One of the leading English composers of his generation, Vaughan Williams went some way towards creating a specifically English musical idiom, influenced by his interest in folk-song yet underpinned by a personal vision and language. This is nowhere better expressed than in his superb cycle of Nine Symphonies. The ‘London’ Symphony features a rich medley of thematic material that suggests the varied life of the capital city. The Lark Ascending, which concludes this disc, is one of Vaughan Williams’s most enduringly popular compositions.
Tracks:
•A Hymn to the Virgin
•Vaughan Williams: 49th Parallel
•Vaughan Williams: 49th Parallel: Prelude
•Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
•Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
•Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus'
•Vaughan Williams: Linden Lea
•Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon
•Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 1 'A Sea Symphony'
•Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2 'A London Symphony'
•Vaughan Williams: The House of Life
•Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
•Vaughan Williams: The Wasps - Aristophanic Suite
•Vaughan Williams: The Wasps Overture