI to pick and choose among their stable of RVW conductors, including Barbirolli and Haitink, to select the best version of each work.

The singers chosen for the song cycles and choral songs are close to ideal, and for me it's gratifying that older tenors (Tear, Rolfe Johnson, Partridge) were chosen over Ian Bostridge, despite his fame and enthusiastic fan base. It was a serious misstep, however, to skip over the version of Dona Nobis Pacem, perhaps the most profound of RVW's choral works, sung by Bryn Terfel and Yvonne Kinney under Hickox. Sancta Civitas from the same forces would also have been preferable.

I am not a fan of RVW's operas, and neither are record companies, so these performances are the cream of the crop, on the whole. Riders to the Sea is almost a literal transcription of Synge's play and holds my interest. So does Pilgrim's Progress, but less so in the complete opera format; there's a radio broadcast featuring the best music and a gripping narration of Bunyan's text that works better -- seek out either the BBC wartime broadcast or a reproduction in modern sound narrated by John Gielgud.

Least known among the major orchestral works is probably the various concertos for oboe, tuba, piano, and piano duet. These are almost never played in the U.S. but circulate in British concerts, where all of RVW's music is a staple. I wouldn't say that any repay devotion, but the oboe and tuba concertos are the most popular.

In all, the super budget price at Amazon factors out to about the same as four or five mid-priced records, a small outlay if you have room on your shelf for the whole set. I don't tend to reach into big collector's sets once I buy them, but there's no arguing against the quality of what we have hear.

There are some people who want everything for nothing. To carp at the omissions in documentation (libretti etc) is a reflection of sheer greed. EMI has put together a brilliantly representative collection of the work of Vaughan Williams at the lowest price possible. This means compromises like minimal documentations, simple but adequate packaging, packing together on a CD works that don't complement each other just to take best advantage of the space, remasterings that are not recent and therefore not state of the art, etc. If you want to avoid these compromises, then pay for a full-price release!

What you get are recordings ranging from the 60's to the 90's (they are definitely NOT all old) which include performances ranging from 'good' to 'best available'. I am an audiophile with a sound system worth around $20,000 and have the ear of a trained musician. None of the sound is state-of-the-art, but it does range from more than acceptable to very good. As far as I can see, the earlier recordings (and old recordings from the 60's and 70's don't swamp the collection - and there are many who would regret this) have been re-mastered. As I write I am listening to a compilation from late 60's to early 70's, put together and remastered in 1987. The sound is excellent, possibly due to analog originals, although there are some discs where the re-mastering has produced a slight harsh edge.

At $2 per CD, I am happy to get such an excellent coverage of VW's output in performances where the average standard is so high. And the opportunity to get such things as 'Serenade to Music', a piece that rates among the most beautiful compositions ever written, in all three of its versions is a treasure. You will find forgotten treasures here that you would find very difficult to obtain anywhere else.

As to the choral singing: Britain is the home of choral singing and averages the highest standard in the world. I had no more trouble deciphering the diction than I would with other recordings of complex choral/orchestral sound, making a small allowance in a small number of cases for the age of the recording. I must add that choral/choral-orchestral music represents a fairly large part of VW's output.

This set provides an excellent and incredibly inexpensive backbone to your VW collection which will supplement recordings you already have. And it will probably spur you to seek more modern recordings of some discoveries; with others you will be quite satisfied with what you find here. Those who carp at some aspects of the set would seem to want all the features of a new full-priced release for next to nothing. Such ingratitude!

It is my impression VW is not as well-appreciated in the US or Australia as he is in the UK. If you have some of his music and are interested in exploring further, or are starting from scratch this is the ideal purchase to help you. You will not get a poor performance (I've found a short, early track that was poorly miked - unusual for EMI) that will mis-represent a work.

A listing of contents and performers, with a few omissions, probably for contractual reasons, can easily be found by a quick search on the internet.

ADDENDUM DEC 9 After 7 months with this set, I am even more amazed at what value this purchase represented, and what a treasure-trove for exploration of VW's works. I regularly turn to the set to explore another work (and I must admit to a fondness for this composer). I know I am hearing performances that, in the main, have received critical acclaim - and just listening, even though the work may be unfamiliar, you can tell this is an excellent reading: the voice of VW comes through with such surety.

I know people revere Boult and Handley and Hickox as the best of all possible interpreters for British music, along with Groves and Barbirolli and all of the other artists presented here. So please don't take offense as I pick apart this box set -- because it's not as great as some other reviewers make it out to be. Others can tell you why it's good (and it has LOTS of good stuff). Let me criticize it a little. Or a lot.

