Vaughan Williams: Flos Campi; Sancta Civitas

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A warm welcome back to some old friends from EMI's extensive Vaughan Williams archive. Both An Oxford Elegy (a hauntingly nostalgic setting from 1947-49 for speaker, chorus, and chamber orchestra of words by poet Matthew Arnold) and the sensuous Flos Campi (1925) for solo viola, wordless chorus, and small orchestra were set down within the ideal acoustic of Cambridge's Trinity College Chapel. John Westbrook's spoken contribution in the former piece is a model of eloquence, and if Sir David Willcocks's Flos Campi is just a little stiff by the side of, say, Vernon Handley's marvelous Liverpool account, it does have the benefit of Cecil Aronowitz's incomparable viola playing. As a bonus we also get the 1929 Whitsunday Hymn, recorded during those same July 1968 sessions (and never previously issued). This generous collection concludes with Willcocks's more-than-useful performance of the ambitious 1923-25 oratorio Sancta Civitas--a red-blooded rendering, if without quite the same rapt grandeur and breathtaking refinement of Richard Hickox's stunningly well balanced 1992 version (again with the LSO and also on EMI British Composers). Excellent remasterings and admirable presentation. --Andrew Achenbach

Tracks:

An Oxford Elegy: Lento
An Oxford Elegy: Go, For They Call You, Shepherd
An Oxford Elegy: Here Will I Sit And Wait
An Oxford Elegy: Screen'd Is This Nook
An Oxford Elegy: That Sweet City
An Oxford Elegy: Come, Let Me Read
An Oxford Elegy: Or In My Boat I Lie
An Oxford Elegy: And Once, In Winter
An Oxford Elegy: But What - I Dream!
An Oxford Elegy: No, No, Thou Hast Not Felt
An Oxford Elegy: Runs It Not Here
An Oxford Elegy: Needs Must I, With Heavy Heart
An Oxford Elegy: Soon Will The High Midsummer Pomps
An Oxford Elegy: He Hearkens Not!
An Oxford Elegy: Never More
An Oxford Elegy: Yes, Thou Art Gone!
An Oxford Elegy: Despair I Will Not
An Oxford Elegy: Why Faintest Thou?
Whitsunday Hymn (No. 3 Of Three Choral Hymns)
Flos campi: 1. Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas (Lento)
Flos campi: 2. Jam Enim Hiems Transiit (Andante Con Moto)
Flos campi: 3. Quaesivi Quem Diligit Anima Mea (Lento - Allegro Moderato)
Flos campi: 4. En Lectulum Salomonis (Moderato Alla Marcia)
Flos campi: 5. Revertere, Revertere Sulamitis! (Andante Quasi Lento)
Flos campi: 6. Pone Me Ut Signaculum (Moderato Tranquillo)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): I Was In The Spirit (Lento)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): And I Saw Heaven Opened (Allegro)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): And I Saw An Angel Standing In The Sun (Meno Mosso)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): Babylon The Great Is Fallen (Lento)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): Rejoice Over Her O Heavens (Allegro Moderato)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): And I Saw A New Heaven (Adagio)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): Therefore Are They Before The Throne Of God (Poco Meno Largo)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): And I Saw A Pure River
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): Holy, Holy, Holy (Andante Sostenuto)
Sancta Civitas (The Holy City): Heaven And Earth Are Full Of Thy Glory (Poco Animato)

Amazon.com

A warm welcome back to some old friends from EMI's extensive Vaughan Williams archive. Both An Oxford Elegy (a hauntingly nostalgic setting from 1947-49 for speaker, chorus, and chamber orchestra of words by poet Matthew Arnold) and the sensuous Flos Campi (1925) for solo viola, wordless chorus, and small orchestra were set down within the ideal acoustic of Cambridge's Trinity College Chapel. John Westbrook's spoken contribution in the former piece is a model of eloquence, and if Sir David Willcocks's Flos Campi is just a little stiff by the side of, say, Vernon Handley's marvelous Liverpool account, it does have the benefit of Cecil Aronowitz's incomparable viola playing. As a bonus we also get the 1929 Whitsunday Hymn, recorded during those same July 1968 sessions (and never previously issued). This generous collection concludes with Willcocks's more-than-useful performance of the ambitious 1923-25 oratorio Sancta Civitas--a red-blooded rendering, if without quite the same rapt grandeur and breathtaking refinement of Richard Hickox's stunningly well balanced 1992 version (again with the LSO and also on EMI British Composers). Excellent remasterings and admirable presentation. --Andrew Achenbach

Customer Reviews:

I looked up "beautiful" in the dictionary..........2001-11-30

"An Oxford Elegy" is a work that uses 2 poems by Matthew Arnold: "The Scholar-Gipsy" and "Thyrsis."
I've listened with adoration to almost everything Vaughan Williams wrote, but still found myself skeptical of a work (Oxford Elegy) that employed spoken words throughout the work. I stand amazed. I fell in love with the work so much that I started reading other poems by Matthew Arnold after I got this cd. If the Scholar-Gipsy is dead then this music could just about bring him back to life. The speaker does his job affectionately, but not affectatedly, the chorus is like a wind that cuts directly underneath your skin, and the orchestral section completes the all-too perfect atmosphere

"Whitsunday Hymn" is the only short piece on the cd, but its a delicate and exquisite choral miniature

"Flos Campi" is the most well-known work on the cd, and a testament to Vaughan William's ability to write astonishingly original and beautiful phrases out of simple musical ideas. Every time I see a viola i want to hear this piece.

The cantata "Sancta Civitas" is the largest scale piece on the cd, and the emotional intensity is almost unbearable after listening to the previous works on the cd. You'll find yourself asking the question, like me, Why isn't Vaughan Williams hailed internationally as one of the most important composers of his century?

Who'd have thought it possible?.......2000-03-14

It's rare enough to see recordings of any ONE of the three major works on this disc, let alone all THREE--and all of them amazing performances as a bonus!

Each of these works is a classic in its own right, yet with the possible exception of "Flos Campi," all have been forgotten by the recording studios. All three performances are well worth hearing in their own right, even if they don't quite match more modern recordings (e.g. Hickox or Handley) in dynamic range or sound quality: the commitment of all involved is impressive, particularly the fine contributions of the principal soloists--John Westbrook, Cecil Aranowitz, and John Shirley-Quirk.

A must for VW afficionados everywhere, particularly those in the United States, where these recordings are just being made available for the first time.

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