Customer Reviews

Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (original 1913 version) / Butterworth: The Banks of Green Willow - London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Hickox

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If you like the music of Vaughan Williams at all, you MUST get this disc because it is likely to be the only performance of the original version of the composer's 2nd symphony. Fortunately, the perfomance and sound are terrific so it is a worthy document.

As for whether the additional 20 minutes of music Vaughan Williams later cut is worth the effort, that depends on what you're hoping to hear. If you're looking for incredibly beautiful music, you'll find it here. If you're looking for a coherent piece of music, you might want to stick with the 1936 revision available elsewhere which, although not perfect, pulls things together much more effectively than we hear here.

Personally, I'll listen to both versions depending on my mood. I'm certainly glad to have this version which offers an incredibly nostalgic and beautiful coda which comprises one-third of the running time of the final movement. Further, the added repetitions in the slow movement of certain lyric passages are welcome. The second trio from the scherzo is a fascinating piece of music, but it's completely out of place with what surrounds it, so it's easy to understand why Vaughan Williams excised it.

Given the fact that the listening public has grown used to the ramshackled musical structures of people like Elgar and Mahler, it's easy to understand how someone could contentedly wallow in this piece. Occasionally, however, I want a little more coherence, so from time to time I find it worth hearing Vaughan William's second thoughts about the 2nd symphony. For that, I turn to Barbirolli or Boult. (Both available at mid-price.)

If I could only have one version of this, though, I suppose it be this one. Do try, though, to get this and the later revision, because Vaughan Williams wasn't wrong to think that the original version is a bit unwieldy.

The London Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams (RVW) may be his best-known symphony, at least if judged on the basis of number of recordings and concert performances. While not strictly "programmatic," the quotation of the Big Ben (Westimster) chimes sequence that is a key musical phrase in the opening and closing movements certainly ties it to that city, and the luminous Scherzo captures the mood (and the fog) of the city at night at least as well as Gershwin caught the mood of Paris, to throw out one example. (RVW's characteristic "off-the-beat" accents in the Scherzo give it a jauntiness eerily similar to the "jazzy" accents that Gershwin used for his depiction of Paris. RVW simply got there ahead of Gershwin. By about 10 years or so. Interesting.)

Over the years, various recordings by Sir Adrian Boult were part of my library (always adding the latest Boult version as it was released). High on my list of good performances, too, were those of Andre Previn and Bernard Haitink. I may never listen to any of them ever again.

The reason why: By going back to RVW's original version of 1913, which restores about 20 minutes of material that he had removed over the years, through three revisions, ending with a 1936 edition that is the one normally heard (and the score version for all of the Boult, Previn and Haitink recordings in my library).

True, some of the restored material could be considered "padding"; material too amorphous and diffuse to really add anything to the symphony. But there are two areas where the restored material are magic; no lesser description will do.

The first is in the Scherzo, that fleet impression of London at night, where the restored material heightens the mood considerably while extending the movement by some minutes without in the slightest overstaying its welcome. Most of the restored material comes at the end of the Scherzo, where it now fades out with RVW's characteristically beautiful ability to "turn a phrase."

The second, and far greater, improvement is to the final movement, and most particularly to the Epilogue of this movement, where now what one hears is an eerie precursor of the final ("Uranus") movement of Gustav Holst's "The Planets." This is not a point of reference that should be overplayed; each of RVW and Holst went his separate way with his respective material once past this initial "shock of recognition." Nevertheless, an astonishing bit to hear by someone who has heard both works many, many times.

The booklet annotators make the point - valid to be sure - that RVW felt his 1936 revision to be his final say on the matter, and moreover that his revisions and excisions over the years were all his; all voluntary for purposes of tightening up the structure (unlike, as one of the annotators points out, the case of Bruckner, who experienced never-ending - and often awful - edits and revisions suggested by well-meaning but not well-informed "friends").

But this original version has captured my fancy, and my ears. Tough to go back now; it's that good.

Bob Zeidler

This recording of the original 1913 version of Vaughan Williams `A London Symphony' is not only outstanding in its own right but it is a historical document. Ursula Vaughan Williams, the composer's wife, gave special permission for this to be made as the composer was against performance of his original version. It follows that it will not make its way to the concert hall.

The symphony was given its first performance in early 1914. `You really have done it this time!' wrote his friend Gustav Holst. The full score was soon lost in mysterious circumstances but was reconstructed from the orchestral parts. After the war he revised the symphony several times, the last in 1933. The final version was about twenty minutes shorter than the original, resulting in a much leaner, tighter work. So what was `lost'?

