Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is a composer whose eclecticism and versatility continue to astonish musicians everywhere.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ralph Vaughan Williams' music explores introspection related to the wanderings of the soul and existential questions, while drawing from popular folk traditions, similar to Schubert's Winterreise.
Album & Artwork
This album, "Vaughan Williams Landscapes," is a continuation of the artists' previous discographic adventures with NoMadMusic, following albums dedicated to Britten's Canticles and Schubert's Winterreise.
Compositional Technique
Some of Vaughan Williams' pieces on this album, like "Along the Field," "English Folk Songs," and "Blake Songs," are accompanied by a single instrument (violin or oboe) to emphasize their rustic and folkloric character.
Interpretation
For the song cycles "Songs of Travel" and "Four Poems by Fredegond Shove," the performers deliberately transposed the works to a higher range to suit the tenor voice, offering a new coloration to music usually performed by baritones.
Compositional Technique
In Vaughan Williams' "Hymns," the viola dialogues with the voice, enveloped by a piano that creates organ-like resonances, resulting in an intense fusion of sounds.
You might also enjoy...
Songs & Sonnets
A Britten Songfest
Silver Stridencies of Sound
Still Falls the Rain
Benjamin Britten: Song Cycles
Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel
Butterworth: Six Songs from 'A Shropshire Lad'
Roger Quilter: Shakespeare Songs
Vaughan Williams: Folksong Arrangements
Britten: Folksongs
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings/Walton: Façade
