Customer Reviews

Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 9

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

 

 

The performance recorded on this disc was a revelation to me. For years I had enjoyed the "briefer" Vaughan Williams: his contributions to the English Hymnal, the odd chamber piece, the "Folk Song Suite" for band. But over the years, whenever I listened to recordings of the symphonies, I never cared for any of them. Not a one. Ever.

And I gave them a try from time to time, because good musical friends of mine held them in very high regard. Nothing.

Until listening to the Bournemouth Symphony on this disc.

The orchestra sounds wonderful, and the group and conductor Kees Bakels together give these great two symphonies what has been easily the most sympathetic, most compelling, most achingly appropriate reading ever to fall on my ears.

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There is a brooding quality to the first movement of the ninth, which recalls slightly the opening of the Antartica. Recalls, without being repetitive; more a matter of a mature artist mulling anew a theme he has touched on before. Great trio (two clarinets and bass clarinet) -- praise both of the composer and the orchestra. Vaughan Williams is a master of textural contrast. The Andante sostenuto is a lyrical dialogue between a dolce horn theme, and a rhythmically brutish tutti suggestive of "The Last of the Mohicans." As "menacing scherzi" go, this one is grimmer than the Beethoven Opus 125, but is less fierce than the Shostakovich tenth. It is bumptious, and suggests something of the spirit of Dukas; surprisingly musical saxophones, apart from one "honk" which (we suppose) the composer intended :-) At the last, Vaughan Williams rounds off the bleakness, lightens up the gloom, with an Andante tranquillo finale, which transforms some of the material of the first movement.

These are two of the best performances of Vaughan Williams symphonies I ever have heard. I had a few reservations about Bakels's version of No. 2, the London, but it seems that in these later works with their more abstract inspiration Bakels has found surer footing. After all, he is Dutch, not English (Yes, I know that eminent Vaughan Williamsite Bernard Haitink is Dutch.). The sound engineering on this CD, from a 20-bit master, is absolutely breathtaking. To hear the glorious textures RVW summoned up so vividly is a real treat. The Fifth receives a reading full of passion. So often, the work is treated as the utterance of a contemplative, a seer. Well, RVW may have been prophetic, but he was a flesh and blood creature, too, and this symphony is an utterance of high emotional drama even if it eschews orchestral fireworks. I am convinced that, even more than Barbirolli and Boult, Bakels has penetrated to the heart of this symphony to an unusual degree. The Ninth is very successful, too. Although RVW completed five symphonies in his 70's and 80's, the Ninth is the only one that seems to be preoccupied with death. Bakels is au courant with the work's spooky orchestration (bring on those saxes and the flugelhorn), but he also has found a key to the momentum of the work. It is very easy to wallow in the misterioso feeling of this piece. Instead, Bakels moves things along so that when one finally comes to the fortissimo outbursts of the last movement, they are at a high pitch of drama and don't sound like isolated petualance. There have been fine versions of the Ninth by Previn, Thomson, and Slatkin, but I believe that I prefer Bakels. I only would add that the Bournemouth Symphony on this showing is a world class orchestra. If you doubt that they have served up some high quality Vaughan Williams on Naxos, try Paul Daniel's thrilling version of A Sea Symphony, too.

For the past seven or eight months, I've been on a Vaughan Williams kick... and I'm really enjoying it. If you can ignore the groupthink of some mainstream classical criticism that says VW was a hopeless modal reactionary (or stuff to that effect), then I think you'll be able to enjoy many if not most of his works as true masterpieces.

The Fifth Symphony is a sublime work of art and probably VW's zenith. It's full of yearning, passion, reflection, pondering, and finding that inner peace. There's a lot that's been said about it, and if you haven't heard it and are looking to own an inexpensive but quality performance, this version will do nicely. While I prefer Vernon Handley's version (EMI), there's two things I appreciate about Bakels' performance: one, the opening of the first movement is soft until the currents of anguish come in - in other words, it's not loud until it should be. The dynamics feel 'right' throughout. Two, near the beginning of the Romanza Bakels emphasizes the 'cello line to gorgeous effect (or maybe it's the engineers giving it the volume it needs). Overall, I feel that Bakels may be moving too quickly through the symphony - the epilogue of the Romanza definitely feels rushed to me - but it's still a great job with a glorious work.