`It [is] an enigma to me why these bars were removed, for in their magic and beauty they have caught something of London which Whistler captured in his Nocturnes.' So wrote Bernard Herrman, the American composer, referring to the slow movement. This is music of staggering beauty and occurs towards the end of the 2nd movement. In the scherzo you can hear a passage which VW called `nasty, modern stuff'. This begins at Track 4, 5:45. The orchestral writing is highly original and some people have spotted a similarity to Holst's Planet Suite- Neptune. In the final movement, the fast music is suddenly arrested by a much slower passage of almost Mahlerian anguish before returning to its familiar course. Then comes what VW called the `bad hymn tune' . It turns out to be no such thing, but instead a beautiful chorale. The epilogue is much longer and very beautiful indeed.

Lewis Foreman, in a review of this disc in the BMS* News, expresses my feelings exactly: `..one is so used to the final version that it takes several hearings to get over the shock of familiar music suddenly switching into sections that were...cut...and then back again. And just how cherishable on its own account is the material he cut? Its like being taken back to some pre-bombing London and finding long-forgotten squares and alleys and evocative vistas that we thought had gone forever'. Vaughan Williams' creativity was at such a pitch that he had too much good material - it does not sag under its own weight, rather it is bursting at the seams.

George Butterworth was a close friend of VW and offered useful criticism during the composition of the symphony. Tragically he was shot in 1916 and Vaughan Williams dedicated the work to him in memory of the younger man. Butterworth used two folk songs, which he had collected himself, in the idyll The Banks of Green Willow (1913). This short but lovely work is beautifully crafted and it is fitting that his music should share the same disc.

The performance by the LSO under Richard Hickox is superlative. The reading is broad and the hushed intensity of the strings in the quiet passages is other-worldly. Chandos has exceeded even its high standards. The notes are by Stephen Connock, Chairman of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and Michael Kennedy, a friend of VW who has written an excellent book about his music.

*British Music Society

I am very familiar with this symphony in its later revision so I knew just where all the older material came in. Very fine music making. It is amusing, though, to read in the liner notes that this earlier version of the symphony was approved by "Mrs. Vaughn Williams" for recording only (not for regular concert performance). The conductor obviously wishes it were otherwise. Talk about respecting the composer's "final wishes" are hogwash. VW probably would have revised this symphony again endlessly had he lived. The first version would become the standard version if the public were to be sufficiently exposed to it. So by all means grab this magnificent disc.

A "new" symphony by Ralph Vaughan-Williams (1872-1958) is a major event - well, not a "new" one exactly but the long-forgotten original version of the score with which he first appeared in his artistic maturity. I refer to "A London Symphony" (1913), listed as "No. 2," and described by RVW after he began subjecting it to revision as "rather more 'a symphony by a Londoner'" than anything strictly programmatic or onomatopoeic. ("Mehr Empfindung als Malerei," as Beethoven once said.) In fact, in its conception, "A London Symphony" maintained close contact with an explicit literary source or inspiration, H. G. Wells' turn-of-the-century social novel "Tono Bungay." More of the Wells connection after a few words. In what way does the original version of "A London Symphony" differ from the canonic version, as revised (in stages) in the 1920s through the 1930s? It includes a good deal more material in the slow movement and the Finale, and this material is of a more directly representational character than the remainder; the First Movement and the scherzo, by contrast, did not suffer drastic alteration (although RVW excised a second trio in the scherzo). The original slow movement (Lento) contained a number of discursive episodes, now restored for the new recording, and these suggest quite blatantly the songs and sounds of the city streets that meant so much to RVW. The original Finale (Alla Marcia) likewise contained substantial excursions and reminiscences, now restored. Most of the symphony's increase in duration comes from re-establishing the cuts that its composer made for the Finale. What of the Wells connection? In "Tono Bungay" (the novel takes its title from a fictitious patent medicine), Wells gave a portrait of Edwardian London as a city in the throes of radical economic and wrenching social transformation. In the last chapter of the tale, Uncle Ponderevo, under indictment for marketing a false cure (the patent medicine), escapes the law in a flying machine of his own invention. Wells gives a long description of London as seen at night from the air. The passage is full of lyric nostalgia and is charged with the pathos that Wells felt for the lower classes of London. Musicologist Wilfrid Mellers once linked "A London Symphony" not to Wells but to the poet William Blake, and particularly to his "Songs of Innocence and Experience," which anticipate Wells in juxtaposing the wretchedness of the impoverished against the indifference of the respectable classes. Mellers characterized the Finale of "A London Symphony" as a great lamenting march for the civic tragedy of Britain's capital. Richard Hickox's traversal with the London Symphony Orchestra, considered simply as a performance, ranks with the classic renditions, those of Sir Adrian Boult and Sir John Barbirolli, in the discography. In its original form, heard here, "A London Symphony" essays the same large scale as Elgar's two examples and, like Mahler's symphonies, attempts to embrace a whole world. The tasteful filler is George Butterworth's "On the Banks of Willow Green." RVW dedicated "A London Symphony" to Butterworth, who died in the trenches in World War I.

