Ralph Vaughan Williams: The New Collector's Edition
0190296245374 (Warner Classics, CD, 30 discs)
COMPILATION (30 September 2022)
Playing time: 69'45"/72'03"/66'52"/57'04"/66'40"/
Tracks: 15 + 8 + 8 + 7 + 8 + 10
Booklet pages: 16
℗ 2022 Parlophone Records Ltd
© 2022 Parlophone Records Ltd
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Country of manufacture: Germany
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Ralph Vaughan Williams: The New Collector's Edition published on 7 November 2022
Joan Rodgers, soprano (CD1)
William Shimell, baritone (CD1
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir (CD1)
Ian Tracey, chorus master (CD1)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (CDs 1-5, CD7 tracks 8-11, CD10 track 6)
Vernon Handley, conductor (CDs 2-5, CD7)
Jonathan Small, oboe (CD4 track 1-3)
David Bell, organ (CD7 tracks 6-7)
Piers Lane, piano (CD7 tracks 8-11)
London Philharmonic Orchestra (CD7 tracks 1-7, CD8 tracks 1-4, CD9 track 1)
Vitya Vronsky, piano (CD8 tracks 1-4)
Victor Babin, piano (CD8 tracks 1-4)
London Symphony Orchestra (CD8 tracks 5-16, CD9 tracks 2-4 and 6, CD10 tracks 13-15, CD15 tracks 26-35, CD16 track 6, CD17 tracks 5-20)
Adrian Boult, conductor (CDs 8-9)
Hugh Bean, violin (CD9 track 8)
New Philharmonia Orchestra (CD9 tracks 5, 7 and 8, CD16 tracks 1-5)
Gerald Jarvis, violin (CD10 track 1)
Robert Growcott, violin (CD10 track 1)
Cedric Morgan, viola (CD10 track 1)
Alan Turner, cello (CD10 track 1)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (CD10 track 1, CD12 tracks 1-12, CD18 tracks 6-10)
Constantin Silvestri, conductor (CD10 track 1)
Central Band of the Royal Air Force (CD10 tracks 2-5)
Wing Commander Eric Banks, conductor (CD10 tracks 2-5)
Charles Groves, conductor (CD10 track 6)
Larry Adler, harmonica (CD10 track 12)
Eric Gritton, piano (CD10 track 12)
BBC Symphony Orchestra (CD10 track 12)
Malcolm Sargent, conductor (CD10 track 12)
Philip Catelinet, tuba (CD10 tracks 13-15)
John Barbirolli, conductor (CD10 tracks 13-15)
Bradley Creswick, violin (CD11 tracks 1 and 3-9, CD12 tracks 15-17)
Stephen Roberts, baritone (CD11 tracks 10-14, CD18 tracks 1-4)
Sinfonia Chorus (CD11 tracks 3-14)
Alan Fearon, chorus master (CD11 tracks 3-14)
Northern Sinfonia of England (CD11, CD12 tracks 13-19)
Bradley Creswick, leader (CD11)
Richard Hickox, conductor (CD11, CD12 tracks 1-19, CD18 tracks 1-4)
Britten Quartet (CD12 tracks 20-23)
Music Group of London (CD13)
Herbert Downes, viola (CD13)
Osian Ellis, harp (CD13)
Gerald Moore, piano (CD13)
Sheila Armstrong, soprano (CD14 tracks 2-7)
John Carol Case, baritone (CD14 tracks 2-7, CD16)
Peter Katin, piano (CD14 track 8)
London Philharmonic Choir (CD14 tracks 1-8)
John Alldis, chorus master (CD14 tracks 1-8)
Helen Watts, contralto (CD14 track 9)
Christopher Hyde-Smith, flute (CD14 track 9)
Ambrosian Singers (women's voices, CD14 track 9)
Orchestra Nova of London (CD14 track 9)
Meredith Davies, conductor (CD14 track 9)
John Westbrook, speaker (CD15 tracks 1-18)
Jacques Orchestra (CD15 tracks 1-18 and 20-25, CD16 track 7, CD18 track 5)
Robin Doveton, tenor (CD15 track 19)
Cecil Aronowitz, viola (CD15 tracks 20-25)
Ian Partridge, tenor (CD15 tracks 26-35)
John Shirley-Quirk, baritone (CD15 tracks 26-35, CD17 tracks 5-20)
Bach Choir (CD15 tracks 26-35, CD16 tracks 1-6, CD17 tracks 5-20, CD18 track 5)
Choir of King's College, Cambridge (CD15 tracks 26-35, CD16 track 9)
David Willcocks, conductor (CD15 tracks 26-35, CD16 tracks 1-7, CD17 tracks 5-20, CD18 track 5)
Elizabeth Bainbridge, contralto (CD16)
Heather Harper, soprano (CD16 track 6)
Choir of New College Oxford (CD16 track 8)
Edward Higginbottom, conductor (CD16 track 8)
Stephen Cleobury, conductor (CD16 track 9)
John Barrow, baritone (CD17 tracks 1-4)
Choir of Guildford Cathedral (CD17 tracks 1-4)
un-named string orchestra (CD17 tracks 1-4)
Gavin Williams, organ (CD17 tracks 1-4)
Barry Rose, conductor (CD17 tracks 1-4)
Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano (CD17 tracks 5-20)
Richard Lewis, tenor (CD17 tracks 5-20)