The Ninth Symphony has been called 'enigmatic' many times. It's his final symphony and maintains unusual tone coloring throughout (flugelhorn, saxophones, xylophones, all used tastefully but used nonetheless). My own speculation (if I may be allowed this) is that it's VW musing on death. The first movement suggests contemplation of approaching death, the second seems to alternate between resignation (the flugelhorn and slow chords) and determination to 'stare down' mortality, and the third movement, the weird, spooky Scherzo, is the dance of skeletons in the graveyard (I think that's someone else's image). Perhaps it is an attempt to make death an absurd, laughable thing. But the fourth movement raises a myriad of questions, and I think it's supposed to. My wild guess is that it's VW contemplating the severance of the soul from the body. What happens then? Does our essence vanish into the void? Do we see the bright light and become absorbed into its warmth? Is there an opening into Glory, or a cosmic voyage beyond the stars? I find a wonderful puzzle in the moment when the orchestra winds down, getting hushed, to what seems the quiet resolution - hey, it really could end here - and then the loud, troubling climax, followed by the three "waves" and harp glissandos, the final major chord trailing away. You are now leaving the Galaxy.

Here, though, I have to really recommend Handley's version (brilliantly coupled with the disturbing [but amazing] Sixth and capped with the beautiful Fantasia on Greensleeves - which is just perfect). The Ninth's outer movements are supposed to be, in order, "Moderato maestoso" and "Andante tranquilo". Handley's Ninth has a first movement which is over a minute longer than Bakels', and the fourth movement is 1:29 longer! Perhaps this is matter of interpretative preference, but doing it Handley's way seems closer to the tempo markings, and that's important because it just seems that the outer movements need to be ruminating or ponderous (Handley), not necessarily flowing and lyrical (Bakels). If the latter is what you like, then this CD will get 5 stars from you. For me, though, I appreciate Bakels' wonderful work but I just can't help but feel that you can't rush the final three fortissimos - there needs to be a drawn-out crescendo and decrescendo to emphasize the point that we are going beyond, far beyond, what we have ever known.

The Bournemouth Orchestra is an admirable band, and here they conjure up an atmospheric sound world for Vaughan Williams's fifth symphony with sure-footed and impressively colorful and refined playing. In most respects Bakels proves to have an appealingly straightforward view of this highlight of the Vaughan Williams symphony cycle as well. Unfortunately, the first movement is slightly compromised by Bakels's apparent fondness for tempo changes and, it seems, changes in interpretative perspective several times during the movement. The result is a slightly sprawling, slightly incoherent version, but with some very fine touches, such as the tension he manages to build up in the development section. A pity, for the rest of the work is quite finely done - the scherzo flies along with impressive gusto and vivacity and the Romanza is finely done, although perhaps a tad superficial. The finale is slightly rushed - full of energy, yes, but missing something of the more visionary aspects altogether. Altogether it is a fine interpretation, however, and in general not a bad alternative version to have.

The ninth is often considered to be a lighter, less profound work (an impression challenged by e.g. the Haitink recording by the way). It actually fares better on this recording as well, and the mysteriousness and implied grandeur (like a shining celestial castle viewed through a haze) finely evoked and the splendid, highly original instrumental textures impressively realized (not the least, again, because of the masterful orchestral playing), if not, in the end, as excellently so as in some other performances. The end of the last movement unfortunately sounds too literal and flat, but in general this is a very satisfiable version. In the end, then, this disc is something of a mixed bag, but even though I might have sounded a tad harsh I want to emphasize that I also got much out of these performances. Thus, I am willing to give these versions a firm recommendation, but perhaps mostly so to people already familiar with these works, especially the masterpiece that is Vaughan Williams's fifth symphony. Sound quality is very good; spacious, clear and for the most part very well balanced.

I was only familiar with Vaughan Williams from his shorter pieces like my favorite, Fantasia on a theme by Tom Tallis -- this is my first listen to his symphonies. So far, I'm enthralled. These two recordings are tremendous -- great music well played. I suppose you could say that Williams' signature style is beautiful renditions of subtlely blended and harmonized music. What most critics leave out is his sense of drama -- while bucolic in parts, these symphonies have sections that can blow you away! Keep in mind he did many film scores as well so these pieces sometimes have a cinematic quality to them. A great CD.