Symphony 5 / Flos Campi Suite

1. Flos Campi, suite for viola, small chorus, & small orchestra
Composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performed by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Christopher Balmer
Conducted by Vernon Handley

2. Symphony No. 5 in D major
Composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performed by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by Vernon Handley

Tracks:

A Sea Symphony
A London Symphony
Symphony No. 8 In D Minor
English Folk Song Suite
A Pastoral Symphony
Symphony No. 4 In F Minor
Flos Campi
Oboe Concerto In A Minor
Symphony No. 5 In D
Symphony No. 6 In E Minor
Symphony No. 9 In E Minor
Fantasia On "Greensleeves"
Serenade To Music
Partita For Double String Orchestra
Sinfonia Antartica
Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis
Five Variants Of Dives And Lazarus
Job - A Masque For Dancing

Customer Reviews:

RESTORES ONE'S FAITH IN HONEST MUSIC MAKING.......2007-03-29

Thank God for Tod Handley. I vividly recall a year or two back, feeling particularly jaundiced after a succession of glitzy, superficial concerts by conductors far starrier and younger, having my faith in real music making restored by a Handley concert which included a scintillating Schubert Little C Major and a profoundly moving VW Sea Symphony.

That work, of course, is the springboard for this cycle of complete VW symphonies. And a very satisfying journey through this inspiring canon of nine it is, too. Handley's affinity with English music needs no reiterating, but his relationship with Vaughan Williams in particular is a special one. More than most, he is alive to the changing and developing nature of the different symphonies through Vaughan Williams life - from the rich Romantic panoply of the 1st, taking in the influence of study with Ravel in the 3rd, the violence of Nos.4 & 6 and the idealisation of his Pilgrim music as well as that of his beloved Tudor composers in the Fifth, right through to the exploration of new sonorities and form in 7, 8 and 9. Throughout the cycle, this is music making that is honest, perceptive, communicative and frequently illuminating and inspiring.

Handley's Sea Symphony has terrific sweep in the opening movement, ideal rhythmic crispness in the scherzo and real depth in the long, questing Finale. Its one drawback is perhaps the somewhat cramped acoustics of Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall compared to, say, the fuller sound of the Kingsway Hall in Boult's second recording. His London Symphony is as fine as any, though I do now miss the passages opened out in Hickox's recording of the Original Version.

I'm inclined to think this the best Pastoral of any on disc: it finds Handley very sensitive to all the overtones of VW's experiences of the Great War that lie behind its overt pastoralism - Flanders Fields as much as English ones. This is followed by a stunning Fourth, matched only by the composer's own performance. The grinding dissonances of its motto motif, the bounce of the jazzier rhythms, the dark Beethovenian transition to the Finale are all perfectly realised: "I don't know if I like it, but it's what I meant" in VW's famous phrase and I feel sure Handley's performance is just what he meant.

The Fifth finds fierce competition from Boult (twice), Barbirolli (twice) and Haitink (most purely symphonic of all). But Handley strikes a fine balance between the Pilgrim's Progress antecedents of much of the material and the `absolute music' arguments to which it is subjected. This disc is almost worth it for the glorious horn counterpoint at the climax of the first movement alone, picked out by Handley as by no other conductor in my experience. His Sixth is another blistering reading to set beside that of his mentor, Boult, in mono for Decca. Handley's pp final movement here is too mystical to be mistaken for the post-nuclear landscape it's often compared to - it seems closer to VW's great friend, Holst's, Neptune. Pacing and colour are the strengths of this Antarctica, but only Haitink really succeeds in making it sound truly symphonic. And No.8 was always the domain of its dedicatee, `Glorious John' Barbirolli, who seemed to have the secret of its somewhat obtuse Variations without a Theme opening movement, its Bartokian Strings only and Wind only inner movements and the clangour of its Finale with `all the phones and spiels know to the composer'. However the elusive 9th is one of the best of Handley's set. He really seems to understand its deep, dark, Hardyesque mysteries, grounded as those novels seem to be in the very earth and land of England, as well as its further explorations of intriguing sonorities with the use of flugelhorn and saxophones.

The fill-ups from the original discs are here as well, including a fine Job and a superb Flos campi, another elusive work that seems to speak of secrets that are not to be found in the VW biographies. These are all considerable performances that reflect Handley's long-standing empathy with and authority in this music. And all at a bargain price.

Excellence throughout.......2004-10-16

On balance, this is probably the best set of Vaughan Williams symphonies out there today. Vernon Handley was a protege of Adrian Boult and you can hear a likeness in the way the two approach the music of their countryman. Boult may have had an advantage, being alive at a time Vaughan Williams was composing and premiering a number of the symphonies after they were composed.

The passage of time has left us two outstanding sets of Vaughan Williams symphonies by Boult, including a latter stereo version. I have heard both sets and they are wonderful. I prefer this one, however. Handley does things with some of the lesser played Vaughan Williams scores that, I believe, gives him an edge as the best of today's interpreters.