Choristers of Westminster Abbey (CD17 tracks 5-20)
Douglas Guest, master of the choristers (CD17 tracks 5-20)
Philip Ledger, organ (CD17 tracks 5-20)
London Symphony Chorus (CD18 tracks 1-4)
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus (CD18 tracks 6-10)
Geoffrey Hughes, chorus master (CD18 tracks 6-10)
Norman Del Mar, conductor (CD18 tracks 6-10)
Thomas Allen, baritone (CD18 tracks 11-19)
Robert Tear, tenor (CD18, tracks 20-25)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CD18, tracks 11-25)
Simon Rattle, conductor (CD18, tracks 11-25)
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor (CD21)
David Willison, piano (CD21)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958):
CD1
1-15 A Sea Symphony, for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra (Walt Whitman)
CD2
1-4 A London Symphony
5-8 Symphony No 8 in D minor
CD3
1-4 A Pastoral Symphony
5-8 Symphony No 4 in F minor
CD4
1-3 Oboe Concerto in A minor
4-7 Symphony No 5 in D
CD5
1-4 Symphony No 6 in E minor
5-8 Symphony No 9 in E minor
CD6
1 Serenade to Music
2-5 Partita for Double String Orchestra
6-10 Sinfonia antarctica
CD7
1-5 The Wasps - Aristophanic Suite
6-7 Prelude and Fugue in C
8-11 Piano Concerto in C
CD8
1-4 Piano Concerto in C, arranged for two pianos by the composer and Joseph Cooper
5-16 Job: A Masque for Dancing
CD9
1 Serenade to Music
2-4 English Folk Songs - Suite (orchestrated by Gordon Jacob)
5 Norfolk Rhapsody No 1
6 Fantasia on 'Greensleeves', arranged by Ralph Greaves
7 In the Fen Country
8 The Lark Ascending - Romance for violin and orchestra
CD10
1 Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
2 Sea Songs - March
3-5 English Folk Songs - Suite
6 Dawn Patrol (from the film 'Coastal Command') arranged by Muir Mathieson
7-11 Concerto grosso
12 Romance in D flat for harmonica with strings and piano
13-15 Tuba Concerto in F minor
CD11
1 Serenade to Music - orchestral version
2 The Poisoned Kiss - overture
3-9 Old King Cole - A Ballet for Orchestra
10-14 Five Mystical Songs (words: George Herbert)
15 Prelude on an Old Carol Tune
16 The Running Set
17 Prelude: 49th Parallel
18 Sea Songs - March - orchestral version
CD12
1-12 Variations for Orchestra, orchestrated by Gordon Jacob
Two Hymn-Tune Preludes
13 Eventide (tune by W H Monk)
14 Dominus regit me (J B Dykes)
15-17 Concerto accademico (Concerto for violin and strings in D minor)
Three Preludes Founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes, orchestrated by Arnold Foster
18 II Rhosymedre (J D Edwards)
19 III Hyfrydol (R H Prichard)
20-23 String Quartet No 1 in G minor
CD13
1-3 Violin Sonata in A minor
4-7 Phantasy Quintet for two violins, two violas and cello
8-13 Six Studies in English Folk Song for cello and piano
14-17 String Quartet No 2 in A minor
18 Fantasia on Greensleeves, arranged for viola and harp by Watson Forbes
19 Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra: III: Galop, arranged for viola and harp by Watson Forbes
CD14
1 Toward the Unknown Region - song for chorus and orchestra (words: Whitman)
2-7 Dona Nobis Pacem - cantata for soprano and baritone soli, chorus and orchestra
8 Fantasia (quasi variazione) on the Old 104th Psalm Tune
9 Magnificat
CD15
1-18 An Oxford Elegy for speaker, small chorus and small orchestra (words: Matthew Arnold)
19 Whitsunday Hymn (Three Choral Hymns) (Miles Coverdale)
20-25 Flos Campi Suite for solo viola, small chorus and small orchestra
26-35 Sancta Civitas (The Holy City) - oratorio for tenor and baritone soli, semi-chorus, distant chorus, chorus and orchestra (words: Bible etc)
CD16
1-5 Five Tudor Portraits (words: John Skelton)
6 Benedicite (words: Apocrypha and John Austin)
7 Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'
8 Linden Lea - chorus version
9 Wither's Rocking Hymn
CD17
1-4 Fantasia on Christmas Carols
5-20 Hodie - A Christmas Cantata
CD18
1-4 Fantasia on Christmas Carols - version with full orchestra
5 Yorkshire Wassail Song
6-10 In Windsor Forest
11-19 Songs of Travel, orchestrated by the composer and Roy Douglas (words: Robert Louis Stevenson)
