Vaughan Williams: The Elements
Fri 23 May 2008, 7:30pm
De Montfort Hall, Leicester
Richard Hickox conductor
Alina Ibragimova violin
Susan Gritton soprano
Gerald Finley baritone
London Symphony Chorus
| Mendelssohn | Hebrides Overture |
|---|---|
| Bruch | Violin Concerto No. 1 |
| Vaughan Williams | Symphony No. 1, A Sea Symphony |
This concert forms part of the Philharmonia’s major celebration, with Richard Hickox, to mark the 50th Anniversary of Vaughan Williams’s death. Originally titled The Ocean, A Sea Symphony was Vaughan Williams’s first significant large-scale work, employing vast orchestral forces, chorus and soloists, premiered in 1910 at the Leeds Festival. The text, from the American poet and humanist Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, was attractive to Vaughan Williams as its free verse allowed for a similarly fluid compositional structure, and the work is one of many sea-related pieces written around that time in England, including Elgar’s Sea Pictures and Bridge’s The Sea, while Debussy’s La mer may also have influenced this nautical fascination.
This concert is part of Vaughan Williams: The Pioneering Pilgrim, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the composer's death. Click here to visit the series mini-site.
Read Richard Hickox's biography
Read Alina Ibragimova's biography
Read Susan Gritton's biography
Read Gerald Finley's biography
RECOMMENDED RECORDINGS
Symphonies 1-9; Job et al
New Philharmonia Orchestra/London Philharmonic Orchestra/London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult (recorded 1967-71)
EMI 5 73924 2 (8 CDs)
Symphonies 1-9
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult (1952-58)
Decca 473 241-2 (5 CDs)
Symphonies 1-9; Job, et al
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vernon Handley
Classics for Pleasure 5 75760 2 (7 CDs)
Symphonies 1-9 et al
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Bernard Haitink
EMI 5 86026 2 (7 CDs)
Symphonies 1-9 et al
London Symphony Orchestra/André Previn
RCA 82876 55708-2 (6 CDs)
Symphonies 1-9; Job
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis
Teldec 2564 61730 (6 CDs)
A Sea Symphony; The Wasps – Overture
Soloists/London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox
Chandos CHSA 5047
Related concerts
- Peter Eötvös and Akiko Suwanai at BBC Proms 2008 (27/08/2008)
- Christopher Robinson Conducts at Windsor Festival (17/09/2008)
- Sir Charles Mackerras and Sergey Khachatryan (09/10/2008)
- Vaughan Williams: The Visionary (02/11/2008)
- Vaughan Williams: The Pioneering Pilgrim (04/11/2008)
- Lord Mayor's Appeal 2008: Grand Finale (05/11/2008)
- Vaughan Williams: Response to War (06/11/2008)
- Shuntaro Sato conducts at Queen's Theatre, Barnstaple (08/11/2008)
- The Bach Choir (27/11/2008)
- Vladimir Ashkenazy and Akiko Suwanai (14/12/2008)
- Mendelssohn & Haydn Anniversary Celebrations (08/03/2009)
- Joji Hattori conducts at The Anvil, Basingstoke (05/05/2009)
- Joji Hattori conducts at Bedford Corn Exchange (06/05/2009)
