Customer Reviews

Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music / Five Mystical Songs / Fantasia on Christmas Carols / Flos Campi ~ Best

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The best thing about this recording is the composite selection of this music on a single disc. The Corydon Singers, and particularly Thomas Allen (he of legendary career!) are quite fine, though quirkily I prefer John Shirley-Quirk's version of 'Five Mystical Songs' with Kings College Choir, especially his 'Love Bade Me Welcome' with its magnificent rendering of the last words "and I did sit and eat", which once heard will never forsake your memory. The spare yet intensely textured sound of the Corydon Singers is best suited to the diaphanous 'Serenade to Music'. Vaughan Williams' ability to set a text like no one else is a perfect partner to Shakespeare's arching mastery of the English language! It's a superb piece basically ignored in this country, as are most of VW's symphonies except for the ubiquitous No. 2. When have you heard an American orchestra perform the inventive Eighth or the redemptive Fifth? I agree that Boult's recordings of VW's music are a fine standard, &his 'Serenade' is especially fine, but this recording flourishes. Matthew Best gives space and reason to the beautiful ambience of the score. Flos Campi is well done here with Nobuko Imai's viola playing free of affectation as always, displaying an unpretentious mastery of the score. The 'Fantasia' (one of VW's favorite musical motives, even when not properly so called!) demonstrates Vaughan Williams' true veneration of the English hymn tune, a fetching gift that annointed all of us throughout his composing career, and perhaps more than anything secured for him a place in the pantheon of great composers. This is a successful disc of masterworks of an often misunderstood and certainly under-performed composer. The English Chamber Orchestra enjoys one subtle triumph after another in this recording - the strings are beautifully recorded, as is the singing. If it had been designed as a 2-disc effort and included 'Benedictus', the 'Mass in G', 'Sancta Civitas', and 'The Lark Ascending', we'd have close to a set of VW's essential choral and smaller orchestral works in one package!

In the liner notes, Christopher Palmer notes that Rachmaninoff himself wept at the beauty of "Serenade to Music" at its 1938 première; this may rank as the finest setting of Shakespeare ever created [it sets parts of Jessica's and Lorenzo's speeches in Act V of "Merchant of Venice"].

I, too, have wept at the beauty of this recording. The sixteen soloists are all outstanding, by themselves and in the 'tutti' passages. As wonderful as other recordings have been (notably Bernstein and Boult), the singing in this one blows them all away. [It is worth noting that this may be the largest number of solos in any major work; even Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" calls for but eight.]

The remaining works are no less wonderful: just as the "Serenade" fades away, Thomas Allen and the Corydon Singers begin a magnificent recording of the "Five Mystical Songs" with an impassioned "Rise Heart", and the work only gets better from there. "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" is another of Vaughan Williams's masterpieces, both for its showmanship and restraint; Best's forces deliver both admirably. And finally, the "Flos Campi," with Nobuko Imai on viola, is simply ravishing.

This is one of my favorite disks, and one I would recommend highly to anyone.

Of this collection, only the "Five Mystical Songs" will be familiar to most listeners. It is a treat to discover the remaining works all available in one package, and especially good to hear them.

"Serenade to Music" (with words by Shakespeare) is quintessential Vaughan Williams: a beautifully crafted piece echoing the height of Romanticism, with a unique and fascinating story behind it. The work was written for a Promenade Concert - more specifically, it was written for sixteen solo singers, who are identified by name in the published score and were amongst the best of their time. Not only was the piece a triumph for them at the concert, it also caught the attention of the composer Rachmaninov, who was moved to tears by the music. The piece is rarely performed because of the fact that it was specially composed for the first performers; as stated in the notes for this recording, it only works if the performers are of as high a standard as the originals. Hence, the "cast" of this CD includes some celebrated names from the world of vocal music: John Mark Ainsley, Thomas Allen, Maldwyn Davies, Anne Dawson, Martyn Hill, Diana Montague, Alan Opie and Jean Rigby are particular standouts. Their rendition is spell-binding and rivetting, although I find that there are moments when their more operatic traits get the better of them and ruin the tuning and clarity of melodic and harmonic details. I don't mean to say that it is a bad recording, but I have heard better ones (Sir Adrian Boult's will probably remain untouchable for a long time to come). Still, a pleasure to hear, and extremely moving - it's not hard to see why Rachmaninov was so deeply affected by the piece.

Thomas Allen also serves as baritone soloist for the "Five Mystical Songs" and the rarer "Fantasia on Christmas Carols." As a choral singer, I have had the pleasure of performing these works myself, and this recording conveys them as stirringly as I remember them. In the former work, the bulk of the music is carried by the baritone; the chorus comes into its own for the final movement, "Let all the world in every corner sing" but is otherwise a background force. In the latter work, based on carol tunes collected and arranged by Vaughan Williams as part of his work as editor of the English Hymnal and Oxford Book of Carols, the music is shared more substantially by soloist and chorus. These performances give the music a wonderful 'glow,' just as they ought to have. In the case of the "Fantasia," it's well worth saving that track until Christmas...

The last work on the disc is "Flos Campi," in which Vaughan Williams breaks with many tonal conventions in a stunning display of orchestration, filled with achingly beautiful melodic twists and lucious harmonies, hinting very strongly at the erotic. Nobuko Imai provides a characteristic viola solo, whilst the chorus is confined to textless vocalisation. The effect is pondered in much detail in the programme notes; suffice it to say, it is a work that will leave itself etched on the mind as one of the most haunting and mysterious ever written.

Throughout this recording, the English Chamber Orchestra plays to perfection with Matthew Best at the helm. His Corydon Singers prove their considerable strength as a choral group with effortless control. This is a wonderful document - whatever the season.

