Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony

Thomas Hampson (Performer), Ralph Vaughan Williams (Composer), Andrew Davis (Conductor), Sir Andrew Davis (Conductor), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Amanda Roocroft (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Thomas Hampson, Amanda Roocroft
• Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Andrew Davis, Sir Andrew Davis
• Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Audio CD (June 6, 1995)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Teldec
• ASIN: B000000SN9
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #482,944 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1): A Song For All Seas, All Ships

2. A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1): On The Beach At Night Alone

3. A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1): (Scherzo) The Waves

4. A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1): The Explorers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamic Balance Of All Elements, June 30, 2002

By 

Michael A. Cox "Teuthis" (Tubac, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony (Audio CD)

If you have never heard "A Sea Symphony", you must do so with all alacrity. When you do, purchase this album. Conductor, Andrew Davis balances all of the lush and powerful elements; the chorus, orchesta and soloists in a dynamic and precise rendition of the symphony. He brings to the fore, the immensity of the brass, the succulent delicacy of the chorus and luxuriance of the orchestra, all in their turns. The soloists have the power to cut through and be heard clearly. I have heard many renditions, live and recorded, of this work and this is one of the very best.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding for sound and soloists, November 24, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony (Audio CD)

Like the Berlioz Requiem, Vaughan Williams' vast "A sea Symphony" tests the limits of recorded sound. It requires delicacy to caputre the soft singing of the solo voices but at the same time must encompass a large chorus whose words need to be heard, since it was Walt Whitman's poetry that inspired the composer. This Teldec recording sueeds on all counts. Compared even to the acclaimed Telarc account from Atlanta under Spano, you can hear mroe enunciation from all the singers, and orchestral impact is fully dynamic. As a plus, Thomas Hampson is the only world-class baritone to undertake the baritone solo, along with Thomas Allen, and he is matched by the excellent Amanda Roocroft. Andrew Davis perhaps doesn't commit himself as fully to the score's drama as Spano or Adrian Boult, but his tighter control pays off in clarity -- it's easy to feel swamped by the score's ambitiousness ad miss Vaughan Wiliams' essentially folk-song based idion, which calls for simplicty and sincerity.

In all, a surprising find from a V-W cycle that had its ups and downs.