Customer Reviews

Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge / Five Mystical Songs

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

 

 

This CD contains some of Vaughan Williams' best vocal music. The singers are superb and the accompanist is sensitive.

I love the whole CD, but adore
Searching For Lambs, which is a touching love song, set for violin and tenor duet
Silent Noon
It Was A Lover and His Lass
Antiphon, the last song in the set of Five Mystical Songs. It is a great song of faith, set by an infamous agnostic. The Church would be the poorer without Vaughan Williams wonderful hymns and arrangements of hymns. [I also recommend Vaughan Williams' Hymnal and Pilgrm's Progress.].

I bought this set to hear On Wenlock Edge and am not disappointed. It is a great song cycle.

By the way, this bargain-priced CD includes all the song texts.

One of my favourite vocal CDs. Highly recommended.

Naxos bought up a defunct British record label, Collins Classics, which issued this song recital in 1996. Two major works -- "On Wenlock Edge" and "Five Mystical Songs" -- are filled out with various individual songs, some of them folksong arrangements. The program is mostly thrice-familiar to English music lovers, but Americans may need to be in a comfy, treacle-pudding-and-Guinness mood, snuggled in an old armchair. Which is to say, this music dwells a lot on reverie and local color.

Rolfe-Johnson's tenor can turn frail and reedy under pressure, but the young Simon Keenlyside was on the verge of a major international career thanks to his solid, forthright baritone -- he's a trifle less artistic than Rolfe-Johnson but more dashing. My only complaint is that Graham Johnson provides very dull accompaniments; there were many moments when I wanted to kick him along. I should also mention that the "Five Mystical Songs" are more effective in their more often encountered orchestral arrangement with chorus.

This is a very nice compilation of Vaughan Williams' vocal music, some of which is not easy to find on CD. The performers do an excellent job. Nice voices, and the music is sensitively sung. A really good value.

It's hard to avoid getting a little syrupy with the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams--every now and then this recording errs on that side. I agree with the reviewer who finds Anthony Rolfe-Johnson a little tight from time to time, or maybe pressed, in the upper range. This also might not be one of Graham Johnson's better recordings... he didn't wow me as much as he usually does. That said, he's a sensitive player on tracks like the familiar gem "Silent Noon" and "The splendour falls."

Simon Keenlyside is fabulous, but a bit younger here... his more recent recordings display more artistry, I think, where here we just hear a gorgeous instrument and great technique, and occasionally a bit too covered a sound for my taste.

One of the tracks I love is "The Lawyer," which violinist Louisa Fuller plays with just the right balance of folk-fiddle roughness and clean classical tone.

For "On Wenlock Edge," I prefer John Mark Ainsley's recording mainly because I prefer his instrument and interpretation--and the interpretation of the Nash Ensemble just seems a little more nuanced and the balance is better.

The price is certainly right on this one, though, and it's a fine introduction to this wonderful composer.

A fine compilation of Vaughn Williams' songs. Sung very well indeed by Johnson and Keenlyside with excellent accompaniment. This CD really shows the full range of Vaughn Williams vocal writing. This whole series is an admirable undertaking.