Not only did this recording of the original version of Vaughan Williams's Second Symphony win the Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Recording but it was selected as the best recording of the year.

I agree with all of the accolades of the previous reviewers. What sets this recording apart is that it makes familiar music new and exciting. We can now judge whether Vaughan Williams was correct in making his cuts or, as many of his friends thought, he should have left it alone.

The Banks of the Green Willow by George Butterworth is also a wonderfully played and unforgettable work that complements the symphony. This is a must have disc for admirers of Vaughan Williams's music and a solid introduction to new comers. Highly recommended.

Whether you're already familiar with this symphony, or have yet to hear it in any version for the first time, run and get this one. Glorious recording, and playing from the London Symphony that can't be surpassed. I've been playing it over and over.

Ever since I first heard "The Lark Ascending" by Vaughan Williams, I have remained in awe of the beauty and enjoyability of the composers music. This particular recording of Richard Hickox and the London Symphony is a must have for any Vaughan Williams lover. After first hearing the revised editions of the London Symphony, I must say that this original version is my favorite. The mysterious Strings that open up the first movement are so wonderfully athereal, leading us to the English fanfare/march of trumpets and percussion. Even though I have never been to London, this music paints such vivid pictures in my mind. Also, it should be noted that the chromatic climax in the first movement in which the brass descend sounds extremely similar to the Phantom of the Opera Theme by Andrew Lloyd-Weber. In fact, it is so similar that I am definate that Lloyd-Weber copied the idea for his own work. Vaughan Williams is the original, however, and it is very interesting to note the similarities between this first movement in particular and later orchestral works. The second movement is comparatively much darker. The third, like all of Vaughan Williams' Symphonies, is a Scherzo, similar in mood to his others. The finale begins with heart-wrenching chords, frightenning, yet they fill the listenner with fascination. Overall, this recording brings out every corner of Vaughan Williams brilliant orchestrations.

The Banks of the Green Willow is a much simpler work, though still thoroughly pleasurable. Butterworth died tragically young in World War One from a shot to the head. This piece is based on two folk songs, combined into this one movement to make an altogether charming first half, and a typical English-countryside finish.

Whether you have heard the music of Vaughan Williams or not, this Cd can be enjoyed by all. Also, the Butterworth is a good introduction to the composers other musical selections.

Hickox was a master of Vaughan-Williams, and this, together with his recording of the Fourth Symphony (coupled with the Mass in g-minor) is the most successful and interesting of his near-complete (and surprisingly uneven) Vaughan-Williams cycle. The 1914 original version isn't a better work than the tightened 1936 revised one, but if you like Vaughan-Williams and his London Symphony, then you won't mind hearing more of it, with plenty new material thrown in and as passionately performed as here.

Overall, I'm very glad that this recording was made. The "London Symphony" by Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of the most beutiful symphonies ever written. And to hear this work in original version is indeed a learning experience. However, I must say that Vaughan Williams was right to revise.
The first movement was left alone, but the latter movements in this original version have a lot extra music which the composer took out, and for good reason. Paticularly in the second movement, where some of this extra material is absolutely beutiful. But for me there is an inconsistant use of form. It seems to lose a sense of line and build, partly becuase it's a little too long, but also, there is no real peak that the movement develops into. The composer, realising this, decided to trim some of this fat in his revision, and comes up with a real thrilling climax that feels right as rain.
As far as the performance. Richard Hickox and the LSO perform elequently, even though it tends to be a little too slow at times. Nonetheless, the sound is first rate and Hickox certainly knows what he's doing.
As I said before, I'n happy this recording exists. It gives us a great insight into the process of composition and how a composer makes long term judgement calls as far as what to revise and what not revise. Vaughan Williams makes the right choices in the end.