Vaugham Williams: Choral Works / Best, Corydon Singers, et al

• Album Summary
• Notes & Reviews
• Also Purchased
• Works Details

Album Summary

Performers

• Arthur Davies (Tenor)
• Sarah Walker (Mezzo-soprano)
• Maciej Rakowski (Violin)
• Diana Montague (Mezzo Soprano)
• Jean Rigby (Mezzo Soprano)
• Anne Dawson (Soprano)
• Linda Kitchen (Soprano)
• Alan Opie
• Gwynne Howell (Bass)
• Martyn Hill (Tenor)
• Thomas Allen (Baritone)
• John Connell (Bass)
• Elizabeth Connell (Soprano)
• Amanda Roocroft (Soprano)
• Maldwyn Davies (Tenor)
• John Ainsley (Tenor)
• Charles Tunnell (Cello)
• Nobuko Imai (Viola)
• Judith Howarth (Soprano)
• Matthew Souter (Viola)
• Christine Barratt (Soprano)
• John Bowen (Tenor)
• David Rix (Clarinet)
• Aidan Oliver (Treble)
• Lynne Dawson (Soprano)
• John Scott (Organ)
• Roger Judd (Organ)
• Duke Dobing (Flute)
• Bryn Terfel (Bass Baritone)
• Adrian Thompson (Tenor)
• Jonathan Best (Bass)

Conductor

• Best, Matthew

Ensembles

• Corydon Orchestra
• Corydon Singers
• English Chamber Orchestra

Composer

• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Notes & Reviews:

Issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Vaughan Williams' death, this collection is tantalizing: it starts with one of the best-selling discs in the Hyperion catalogue, the 'Serenade to Music', and includes such favorites as the 'Five Mystical Songs' and 'The Hundredth Psalm'. There are also two intriguing pairings. In 'Dona nobis pacem', RVW warns of the impending doom of WWII, and in 'A song of thanksgiving' we hear his moving response to its successful conclusion.

'The performances are splendid, graced by such soloists as Thomas Allen and Bryn Terfel ... The rapturous Serenade to Music has a cast of 16 singers fit to rival those of the original recording' (Sunday Times)

'This is as impressive and noteworthy a set as one could ask. It cuts a juicy swathe through the RVW catalogue of vocal works. In doing so it mixes the great with enjoyable ephemera and the Bunyan-centred with the godly and grand ... Hyperion's laurels of the nineties granted freshly irresistible life in the now not so new millennium' (MusicWeb.com)

'The quality of Best's choristers and his insistence on the highest standards hallmark the Corydon Singers' catalogue of Hyperion recordings, especially so in their Vaughan Williams output released here on four CDs ... Best's sense of pacing, feeling for word-painting and singer's instinct for phrasing never fail' (Classic FM Magazine)

'This present collection brings together critical elements of Vaughan Williams's style in excellent interpretations and recordings with a comprehensive set of notes, texts and photographs. In this 50th-anniversary year, it becomes an affectionate document - and proof of the composer's mastery of choral writing' (Choir and Organ Magazine)

BBC Music Magazine
Best has a fine sense of VW as a dramatic composer, bringing tremendous urgency to Dona Nobis Pacem and real passion to the Five Mystical Songs. Best's Serenade to Music is the original, not least in matching the star quality of the singers, but also in its magical atmosphere. He equally evokes VW's sensuous side, not only in Flos Campi but also in the Magnificat with its ecstatic writing for female voices.

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Works Details

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Serenade to music

• Performers: Arthur Davies (Tenor); Sarah Walker (Mezzo-soprano); Maciej Rakowski (Violin); Diana Montague (Mezzo Soprano); Jean Rigby (Mezzo Soprano); Anne Dawson (Soprano); Linda Kitchen (Soprano); Alan Opie; Gwynne Howell (Bass); Martyn Hill (Tenor); Thomas Allen (Baritone); John Connell (Bass); Elizabeth Connell (Soprano); Amanda Roocroft (Soprano); Maldwyn Davies (Tenor); John Ainsley (Tenor)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: English Chamber Orchestra
• Notes: 02/18/1990-02/19/1990
• Running Time: 13 min. 45 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1938

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Mystical Songs (5) for baritone, chorus ad lib & orchestra (or organ)

• Performer: Thomas Allen (Baritone)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 02/18/1990-02/19/1990
• Running Time: 19 min. 1 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Vocal
• Written: 1911

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Fantasia on Christmas Carols

• Performers: Thomas Allen (Baritone); Charles Tunnell (Cello)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 02/18/1990-02/19/1990
• Running Time: 12 min. 35 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Christmas
• Written: 1912

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Flos campi

• Performer: Nobuko Imai (Viola)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Running Time: 22 min. 13 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1925

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Dona nobis pacem

• Performer: Judith Howarth (Soprano)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 06/10/1993-06/12/1993
• Running Time: 34 min. 36 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Cantata/Oratorio
• Written: 1936

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Hymns (4) for Tenor, Viola and Strings

• Performers: Matthew Souter (Viola); John Ainsley (Tenor)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 06/10/1993-06/12/1993
• Running Time: 16 min. 24 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Choral
• Written: 1914

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Toward the Unknown Region, for chorus & orchestra

• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Running Time: 12 min. 54 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Choral
• Written: 1904-1906

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : O clap your hands

• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 06/10/1993-06/12/1993
• Running Time: 3 min. 13 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1920

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge, motet for soloists, semi-chorus & orchestra (or organ) (Psalm 90)

• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 06/10/1993-06/12/1993
• Running Time: 7 min. 55 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1921

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : The Pilgrim's Progress, incidental music for radio program

• Performers: Christine Barratt (Soprano); John Bowen (Tenor); Matthew Souter (Viola); David Rix (Clarinet); Aidan Oliver (Treble)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 11/21/1990-11/22/1990
• Running Time: 61 min. 54 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1942

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : A Song of Thanksgiving for soprano, speaker, chorus & orchestra

• Performers: Lynne Dawson (Soprano); John Scott (Organ)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 11/20/1990/11/22/1990
• Running Time: 16 min. 12 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1944

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Choral Hymns (3) for baritone or tenor, chorus & orchestra

• Performers: John Bowen (Tenor); Roger Judd (Organ)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 11/20/1990/11/22/1990
• Running Time: 12 min. sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Choral
• Written: 1929

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Magnificat for female chorus, flute & orchestra in A major

• Performers: Duke Dobing (Flute); Roger Judd (Organ)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Singers
• Notes: 11/20/1990/11/22/1990
• Running Time: 14 min. 19 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Choral
• Written: 1932

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains, opera

• Performers: Bryn Terfel (Bass Baritone); Alan Opie; Linda Kitchen (Soprano); Adrian Thompson (Tenor); John Ainsley (Tenor); Jonathan Best (Bass)
• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Orchestra
• Notes: 11/20/1990/11/22/1990
• Running Time: 21 min. 46 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Form: Opera/Operetta
• Written: 1921

Vaughan Williams, Ralph : Old Hundredth Psalm Tune

• Conductor: Matthew Best
• Ensemble: Corydon Orchestra
• Notes: 11/20/1990/11/22/1990
• Running Time: 7 min. 56 sec.
• Period Time: Post Romantic
• Written: 1929