Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 3 "Pastoral" & 4

Featuring

Elizabeth Watts
Martyn Brabbins
David Butt Philip
BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Chorus
Ralph Vaughan Williams

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Composer's Artistic Vision

For the premieres of his symphonies, Vaughan Williams focused on purely musical matters like thematic relationships, rather than explaining their emotional content.

Composition History

Vaughan Williams's 'Pastoral' Symphony was partly inspired by his memories of the battlefields of Flanders, which he witnessed during his military service in World War I.

Historical Context

The year 1922 saw the premieres of three significant English symphonies, including Vaughan Williams's 'Pastoral' Symphony, showcasing the range of the contemporaneous English musical renaissance.

Composition History

Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 4 in F minor was dedicated to Sir Arnold Bax, possibly in return for Bax's dedications of his own works to Vaughan Williams.

Critical Reception

Constant Lambert, an English composer, conductor, and writer on music, claimed Vaughan Williams's 'Pastoral' Symphony was 'one of the landmarks in modern music'.

Compositional Technique

The 'Pastoral' Symphony features a unique expressive medium, which has been described as 'triplanar harmony' or Tovey's 'polymodality', where each linear counterpoint is supported by its own harmonies.

Composition History

The 'Saraband 'Helen'' is a choral work drafted by Vaughan Williams in 1913-14 but remained unfinished and unperformed for over a century until Martyn Brabbins realized it from the original.