# Your favorite Ralph Vaughan Williams recordings?



## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Inspired by Bulldog's 'A Splendid British Citizen' game, I've been YouTube listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams for days .... I need to buy some cds! Which recordings do you recommend?
Thanks! :tiphat:


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2018)

I've got a seven CD box set of the complete symphonies, Lark ascending, Tallis fantasia and Wenlock Edge, performed by the London Phil / Haitink. I really enjoy it, but can't offer any comparison comments as it's all I have.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

For the symphonies, I favor the Adrian Boult set on EMI. For the chamber music, you can't go wrong with the Maggini Quartet on Naxos; their disc has the two numbered string quartets and the Phantasy Quintet. Happy listening!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

There are 2 which are almost essentials...

Symphony #2 - original 1913 version - Richard Hickox/London Symphony
Tallis Fantasia - John Barbirolli/Sinfonia of London

In the 'my strong opinion' group...
Symphony #1 - Mark Elder/Halle Orchestra
Symphony #5 - Vernon Handley/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Symphony #6 - John Barbirolli/Bavarian Radio Symphony (live)
Symphony #8 - John Barbirolli/Halle Orchestra (the stereo recording done shortly after the world premiere not the mono one from the premiere)


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Bulldog said:


> For the symphonies, I favor the Adrian Boult set on EMI. For the chamber music, you can't go wrong with the Maggini Quartet on Naxos; their disc has the two numbered string quartets and the Phantasy Quintet. Happy listening!


I second the Maggini Quartet for the String Quartets and Phantasy Quintet. 
And for superb playing of a good cross-section of non-symphonic RVW, try this one:


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

You will never go wrong with Adrian Boult in this repertoire. I do have a preference for Handley in the Symphonies, but both Boult's cycles are "authoritative". Incomplete, but Richard Hickox started a cycle of the Symphonies on Chandos, and these recordings are very special.

Barbirolli's Tallis Fantasia is a desert island discs.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

laurie said:


> Inspired by Bulldog's 'A Splendid British Citizen' game, I've been YouTube listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams for days .... I need to buy some cds! Which recordings do you recommend?
> Thanks! :tiphat:


Boult and Barbirolli are generally very good bets with Vaughan Williams....

Boult/New Philharmonia Syms 4 and 6 is a real knockout - #4 is really nasty, with that rip-roaring edge which is so appropriate for this most angry work...


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

Here is a 4 CD box set from Nimbus. I have most of this material on separate CDs. The quality of these early Nimbus recordings is excellent.
















These Chandos recordings of Bryden Thomson conducting The London Symphony Orchestra are also excellent. (I have all but Symphony #1 on seperate CDs...2 per disc with a smaller filler piece. Performance and sound excellent.)
















For about $100, you get a lot of Vaughn Williams with performances and recordings that are first rate. Food for thought.


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

"Dives and Lazarus" (Marriner/Acad. of St. Martin-in-the-Fields)


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

There's an Ian Partridge "On Wenlock Edge" I treasure. And Barbirolli's Tallis Fantasia also has a really good Elgar Introduction and Allegro on it.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

The earlier Boult set on Decca of the symphonies for me. Sound quality is ok for me, and I much prefer to any better sounding ones, although Handley comes close. The Pastoral no. 3 is a highlight. No. 5 also no nonsense.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

This Decca double cd is a must for any one interested in RVW's music. A must I said. You'll love RVW after hearing this:


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## Iaeda (Jan 16, 2018)

Andrew Davis and the BBC SO:


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)




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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

This wonderful recording was my introduction to Vaughan Williams 40 years ago. It made me want to hear more of his music and remains for me among the very finest interpretations of these 4 works.


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2018)

I think RV-W's "*Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis*" is one of the greatest works to emerge from the 20th century. Without question it is also right up there among the very greatest across the musical firmament, IMO.