20-25 On Wenlock Edge (words: A E Housman)
CD19
1 O Clap your hands (words: Psalm 47)
2-6 Mass in G minor
7 All people that on earth do dwell (The Old Hundredth - words: William Kethe - Louis Bourgeois, arranged by RVW)
8 O taste and see (words: Psalm 34 v8)
9 Te Deum in G
10 For all the saints (Sine nomine) (words: William Walsham How)
11-13 Three Preludes Founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes
14 The Truth from Above (traditional English, harmonised by RVW)
15 O little town of Bethlehem (Forest Green) (Phillips Brooks - trad English, harmonised by RVW; descant Thomas Armstrong, v3, arr Ledger)
16 Joseph and Mary
17 And all in the morning (traditional English, harmonised by RVW)
18 Alleluya, sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol) (W Chatterton Dix - Prichard, harmonised by RVW)
19 Come down, O love divine (Down Ampney)
20 All people that on earth do dwell (The Old Hundredth)
CD20
1-4 Four Hymns
5-7 Merciless Beauty (words attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer)
8 The Water Mill (words: Fredegond Shove)
9 The New Ghost (words: Shove)
10-19 Ten Black Songs
20-25 On Wenlock Edge (words: Housman)
CD21
1-6 The House of Life (words: Dante Gabriel Rossetti)
7-15 Songs of Travel (words: Stevenson)
CD22
1 Linden Lea (words: William Barnes)
2 Orpheus with his lute - first setting (words: Shakespeare)
3 Hands, eyes and heart (words: Ursula Vaughan Williams)
4 Rest (words: Christina Rossetti)
5 The Call (Five Mystical Songs)
6 Linden Lea (arranged by Julius Harrison
Folksong arrangements
7-11 Five English Folk Songs
12 Bushes and Briars
13 Loch Lomond
14 John Dory
15 Greensleeves
16 Ward, the Pirate
17 Ca' the Yowes
18 The Unquiet Grave
19 The Seeds of Love
20 Early in the Spring
21 The Turtle Dove
22 An Acre of Land
23 Bushes and Briars - men's voices
24 Wassail Song (Five English Folk Songs) arranged for men's voices by Herbert Pierce
25 Bushes and Briars - voice and piano version
26 Linden Lea
CD23
Folksong arrangements
East Anglia
1 The Captain's Apprentice
2 As I walked out
3 Bushes and Briars
4 Geordie
5 On Board a Ninety-Eight
Wessex
6 The Ploughman
7 The Brewer
8 Rolling in the Dew
Carols
9 The Truth Sent from Above
10 Joseph and Mary
11 The Saviour's Love
France
12 Réveillez-vous, Piccars
13 Chanson de quête
14 Ballade de Jésus Christ
Newfoundland
15 She's like the swallow
16 The Morning Dew
17 The Maiden's Lament
18 The Cuckoo
Voice & violin
19 The Lawyer
20 Searching for Lambs
Violin & piano
21 How cold the wind doth blow (or The Unquiet Grave)
22 A Song of Thanksgiving (words: Bible, Shakespeare, Kipling)
CD24
1-11 Epithalamion for baritone, chorus, piano, solo flute and string orchestra (words: Edmund Spenser)
12-17 Riders to the Sea
CD25
1-15 Hugh the Drover or Love in the Stocks - Romantic Ballad Opera in two acts (words: Harold Child) (beginning)
CD26
1-11 Hugh the Drover (end)
CD27
1-28 Sir John in Love - opera in four acts, to a libretto by the composer, after Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (beginning)
CD28
1-32 Sir John in Love (end)
CD29
1-8 The Pilgrim's Progress - a morality in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue founded on Bunyan's allegory of the same name (beginning)
CD30
1-7 The Pilgrim's Progress (end)
8-12 Adrian Boult in rehearsal
Celebrated as the musical poet of the English landscape, Vaughan Williams was also a visionary composer of enormous range: from the pastoral lyricism of The Lark Ascending and the still melancholy of Silent Noon to the violence of the Fourth Symphony and the grand ceremonial of All people that on earth do dwell. As we celebrate the 150th Anniversary of his birth (12 October), this edition presents all the major orchestral, chamber, vocal and stage works, as well as many lesser pieces and rarities, across thirty CDs, with performances conducted by Vernon Handley, Richard Hickox, Adrian Boult, David Willcocks, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Ian Partridge, Robert Tear, Charles Groves and Meredith Davies.