RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958)
Symphony No. 5 in D (1938-43) [38:47]
Symphony No. 8 in D minor (1953-55)* [29:17]
Hallé Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder
rec. live, 9 November 2011, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester; 3 February 2012,
BBC Studios, Media City UK, Salford
HALLÉ HLL CD 7533 [68:21]
Is a Vaughan Williams cycle quietly emerging from Manchester? After Elder’s
revelatory recording of the complete incidental music for The Wasps
(review)
we had to wait quite a while for more Vaughan Williams from this source –
Elgar was one priority, so, too, was Wagner – but then at the end of 2011
an excellent account of the ‘London’ Symphony arrived (review).
Now two more symphonies have been set down. As was the case with their last
RVW disc we have here a mixture of one performance (the Eighth) recorded under
studio conditions while the Fifth comes from a live performance and rehearsals
for that concert.
The performance of the Fifth is beautifully judged and shows complete empathy
with the music. As is well known, RVW used material from his then-unfinished
‘morality’, Pilgrim’s Progress. The thematic links are most obvious
in the third movement, though snippets crop up elsewhere, but much of the
work seems imbued with the spirit of Pilgrim, even when there’s no
actual musical link.
The first movement unfolds serenely here, the pacing ideal. The orchestral
playing is very fine and the various lines are well balanced against each
other. The change to E major (3:03) is radiant. A slightly darker mood intrudes
at 4:30 with the first appearance of a three-note woodwind motif which seems
to me to echo the music to which Pilgrim’s enemies sing the words “away with
him” in the stage work. Elder injects the right amount of energy into the
middle section of the movement before the rich, warm climax (8:09), which
opens up grandly. His reading of this movement is one of those occasions when
everything just feels right.
The scherzo is all half-lights and Elder and his players are alive to all
the subtleties of the scoring. This movement always puts me in mind for some
reason of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream but, as
Michael Kennedy says in his notes “the general atmosphere is one of uneasiness.”
The playing of the Hallé displays excellent precision until, eventually, the
music just vanishes into thin air at the end. The wondrous, tranquil ‘Romanza’
is rapt at the start and as the movement unfolds there’s a genuine glow to
the playing. The strings play superbly and there’s also much fine and expressive
work from the woodwinds. Elder leads an elevated account of this moving music;
you feel that the Delectable Mountains are very much in sight.
Much of the passacaglia finale exhibits unforced good spirits, especially
at the start. In the section between 2:32 and 3:24 RVW weaves in melodic snatches
of “He who would valiant be” from the Arming of the Pilgrim scene in Pilgrim’s
Progress and this underscores the resolute spirit of the music. We hear
once again the horn call with which the symphony opened but this time (5:42)
it’s in an augmented and climactic version played by the full brass. What
began life as a hesitant motif over thirty minutes ago re-emerges confidently
and triumphantly and in this performance it’s a most satisfying moment. Quiet
recollections of the horn call pervade the soft, serene epilogue, which is
played with great refinement by the Hallé. There’s one final reference to
Pilgrim as we hear a motif to which the Pilgrim sings the words “I
will go forth on my journey”; that seems completely appropriate as this lovely
symphony draws to a serene close. This is a captivating performance of the
work, fit to stand comparison with any that I’ve heard.
One wonderful thing about exploring the symphonies of Vaughan Williams is
that they all reflect different aspects of the man himself. The Eighth is
a very different proposition to the Fifth; for one thing, as Michael Kennedy
says, it’s the “least serious” of the nine, though he’s careful to point out
that this doesn’t mean it lacks a serious side. The work has very strong Hallé
connections. It was dedicated to Sir John Barbirolli, Elder’s distinguished
predecessor, who conducted the première in Manchester in 1956 and who made
the first recording of the piece the following year (review).
Since Barbirolli presided over the Hallé’s first period of eminence it’s good
to find Elder, who has led it to its second period of eminence, making a recording
of it. The symphony has been in their repertoire for a while; my late Seen
and Heard colleague, Bob Briggs, enjoyed a Proms performance that Elder and
the Hallé gave together as far back as 2008 (review).
I was struck by Bob’s comment: “Treated with respect, the music emerged triumphant
as a bright and breezy symphonic divertissement – entertaining for both orchestra
and listeners.” That comes over in this studio recording also.
I don’t know if RVW designed the work to show off Barbirolli’s orchestra –
that may well be the case – but it certainly does show off a good orchestra,
such as the present day Hallé. RVW referred to the first movement as ‘seven
variations in search of a theme’. Elder brings out all the colour and panache
in the music. I particularly enjoyed the great dash with which the second
variation is invested while I thought that the third variation almost harks
back to the finale of the Fifth. The second movement involves just the wind
and brass – this scoring and the fact that the succeeding movement is for
strings alone rather suggests RVW may have thought of the piece as something
of a ‘Concerto for the Hallé’. In this second movement the playing is consistently
crisp and tangy. The musicians seem to be relishing the music, none more so
than the first trumpet, Gareth Small, whose rendition of his short, cheeky
tune is a delight (0:36).
The strings take centre stage for the Cavatina. What a fine string section
Elder has assembled and trained! The scene is set by the lovely tone of the
cellos right at the start and all their colleagues take their cue from that
expressive, full-toned playing. There are excellent solos from the leader,
Lyn Fletcher, whose expressiveness is matched by the principal cellist, Nicholas
Trygstad, near the end. I loved this sensitive, refined performance. I also
loved Michael Kennedy’s marvellously apt description of the movement as a
“beautiful, old-age reverie of farewells to Tallis and larks ascending.” What
a felicitous phrase!
In the finale the battery of percussion, silent since the first movement,
is well to the fore. The percussion comes over splendidly in this recording,
especially the gongs. For the most part this movement is a jeu d’esprit
and it’s remarkable to find RVW, then in his eighties, delighting in and still
experimenting with orchestral sonorities. This is most emphatically not the
music of an old man nor that of a composer whose powers were waning. This
symphony – and the Ninth – remains under-appreciated, I feel, but Sir Mark
and his excellent orchestra make a most persuasive case for it.
The recordings themselves are very good. The sound for the Eighth is, inevitably,
rather closer and more obviously the product of a studio than is the case
with the Fifth, which was recorded in concert. Both teams of engineers have
done a fine job and in the Fifth I couldn’t detect any audience noise; there’s
no applause after the symphony ends. The excellent notes are by Michael Kennedy,
still writing with perception and enthusiasm about music by a composer whose
work has meant so much to him for getting on for seven decades now. I always
learn something from his notes. For example, I didn’t know that the first
movement of the Fifth includes some music recycled from some military band
music that he was asked to write for a town pageant in 1938.
This splendid disc maintains the high standards of the stream of recordings
by Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé. I hope they will continue to record Vaughan
Williams symphonies but, above all, I’d love to hear them in RVW’s orchestral
masterpiece, Job. I’d give a lot to hear what this partnership might
bring to that wonderful score.
John Quinn
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A splendid disc that maintains the high standards of the recordings by Sir
Mark Elder and the Hallé.