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## 89Koechel (Nov 25, 2017)

Brahmsian - Very GLAD to see that the extraordinary V-W performance (of his, own 4th Symphony) is (or was?) available from Dutton Labs. Also, I have (somewhere) a somewhat-bootleg performance of V-W, himself, in his 5th (Symphony). How would you rate Barbirolli, in the V-W 5th? I've always favored Boult, in the same, but opinions of other conductors are always welcome! …. Finally, the V-W version of his 4th is one of those recordings, that almost defy description. One might use the word - HEADLONG - to describe how V-W and the BBC (of 1937) simply-HURTLE themselves into the movements. There's NO holding back, at all - yet the Andante (in B) has a requisite poise and poignancy. I like the old World Record Club LP (SH 128) and it's sonics; it also includes the Sinfonia Concertante of Sir William Walton - a true bonus!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^^^ I am not often a fan of historical recordings but that Dutton one is great. V-W's 4th is wonderfully extreme and Barbirolli's 5th is not far short of it for me. Both get me past the antique sound and straight to performances that seem incomparable.


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

I'm also a big fan of Barbirolli for Vaughan Williams, as well as pretty much else everything else he ever recorded . I don't think that Sir André Previn's recordings have been mentioned so far but these are also very fine and well worth searching out. Finally, for more recent recordings, Sir Mark Elder has recorded most of the major works with the Hallé Orchestra and again, these are excellent.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I agree about Previn. I wonder if any of you have heard this version of the 6th?


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I can't say I'm very familiar with Vaughan Williams. But I played his Tallis Fantasia this morning, the version with Marriner/ASMF and really enjoyed it. Almost reminded me of Debussy, only very English and conservative.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^ In fact V-W was taught not by Debussy but by Ravel. He was a conservative - even Holst sometimes shocked him - but I have found that it can take a long time to get to grips with (or even to hear) every side of his music.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

For a really great Barbirolli 6th, look for this recording, a live performance from 1970


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Job A Masque for Dancing by Adrian Boult and LPO on Everest, especially the scene where the Devil first appears. This music is very different from most of VW's bucolic and pastoral English scenes based on folk music.

Bryden Thomsen's recordings of the symphonies nos. 3 and 5, especially no. 5. People have thought for decades VW's 5th symphony is a nice, light interaction when in fact, coming between the dramatic and powerful 4th and 6th symphonies, it is an act of simmering tension held just below the surafce. Thomson is the only conductor I know whose recording reveals the true nature of the music.

I also enjoy the 4th symphony which to me is the 20th century's version of Beethoven's 5th. Where the Beethoven is about heroism in the 19th century, the VW 4th is about conflict in the world war 20th century. I have never found much difference between recordings, however. It is music that, like Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra and Alpine symphony, almost plays itself.

I can't say I've ever been taken by any version of the "London" 2nd symphony or the 1st symphony about the sea. His later symphonies, nos. 8 and 9 in particular, are somewhat elusive for me compared to the central symphonies. The "Antartica" 7th symphony can be very effective in performances like Bernard Haitink's where the ideas of isolation are played out very well.

Boult, the conductor with whom the composer first recorded much of his work, has a splendid recording of the English Folk Song Suite, Norfolk Rhapsody, Greensleeves fantasy and Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, some of VW's best shorter works.

Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony have several outstanding VW collections including one of the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Dives and Lazarus, Flos Campi and the Greensleeves fantasy. 

A lot of people go gaga over WV's The Lark Ascending, a short piece for violin and orchestra. Not me.

I think there is a recording of VW's oboe concerto with John Barbirolli playing the oboe. As sighted above, Barbirolli is another excellent Vaughan Williams interpreter. 

VW also wrote concertos for violin and the tuba, the latter probably the best one around for that instrument. My choir director, who has played it, calls it a "silly thing."

Vaughan Williams wrote a slew of sacred choral pieces and songs. I normally am drawn to such music but, aside from the Old Hundreth Psalm tune, which I've sung in church many times, none of it strikes me in any way. I wish it did.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

larold said:


> People have thought for decades VW's 5th symphony is a nice, light interaction when in fact, coming between the dramatic and powerful 4th and 6th symphonies, it is an act of simmering nervousness and tension held below the obvious surafce. Thomson is the only conductor I know whose recording reveals the true nature of the music.


I also used to think that about the RVW 5th ... until I encountered the Handley/RLPO recording which reset my understanding. I also have the Thomsen but usually return to the Handley performance.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I love that Handley VW5 too, but my favourite in that wonderful work (archetypal English cow-pat music if your ears are closed!) is Andre Previn. Strangely in his cycle it's the two volcanic Symphonies either side that come off the least convincingly.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Pat Fairlea said:


> I second the Maggini Quartet for the String Quartets and Phantasy Quintet.
> And for superb playing of a good cross-section of non-symphonic RVW, try this one:
> 
> View attachment 101400


Pat, thank you for highlighting the fabulous Norman Del Mar recordings. I have just managed to get a replacement copy for the LP I had, on CD now. It was one of my father's favourite records, and I inherited it and his fondness for it!


