I always used to think that Vaughan Williams had a limited range and some rather irritating and repeating musical tics, and that most of his music could be fitted into the ‘cowpat’ tradition, with a dash of Ravel or Tudor thrown in for good measure. But when you read Ardritt’s book, and think about the totality of what he achieved, it is much, much wider than that – the Tallis Fantasia and the 9th Symphony are barely recognisable as the same composer’s work. In fact I recall reading somewhere that, while Pierre Boulez had no time for Elgar, he admired VW, as someone who constantly was learning/thinking/changing his approach. My favourite pieces are Symphonies 1, 2,3,4,5,6, Job, Tallis Fantasia, The Pilgrim’s Progress opera, The Lark Ascending, On Wenlock Edge – and there’s still masses to discover – quite exciting. It’s touching to read in Ardritt’s book that Elgar, who was initially wary of RVW, seeing him as a member of the musical establishment (relative of Darwin, wife a cousin of Virginia Woolf), eventually got quite pally with him and enthused over RVW’s Sancta Civitas – which of course is very much the Last Judgement oratorio which Elgar didn’t write
I am going to try and get to the Three Choirs Festival this year – picture below.
One of the most moving RVW performances I have been to was a Proms performance in 1975 of VW5 conducted by Sir Adrian Boult – this great work had been premiered in the RAH 32 years earlier and Boult, who conducted many Vaughan Williams’ premieres, conducted it first there in 1944. It was an interpretation I shall never forget. And I have been lucky enough to hear two performances of Pilgrim’s Progress in the last 10 years – the ENO production and a production at the RNCM – which envisaged the Progress as the dream of a fevered soldier.
John's musical journey 