His version of the "Sea" Symphony No. 1 -- which is not a favorite of mine -- stacks up with anything out there. It avoids the bombastic approach taken by some conductors that do not completely understand the music or Vaughan Williams style. Even the new Atlanta Symphony version of the "Sea" Symphony does not exceed the vigor, loveliness and fine singing on parade under Handley's baton.

Handley also does wonderful things with the lesser known Symphonies 8 and 9, which some critics went wow over when Bernard Haitink recorded them together on one CD a few years back. Personally, I never heard the message of the dramatic 8th Symphony until I listened to this set.

Handley is hardly at a loss in the more well-known symphonies, either. His renditions of the "London" Symphony 2, "Pastoral" Sympony 3, Symphony 4 and "Antarctica" Symphony 7 are up with the best versions ever recorded. Handley's version is the first time I ever heard the chimes of Big Ben in the "London" symphony. His trip to Antarctica in Symphony 7 is probably the best one out there today and rivals the famous mono version Boult did 50 years ago, less the spoken tracts at the beginning and between sections.

Handley is equally fine in Vaughan Williams two violent symphonies, Nos. 4 and 6. In Symphony 4, he is especially visionary, understanding that the composer was not really writing about the impending world war when he penned the symphony in the late 1930s. Vaughan Williams said it was more about human interaction and communication and you hear this from Handley, who eschews much of the needless violence other conductors put into the score.

It is only the Symphony No. 5 where I find a clear preference to versions by Andre Previn in either of his stereo versions. Previn's 1988 Telarc recording also includes "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis", perhaps Vaughan Williams' best-known melody. This is preferable to Handley's Symphony 5 diskmate, the "Flos Campi" Suite, which provides another moment for the Liverpool Philharmonic Choir to shine. Previn endows the wonderful symphony with more romance and emotion than Handley.

That's not to say Handley's recording is a dog. Hardly! His is an exquisite recording of some of the world's most beautiful music. It lacks little and competes with the best out there. All told, this is a five star set with beautiful and, when appropriate, powerful and visceral playing from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

There are other fine Vaughan Williams set extant -- both Boult sets, the exceptionally well-recorded Thomson on Chandos, various recordings by Previn & Hickox and those by Bakels on Naxos -- but no complete set quite captures Ralph Vaughan Williams as three dimensionally as this one. My only complaint is Classics for Pleasure could have mated Handley's equally brilliant version of "Job: A Masque for Dancing" with one of the shorter symphonies and did not.

Abravanel Conducts Vaughan Williams [DualDisc]

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Abravanel Conducts Vaughan Williams [DualDisc]

Manufacturer: Silverline
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009KIY4A
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 in D; Flos campi; Oboe Concerto

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Marvelous VW, outstanding sound, unbelievable price

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 in D; Flos campi; Oboe Concerto

Manufacturer: Class. for Pleas. Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Vaughan Williams, Delius: Piano Concertos; Finzi: Eclouge
Vaughan Williams: Fantasies; The Lark Ascending; Five Variants
Haydn: Paris Symphonies
Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets / Alban Berg Quartet
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Op35; Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Op77

ASIN: B0000647HQ
Release Date: 2004-04-06

Tracks:

Flos Campi: I. Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas (Lento)
Flos Campi: II. Jam Enim Hiems Transiit (Andante Con Moto)
Flos Campi: III. Quaesivi Quem Diligit Anima Mae (Lento - Allegro Moderato)
Flos Campi: IV. En Lectulum Salomonis (Moderato Alla Marcia)
Flos Campi: V. Revertere, Revertere Sulamitis! (Andante Quasi Lento)
Flos Campi: VI. Pone Me Ut Signaculum (Moderato Tranquillo)
Oboe Concerto In A Minor: I. Rondo Pastorale (Allegro Moderato)
Oboe Concerto In A Minor: II. Minuet And Musette (Allegro Moderato)
Oboe Concerto In A Minor: III. Finale (Scherzo)(Presto - Lento - Presto)
Symphony No.5 In D: I. Preludio (Moderato - Allegro - Tempo I)
Symphony No.5 In D: II. Scherzo (Presto Misterioso)
Symphony No.5 In D: III. Romanza (Lento)
Symphony No.5 In D: IV. Passacaglia (Moderato - Allegro - Tempo Primo - Tempo Del Preludio)

Customer Reviews:

Marvelous VW, outstanding sound, unbelievable price.......2004-04-12

Vernon Handley and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra recorded the 9 Vaughan Williams symponies in the late 1980s for EMI in the now defunct Eminence line. From the start, the CDs were issued at mid price, but many of the recordings became classics instantly at any price. Certainly this recordingof the 5th symphony ranks as the crowning achievement in the series. The eerie opening has you spell bound right from the start. Handley handles the wide ranging moods of one of VWs shorter symphonies very adeptly, the playing of the Royal Liverppol orchestra is surprisingly excellent at all times, and EMI captured the performance in state of the art sound that is still of demonstration quality over 15 years later.
The present CD adds the Oboe concerto to the mix (Flos Campi was on the original issue and is also included here) , so the bargain is even better that before. You get a full 79 minutes of sheer joy.
A 7 disc set of Handley's Vaughan Williams symphony recordings from the Eminence line, including this disk and the other 8 symphonies AND the much underperformed Job, is also available, but not in the USA. You can get it form Amazon.co.uk though, asin #B00006J3LP.
One minus (but not enough to take away a star) : the documentation is pretty scant. The jewel case booklet is just a single page foldout.