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

CnC Bartok said:


> Pat, thank you for highlighting the fabulous Norman Del Mar recordings. I have just managed to get a replacement copy for the LP I had, on CD now. It was one of my father's favourite records, and I inherited it and his fondness for it!


Glad to be of service! I think del Mar is under-rated. Always competent, sometimes brilliant.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Becca said:


> I also used to think that about the RVW 5th ... until I encountered the Handley/RLPO recording which reset my understanding. I also have the Thomsen but usually return to the Handley performance.


My local Goodwill featured the donated collection of a VW fan who apparently loved the 5th, because for $1 each I obtained Handley, Thomson, and Barbirolli. I wish I could have met the donor before he passed on.


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

While I can't opine on a particular box set, I can say that much of Haitink/London PO/EMI material are my references (both sonically and performancewise).


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## Steerpike (Dec 29, 2018)

laurie said:


> Inspired by Bulldog's 'A Splendid British Citizen' game, I've been YouTube listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams for days .... I need to buy some cds! Which recordings do you recommend?
> Thanks! :tiphat:


Vaughan Williams is probably my favourite composer, and his 5th symphony one of my favourite symphonies. His work has been characterised as pastoral and conservative, and pejoratively (by the serialists) as being a part of the cow-pat tradition. This is a gross misrepresentation of an extremely varied body of work. He was an avid collector of folk songs, and these feature in many of his works, particularly the shorter orchestral pieces, but he certainly didn't limit his composition to that idiom (Symphonies 4 and 6 are about as far removed from pleasing folk tunes as can be imagined).

The place to start with Vaughan Williams, in my opinion, is the set of symphonies - probably as varied a collection as produced by any single composer. The other purely orchestral pieces I'd recommend are Job (a Masque for Dancing), Flos Campi, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, The Lark Ascending and In the Fen Country.

As has been mentioned, he also produced some very good choral works. Vaughan Williams had witnessed the horrors of the first world war working at the front in the medical corps, and his experiences must surely have been relevant in the composition of Dona Nobis Pacem.

Enjoy your exploration of this most excellent composer.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Steerpike said:


> As has been mentioned, he also produced some very good choral works. Vaughan Williams had witnessed the horrors of the first world war working at the front in the medical corps, and his experiences must surely have been relevant in the composition of Dona Nobis Pacem.


The 3rd is definitely rooted in that experience and is (or should be) about as un-pastoral as the 6th, especially the last movement of the 6th.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

For anyone with an interest in opera, and particularly those who enjoy _Falstaff_, I can very strongly recommend RVW's _Sir John in Love_.


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## Steerpike (Dec 29, 2018)

Becca said:


> The 3rd is definitely rooted in that experience and is (or should be) about as un-pastoral as the 6th, especially the last movement of the 6th.


Indeed, as presumably is Flos Campi. I particularly like the section in the 3rd where the slightly off key bugle call is quoted - very moving.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

1. For me, Sir Adrian Boult remains THE conductor for pre-WW2 British composers (Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Holst, etc.):

Symphonies 1-9:




https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...s+ boult&qid=1555179592&s=music&sr=1-2-fkmr0.
https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...DQZWVZ2AC3P&psc=1&refRID=9HS7EYJF7DQZWVZ2AC3P
https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...+adrian+bo ult&qid=1555277622&s=music&sr=1-1

Boult/London Philharmonic: Concerto Grosso for string orchestra (1950): 



Boult/London Philharmonic: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis: 



Boult/London Philharmonic: The Wasps: 



Boult/London Symphony Orchestra: Fantasia on 'Greensleeves': 



Boult/The Pilgrim's Progress (opera): 




2. I also like Sir John Barbirolli in this music, too--such as his "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis", which, as others have pointed out, is a classic (& I like the Fantasias by Boult, Thomson, Marriner on Argo, & Previn on Telarc, as well):





https://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Vaugha...ams+barbirolli&qid=1555197676&s=music&sr=1-23, and https://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Vaugha...ams+barbirolli&qid=1555197676&s=music&sr=1-21.

