Fair Child of Beauty

Featuring

Alan Tongue
John Hopkins
Philip Smith
Britten Sinfonia
Joyful Company of Singers
Ralph Vaughan Williams

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

Edmund Spenser's 'Epithalamion', the text for this work, consists of 24 stanzas with 365 long lines, representing the number of days in the year.

Composition History

In 1938, Ralph Vaughan Williams felt creatively 'dried up' and believed he would never write music again, a mood exacerbated by personal losses and Hitler's aggressive actions.

Composer Biography

The inspiration for Vaughan Williams's work came from Ursula Wood, a young poet who had admired his ballet Job and later became his wife.

Recording & Production

Albion Records, the label for this recording, was created by The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society in 2007 and is dedicated to recordings of rare Vaughan Williams works, often featuring world premières.

Notable Performances

The first performance of 'The Bridal Day' was a black and white televised production on June 5, 1953, which Vaughan Williams and Ursula felt did not work.

Composition History

Vaughan Williams reworked 'The Bridal Day' into a choral piece called 'Epithalamion' in 1957, expanding the string quartet to a full complement of strings and including the chorus in all eleven sections.

Composition History

Ursula Wood initially proposed a folk-ballet based on 'Clerk Saunders' but Vaughan Williams preferred a new scenario based on Spenser's 'Epithalamion'.