There are a number of recordings of the familiar Vaughan Williams Fantasia, but this is the first I have come across that prefaces it with the original 54-second Psalm setting by 16th century composer Thomas Tallis which provided the archaic-sounding, compelling theme that VW used so creatively in his work. This is a work made to order for hi-res surround reproduction, because it utilizes two string orchestras – a main and an echo – plus a string quartet doing incidental solos. The antiphonal effects are a pleasure to hear for those of us fans of surround sound for music.
VW’s Fourth Symphony had been his war symphony, full of dissonant strife and sadness. So although his Fifth was premiered in 1943, it is a contrast in being serene and pacific. The opening of the first movement has a pair of horns that may remind one of a motif in Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe ballet. The third and slow movement provides the center of the symphony. It’s a Romance, giving the English horn the lyrical melody of an aria from VW’s opera The Pilgrim’s Progress.
The Serenade to Music is considered by many the finest musical setting of Shakespearean texts. It has a mood of serene and sensuous rapture. The words come from the final scene of The Merchant of Venice, and are sung by various characters, usually in pairs. (I had never read the words while listening before, and must admit I’m nonplussed by the line: “I am never merry when I hear sweet music.”) But the work is simply glorious-sounding – even in its sometime strictly instrumental version. My feeling was that not only having the text in front of me while listening, but also having the “sweet music” enveloping me in surround form aided in enjoying the Serenade more than I ever had before.
– John Sunier