First, the packaging. I'm getting really tired of these box sets (Elgar on EMI, reissue of Stravinsky set on Sony, etc.) that are missing biographies or descriptions of the works outside of a track listing. Is it so hard to reprint the liner notes from the original releases? Why on earth do they not include a libretto?? I can barely understand a word of these choruses and unless you've heard Sir John in Love or Hugh the Drover before, I don't think you'll be able to figure a whole lot out without resorting to the Internet and digging pretty deeply. Like the Elgar set, about half of this set has vocal works. So it's a huge drawback not to have texts and librettos.

Second, these recordings are old. Fine. But they _sound_ old. I guess if EMI can't add liner notes, they won't spend the time to remaster their recordings before putting them back on the shelves. People who are replacing their vinyl recordings may be celebrating, but those of us who are young enough to have never owned vinyl or 8-track tapes will find that some of these recordings sound antiquated. This is especially true for those impossible-to-decipher vocal works. The songs are blurry and fuzzy (typical of low-end ADD), and there's nothing to be done without the help of a good sound engineer. It's clear much more care was put into the first half, which is full of the orchestral blockbusters that I'm sure have sold much better over time.

Third, EMI was so lazy that they just put the CDs in this set as they were released originally without any consideration of repetition. There are 3 different versions of the Serenade to Music (one for chorus, one for 16 singers, and one with orchetra) under 3 different conductors. It's a charming work, but not _that_ charming. The Piano Concerto in an orchestral version, and then in 2-piano form? Ugh, there's a reason why Vaughan Williams kept editing it -- it's about as dry and bland as overcooked turkey. Two versions of the Fantasia of the Christmas Carols? On my Scrooge days, one is too many.

I suppose the argument can be made that EMI has given choices, so you can pick the version you like best to put on your iPod. By why do that with such marginal works -- if they're going to have 2 versions of anything, it should be the symphonies. Handley's interpretations are five stars in my book -- they were good enough to convince me to sell my Slatkin set.

So, I guess it's a must-buy only because there's nothing more complete out there at such a low price. But lament the fact that it could have -- and should have! -- been so much better.

Having enjoyed the companion Elgar set, I bought this immediately when it came out. It is certainly extraordinary value for money, at less than $3 per disc. I am less taken with the content however. Many of the recordings are choral works which are less compelling to this listener than V-W's orchestral works. Moreover, the latter are just not that exciting when compared to other recordings that I already possess. The organization is also rather parsimonious, and short works--often interesting ones--are tucked away amongst very different tracks, making listening more active than I prefer. So, not actually a disappointment but its not dominating the CD player or replacing other versions in my collection. Kudos for the presentation however; the Elgar box is garish, while this is rather pleasing, although it does of course fall for the 'Shropshire lad' conceit that dogged the composer throughout his life.

I don't usually write reviews, but I thought I'd have a go after reading some of the reviews others have written here. True, there are no lyrics, libretto, or notes in this set. Also, there is no apparent order to the works (chronological would be nice), though the producers at least seemed to try to group certain styles together, which I appreciate. Usually this lack of information bothers me because I like to know as much as possible about who and what I'm listening to. At least the booklet tells the titles of the pieces, their movements, and the performers as well as the dates they were recorded. Just that alone comprises nearly 40 pages. What you get here is good MUSIC and lots of it. I love having the alternate versions - though there are only a few.

If you are new to RVW like I was when I bought this and are interested in getting a fuller picture of his work than what just a symphonies box set or a few "greatest hits"-type CDs can offer, I can without hesitation recommend you purchase this set. It has such a broad range of styles from symphonies, to folk songs, to operas, and more. I made it half way through this box so far and have not heard a bad recording -- quality-wise or performance-wise. I am very pleased with this set and would certainly buy it again if I had to do it all over. Buy it, and you may even find yourself scouring libraries in search of RVW's biography (written by his widow) like I did to learn more about the life of this remarkable composer! This boxed set is highly recommended.

This is indeed a very good opportunity to have a detailed view at this composer's work at a bargain price. To me, it has always been difficult to get Vaughan Williams's recordings as I'm out of the UK, where most of them are released individually. It is great to have a box like this to get closer to this marvellous orchestrator, with his compositions so full of instrumental colour. The price is excellent, the only disappointment is that thera are no booklet notes at all. At least the CD tracking details are ok.

I wore out my vinyl collection of Vaughan Willaims years ago. When I saw this wonderful price, I couldn't resist. I haven't stopped listening since this collection arrived. This is truly my favorite music This collection is the best I've heard of his works, and I've enjoyed his works since I was a teen. I cannot rank this set of recordings too highly - listen, and discover the loveliest music available. There will always be an England!

If you don't know much of Vaughan Williams this is a great way to find out which pieces you like, but you may then want to move on to better recordings. Many of these have less than good sound quality;for example, some of the choral works sound mushy and indistinct.