I don't know why Serenade to Music is not performed more often. As others have indicated, this beautiful work is the highlight of the disc. This is a piece you can really sit back and get lost in. It's a wonderful listening experience. Conductor Matthew Best does a wonderful job of integrating the voices with the orchestra. The familiar Flos Campi is also a nice performance, as is the Fantasia, which also should be performed more often. My only complaint is in the recording levels: you really have to crank up the volume quite a lot to hear the opening of the Serenade. But on the other hand, if you leave the volume at that setting, the highs really soar. (Just make sure your neighbors are not at home!)

I purchased this disk, for the "Five mystical songs", having heard them in performance by my son's college choir. It also received a "record to die for" rating from Stereophile magazine. This is beautiful music,wonderfully recorded. Even if you don't have "high-end" equipment, it's worth having. The "Serenade to music" is definitely the star though in terms of recording quality.

This is the second time that I am purchasing this performance of the Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Back when this recording was first released, there was a problem with "CD Rot", namely the compact discs were not pressed properly and therefore deteriorated over time. Though this is no longer a problem, my aged CD finally succumbed to the blight and is no longer playable.
But I cannot live without this performance of the Fantasia on Christmas Carols because it is by far the most enjoyable Holiday listening experience that I have ever found. What stands this performance above the rest is not only the emotional investment that Best and his forces put in the work, but the clarity of the winds and brass are excellent. When the baritone sings "God bless the Ruler of this house...", and comes to the line "God bless our Generation who lives both far and near..", there is some delightfully jaunty woodwind writing that only Vaughan Williams could create. These woodwinds are clearly heard in this recording as most times, they are lost in the orchestra. But it is when the orchestra swells and the bells toll that the chorus repeats what the baritone sang. When they sing "God bless our Generation who live both far and near.." it is the brass section that repeats the jaunty woodwind theme. At that moment, if you do not have a chill running down your spine, and perhaps even a tear of joy grace your cheek, then I do not know when such a musical moment will do it for you. So, I only hope I get this recording before the end of the Christmas season because I will sorely miss this performance if I do not. Enthusiastically Recommended!

English society was still so secure in the imperial twilight (1910-40) that native composers could afford to ignore the revolution mounted by Schonberg, Webern, Berg, and Stravinsky, not to mention lesser modernists. Vaughan Williams is too lovable a compser to criticize for being a musical reactionary, and here we get some of his most endearing works for solo voices and chorus. The intent behind this Serenade to Music was to duplicate, as much as possible, the 16 stellar soloists for whome V-W wrote the work. That was already done, in truth, by Leonard Bernstien at the opening of Philharmonic Hall in 1962 with the likes of Jon Vickers, George London, Richard Tucker, and Eileen Farrell, to thrilling effect. Best's reading is quite low-key, mellifluous, and gentle by comparison.

His one world-class singer is Thomas Allen, who appears to splendid effect in V-W's haunting Five Mystical Songs to texts by George Herbert, which he sets as wonderfully as he set Shakespeare in the Serenade. The Corydon Singers have nothing to do in the Serenade but are vigorous and expert in the rest of the program, which includes the 12-min. Fantasia on Christmas Carols, again with Thomas Allen in great form, and Flos Campi with Nobuko Imai as the expressive viola soloist. The Christmas carols mostly sound serious and religious, in keeping with the Five Mystical Songs.

In all, Allen is the star here; the works themselves are essential V-W, each a small masterpiece that deserves to be better known in the U.S. Four staars for the Serenade, five for Allen's work.

Recordings like this does not come around too often. This is a truly fantastic recording and a must have for Christmas.

The first track is Serenade to Music with 16 solo voices. To make this piece truly magical you need the best 16 solos to sing it. Hyperion have truly delivered they have bought in some of the Big names of British Singers of our Time to sing it. e.g. Some of the great singers include Thomas Allen, Gwynne Howell, Arthur Davies, Sarah Walker, Amanda Roocroft and many more of our great singers.

The rest of the recording is sung by the superb Thomas Allen. This is a must have CD for your collection

I am an unabashed admirer of Vaughan Williams pastoral, quasi-spiritual sensuality. I own all of the Hyperion and Chandos VW discs. That said, I can only second what has been shared by other reviews of this disc. This is a wonderful assortment of VW's music, superbly performed and wonderfully recorded.

To the previous reviewer who wrote "but I must confess that Flos Campi goes over my head like a low flying plane, and I just don't get it" - you must be trying too hard. Listen again - the musical phrase "G-C-D-E-F#-G" was stolen, ahem, borrowed by James Horner for his haunting Titanic theme. Is it then too much of a stretch to suggest Horner was also influenced by the wordless chorus that he too, later synthesized in his score? Perhaps. Regardless - this is a lovely work that deserves to be better known.

It should be noted that these individual Hyperion discs of VW's works for chorus are getting a bit pricey. Fans may well look out for Hyperion's well priced set of all four discs Vaughan Williams: Choral Works as shipping on four individual discs will account for $12 by itself.

How sweet the singers weave in and out of Serenade to Music! In line after line, Vaughan Williams amazingly goes from low register to high climax in short spans and phrases. 'How many things by season seasoned are' is a hair raising vocal line, while the pianissimos on 'harmony' are pure musical genius, and stunningly performed by the soloist. This is great composing given a definitive performance. I enjoy the other pieces on this recording, but I must confess that Flos Campi goes over my head like a low flying plane, and I just don't get it. But you must not go through life without listening to the Serenade - it ranks with his Lark Ascending and Tallis Fantasia for sheer beauty.