Post by erik on Dec 25, 2021 22:45:45 GMT -5
The final Classical Music Spotlight on 2021 focuses on the earliest of Ralph Vaughan Williams' contributions to the Christmas canon of Western music.
Vaughan Williams: FANTASIA ON CHRISTMAS CAROLS
As one of the pre-eminent English composers of the 20th century, Ralph Vaughan Williams brought centuries-old English folk music traditions, going even as far back as the Elizabethan period, forward, with great works, including sizeable symphonies that found popularity not only in his home country, but also in Canada and the United States. RVW, as his contemporaries knew him, also made a significant contribution to the Christmas music literature. The best known of these, though it came during the last five years of his life, was the 1954 work “Hodie”. But the first such work on his part is the 1912 “Fantasia On Christmas Carols”, a work for baritone, chorus, and orchestra. Though only twelve minutes in length, it is an important work in Vaughan Williams’ catalog, consisting of three major English carols: “The Truth Sent From Above”; “Come All You Worthy Gentlemen”; and the famous Sussex Carol (“On Christmas, all Christians sing”). All of these songs were collected by the composer and his close friend Cecil Sharp just a few years later; and the work also interposes quotations from other carols, including “The First Noel”. “Fantasia On Christmas Carols” was, somewhat ironically, premiered three months before Christmas, on September 12, 1912, with baritone Campbell McInnes at the Three Choirs Festival at Hereford Cathedral. A purely orchestral version, also sanctioned by the composer, was first performed on December 19, 1943 by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. While not as familiar as his symphonies or his folksong-based shorter works, “Fantasia On Christmas Carols” has frequently been heard during the holidays, in England, Canada, and America.
Baritone: STEPHEN ROBERTS
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra/RICHARD HICKOX (EMI)
Included:
HODIE (Soprano: ELIZABETH COLE) (Tenor: ROBERT TEAR) (Choristers of St. Paul’s Cathedral) (London Symphony Chorus)
Vaughan Williams: FANTASIA ON CHRISTMAS CAROLS
As one of the pre-eminent English composers of the 20th century, Ralph Vaughan Williams brought centuries-old English folk music traditions, going even as far back as the Elizabethan period, forward, with great works, including sizeable symphonies that found popularity not only in his home country, but also in Canada and the United States. RVW, as his contemporaries knew him, also made a significant contribution to the Christmas music literature. The best known of these, though it came during the last five years of his life, was the 1954 work “Hodie”. But the first such work on his part is the 1912 “Fantasia On Christmas Carols”, a work for baritone, chorus, and orchestra. Though only twelve minutes in length, it is an important work in Vaughan Williams’ catalog, consisting of three major English carols: “The Truth Sent From Above”; “Come All You Worthy Gentlemen”; and the famous Sussex Carol (“On Christmas, all Christians sing”). All of these songs were collected by the composer and his close friend Cecil Sharp just a few years later; and the work also interposes quotations from other carols, including “The First Noel”. “Fantasia On Christmas Carols” was, somewhat ironically, premiered three months before Christmas, on September 12, 1912, with baritone Campbell McInnes at the Three Choirs Festival at Hereford Cathedral. A purely orchestral version, also sanctioned by the composer, was first performed on December 19, 1943 by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. While not as familiar as his symphonies or his folksong-based shorter works, “Fantasia On Christmas Carols” has frequently been heard during the holidays, in England, Canada, and America.
Baritone: STEPHEN ROBERTS
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra/RICHARD HICKOX (EMI)
Included:
HODIE (Soprano: ELIZABETH COLE) (Tenor: ROBERT TEAR) (Choristers of St. Paul’s Cathedral) (London Symphony Chorus)