Ralph Vaughan Williams, the composer of "Flos Campi" and the Suite for viola and small orchestra, was the grandson of Josiah Wedgwood III on his mother's side.
Compositional Technique
In "Flos Campi," Vaughan Williams uses the choir to create a variety of colors by having them vocalize with open, half-closed, and fully closed mouths.
Composer Biography
Vaughan Williams had one of the broadest educations of any British composer of his generation, having studied with Max Bruch and Maurice Ravel.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Vaughan Williams's self-confessed agnosticism masked a contemplative visionary sensibility, and he drew upon five hundred years of English literature, including the King James Bible and Walt Whitman.
Instruments
Lawrence Power, the violist on this recording, plays a rare viola made by the Bolognese maker Antonio Brensi around 1610.
Composition History
All three works on this album were written for the celebrated viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis, who dominated British viola-playing in the first half of the twentieth century.
Critical Reception
Vaughan Williams's "Flos Campi" puzzled its first audience due to its unusual scoring and biblical superscriptions, leading them to mistakenly believe it was a religious work.
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