3. Andre Previn's RCA cycle from the 1960s is worth hearing for the following reasons, IMO: (1) an intense Symphony No. 7 "Sinfonia Antarctica", which is narrated by Sir Ralph Richardson--who I prefer to Sir John Gielgud on Boult's recording. In my view, Richardson sounds more engaged, while Gielgud seems a bit distant or disinterested (although I prefer Boult's conducting to Previn's). The London Symphony Orchestra plays exceptionally well, too. (2) Like CnC Bartok, I'd rate Previn's LSO 5th highly: 



, but actually prefer Previn's more strongly characterized 2nd reading of the 5th for Telarc, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which comes in better sound: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Jun04/RVW5_previn.htm. And, (3) I'd rate Previn's LSO 3rd symphony "Pastoral" among the best, too: 



, along with his excellent LSO 8th.

Previn/Richardson: 



Boult/Gielgud: 



https://www.amazon.com/André-Previn...28Z74AD26TW&psc=1&refRID=Q3NZ0VQHY28Z74AD26TW.)

(Speaking of No. 7, I'd also single out Bernard Haitink's fantastic Sinfonia Antarctica (with Sheila Armstrong), among digital era recordings: 



)

4. Otherwise, I wouldn't want to be without violinist Iona Brown's 1970s Argo recording of "The Lark Ascending"--with Sir Neville Marriner leading the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, which compliments Hugh Bean's classic recording with Boult perfectly (both are desert island discs in my VW collection). The two performances really are better than any of the digital era recordings I've heard, even those by more illustrious violinists, such as Hahn, Kennedy, Chang, Benedetti, etc.--with the one exception being Pinchas Zukerman, whose analogue DG recording with the English Chamber Orchestra is deeply heartfelt and engaging. Note that Brown's recording has been issued multiple times on various labels:

Iona Brown:



Hugh Bean:



Pinchas Zukerman: 




Sir Neville Marriner's other Argo & Decca ASMF performances are first rate, too:

Marriner/ASMF--Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus': 



Marriner/ASMF--Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis: 




https://www.amazon.com/VIRTUOSO-Vau...ughan+williams&qid=1555180078&s=music&sr=1-12
Original Jacket--Japanese import Shm recording: https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...ughan+williams&qid=1555180345&s=music&sr=1-23
https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...aughan+williams&qid=1555180078&s=music&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Williams-Gre...B8M3BV7A7RJ&psc=1&refRID=CGTTCDV4JB8M3BV7A7RJ.

Marriner's later 1995 Philips recording is excellent, & has better sound than the earlier recordings, but I tend to prefer the Argo performances myself (as did the old Penquin Guide):


















https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...CJFHK53AMYM&psc=1&refRID=FZHT85QK5CJFHK53AMYM

(I haven't heard Marriner's Collins label recordings of the Symphonies 5, 6, & others?: 



)

5. Nor would I want to be without two classic recordings of RVW choral works: (1) the "Serenade to Music", based on the opening lines from Act 5 of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"--which is a favorite RVW work of mine & Boult is easily the top choice here, IMO: 



 and https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...ghan+will iams&qid=1555179462&s=music&sr=1-2, and (2) the Christmas Cantata, "Hodie", with the unmatchable mezzo soprano, Dame Janet Baker, tenor Richard Lewis, and baritone John Shirley-Quirk, and the choir of Westminster Abbey & LSO, conducted by Sir David Willcocks:





https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...die+baker&qid=1555180488&s=music&sr=1-1-spell

By the way, I enjoy Dame Janet Baker's recording of "A Treasury of English Songs" anthology, which includes VW's folk song "Linden Lea"--a favorite of mine, & several others. She is accompanied at the piano by Gerald Moore:





https://www.amazon.com/BAKER-JANET-...r+english+songs&qid=1555178765&s=music&sr=1-6
https://www.amazon.com/BAKER-JANET-...r+english+song&qid=1555178995&s=music&sr=1-12
https://www.amazon.com/New-FACTORY-...r+english+song&qid=1555179088&s=music&sr=1-24
https://www.amazon.com/Dame-Janet-B...r+english+song&qid=1555179235&s=music&sr=1-67