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Flos Campi; etc. [Hybrid SACD]

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Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Flos Campi; etc. [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Vanguard Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0001IN0F8
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 IN D/Flos Campi-Suite

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Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 IN D/Flos Campi-Suite

Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Flos Campi-Suite
Symphony No. 5 in D 1st Movement: Preludio (Moderato)
Symphony No. 5 in D 2nd Movement: Scherzo (Presto misterioso)
Symphony No. 5 in D 3rd Movement: Romanza (Lento)
Symphony No. 5 in D 4th Movement: Passacaglia (Moderato)

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; 'Dives and Lazarus'; Flos Campi; Fantasia on 'Greensleeves'

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Best version available

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; 'Dives and Lazarus'; Flos Campi; Fantasia on 'Greensleeves'

Manufacturer: Vanguard Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000023BB
Release Date: 1996-03-12

Tracks:

Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tailis For Double String Orchestra
Five Variiants Of 'Dives And Lazarus' For String Orchestra And Harp
Flos Campi For Solo Viola, Small Orchestra, And Wordless Choir
Fantasia on 'Greensleves'

Customer Reviews:

Best version available.......1999-09-05

This is, by far, the best version of these pieces available today. Abravanel has the "master's feel" for how these were meant to be played, in my opinion. The slower tempo, the gentler rise to the theme, and the plaintive "crying" of the solo violin sections are all differences discernible from other composer's more "brash" treatment of the pieces. If you must own only one version of these pieces, this is the one.

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.5, Flos Campi-Suite

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Get more the newer release of the same recording
Outstanding Work!
An unsurpassed account of a beautiful work.

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.5, Flos Campi-Suite

Manufacturer: Classics for Pleasur
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000003X87
Release Date: 1995-05-23

Tracks:

Flos Campi-Suite
Symphony No.5 In D Major: First Movement: Preludio (Moderato)
Symphony No.5 In D Major: Second Movement: Scherzo (Presto misterioso)
Symphony No.5 In D Major: Third Movement: Romanza (Lento)
Symphony No.5 In D Major: Fourth Movement: Passacaglia (Moderato)

Customer Reviews:

Get more the newer release of the same recording.......2004-04-12

See Amazon asin # B0000647HQ. That disk has the exact same recordings as the present disk, plus the Oboe Concerto for a full 79 minutes of outstanding quality VW. And it is less expensive. See my review there too.

Outstanding Work!.......2000-02-26

Although his 8th is a remarkable achievement for an octagenarian, the 5th is the best symphony V.W. ever wrote. I would go further than that - it's actually the best work in V.W.'s entire canon, the best symphony by any composer in the English speaking world and one of the very best symphonies of the 20th century. Handley's version is masterful in every way and is the absolutely ideal version. One does wish, however, that this great work was given the golden Karajan/BPO treatment.

An unsurpassed account of a beautiful work........1999-04-04

Despite the very strong cases which can be made for recordings of this symphony by Boult, Barbirolli and, more recently, Previn, Handley's account of the work should be considered to be the best ever to have appeared. Recorded in splendidly refined digital sound, this version is the warmest and most serenely beautiful interpretation of Vaughan Williams's lyrical masterpiece. There is an overwhelming feeling of rightness about Handley's approach to the work, in which he manages to shape each movement while never losing the overall sense of the unanimity of mood in the symphony as a whole. The opening typifies Handley's delicacy in this remarkably unforced reading; one is barely conscious of the violins before the distant horn-calls. This is not to say that the symphony is one-paced in its gentleness, as the appropriately bubbly woodwind in the scherzo demonstrates. This recording benefits from the way in which there is no sense of the interpreter enforcing his will onto the music and, more so than usual, one registers the sense of rural beauty that this unobtrusively joyful work exudes. I would go so far as to say that this is one of those rare recordings which can be considered to be perfect, especially since the fill-up,'Flos Campi', a 25-minute work in the same vein as the symphony, is almost as well-executed. The whole disc conjurs up an almost tangible sense of summer haziness and, at the lower end of mid-price, is one of the best bargain CDs currently available; were it a full-price disc, it would still be an easy first choice for this quintessentially English masterpiece.

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on; Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

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Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on; Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Manufacturer: Vanguard Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000023DD
Release Date: 1993-05-12