6. In addition, I like Vaughan Williams' five song cycles:

A. "10 Blake Songs"--for tenor (or soprano) and oboe--the Ian Partridge recording is excellent!: 




B. "On Wenlock Edge"--based on 6 poems by A.E. Houseman: which was composed not long after Vaughan Williams finished his studies with Maurice Ravel in Paris in 1909, & you can definitely hear the influence of Ravel on these songs. Again, the Ian Partridge recording makes an excellent choice, but tenors Anthony Rolfe Johnson, John Mark Ainsley (with the Nash Ensemble), and Peter Pears are worthwhile, too:

















https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...lliams&qid=1555179297&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmrnull

C. "Songs of Travel" (in two versions, one with piano accompaniment, & the other, orchestral)--I like Bryn Terfel here: 




D. "House of Life" (from 1903, a beautiful early song cycle by RVW)--Philippe Sly is excellent: 




E. "Five Mystical Songs"--John Shirley-Quirk: 




7. Among digital era sets of the Symphonies 1-9 (& other orchestral works), I've most liked Bryden Thomson's cycle on Chandos, with the London Symphony Orchestra (& London Philharmonic)--although it may need to be remastered, as it was last released in the early 1990s...

Thomson's 5th is one of the more impressive performances in the cycle, IMO:


















And, it's interesting to compare Thomson's interpretation (as well as those by Boult, Previn, and Handley) to this 1952 performance of the 5th conducted by the composer: 





















https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...prefix=brydn+thomson,digital-music,168&sr=1-1

Vernon Handley's Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra cycle on EMI Eminence & Classics for Pleasure would probably be my second digital pick (although sometimes it's Haitink):

Symphony 5: 



Symphony 9: 



Symphony 3: 



https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sym...ic&sprefix=vernon+handley+,popular,168&sr=1-7

While my 3rd choice would be Bernard Haitink's excellent London Philharmonic cycle--as an alternative, when I'm in the mood for a less idiomatic, less English sounding take on these symphonies (as I can find Haitink different interpretatively from Boult, Barbirolli, Thomson, Handley, etc.), but nevertheless a very well conducted & played cycle.

https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...prefix=brydn+thomson,digital-music,168&sr=1-9

8. In regards to VW's chamber music, I've not heard the Maggini Quartet series on Naxos, but have been more than satisfied with my two Nash Ensemble recordings on Hyperion--

https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...semble&qid=1555197523&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmrnull
https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Will...semble&qid=1555197523&s=music&sr=1-3-fkmrnull

9. Here are 5 more conductors that I regard highly in RVW's music, in addition to Boult, Barbirolli, Previn, Marriner, Willcocks, Thomson, Handley, & Haitink, who I've already mentioned above:

Norman del Mar:





















Constantin Silvestri: 




Sir Charles Groves: https://www.amazon.com/Williams-Hug...+g roves&qid=1555277206&s=music&sr=1-3-spell

Paavo Berglund: Symphonies 4 & 6 (these are very underrated performances, IMO, from Berglund's English years in Bournemouth, during the early to mid 1970s; although the riveting 4th here is with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra):





https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7964687--vaughan-williams-symphonies-nos-4-6: unfortunately, the disc also includes a rather average performance of the 5th, with the RPO, under Sir Alexander Gibson, but the two Silvestri fillers more than make up for it.

Richard Hickox:













I've also read strong reviews for Andrew Manze's recent, soon to be finished RVW symphony cycle, but haven't heard any of it--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMG70e0Usn0. Nor have I heard Mark Elder's RVW recordings, which the British critics are keen on: 



. I've not heard any of Leonard Slatkin's recordings, either, which get good reviews.

10. Finally, Tony Palmer's documentary on RVW, entitled "The Life Ralph Vaughan Williams - O Thou Transcendent" is worth seeing, and the full film is available to watch for free on You Tube: 




My two cents.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

^^ I notice that you make no mention of Hickox' recording of the 1913 version of the London Symphony - that is definitely a 'must hear'.

FWIW, I can do without the spoken narration in the 7th, the music stands on its own.

Elder's recordings are mixed (as are what I've heard from Manze), but I do put Elder's Sea Symphony at the top of my list. It has the added advantage of being from a concert in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall.


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