Description
Telarc: André Previn — Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2 "London" / The Lark Ascending CD
Brand new! Factory packaged! As pictured! Buy with confidence!
Product Details:
- UPC: 089408013829
- Catalog Number: CD-80138
- Product Type: Audio CD
- Brand / Label: Telarc
- Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
- Conductor: André Previn
- Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- Violin (The Lark Ascending): Barry Griffiths
- Release Year: 1987
- Genre: Classical / Orchestral
Product Features
- Format: CD
- Discs: 1
- Tracks: 5
- Recording: DDD, Pure Digital (Telarc digital masters)
- Condition: New, factory sealed
- Made in the U.S.A.
Overview
Two of Vaughan Williams's best-loved works, in performances that pair English music's most idiomatic interpreter of his generation with one of the great audiophile labels. André Previn knew this repertoire as few conductors did, and Telarc's clean, spacious digital sound gives the Royal Philharmonic room to breathe.
A London Symphony (Symphony No. 2) is Vaughan Williams's portrait of the city — not a literal one, but a great impressionist canvas of mist, bustle, distant bells, and the Thames at dusk. The opening rises from near-silence; the slow movement is among the most beautiful the composer wrote; the finale gathers it all into a final, vanishing river-of-time epilogue.
The Lark Ascending, with Barry Griffiths as the solo violin, is the perfect companion — that endless, soaring melodic line above quiet strings that has made it one of the most cherished pieces in all English music. Recorded in Telarc's pure-digital sound and arriving brand new in its factory wrap.
Interesting Facts
- A London Symphony was first performed in 1914; the original score was lost during the First World War and had to be reconstructed from the orchestral parts.
- Vaughan Williams insisted the work was not strictly programmatic, calling it a "Symphony by a Londoner" rather than a musical map of the city.
- The Lark Ascending was inspired by a poem of the same name by George Meredith, lines of which the composer wrote into the score.
- André Previn was one of the foremost champions of Vaughan Williams's symphonies, having earlier recorded a complete cycle that helped revive the music's international standing.
- Telarc was a pioneer of all-digital classical recording, and its discs were prized by audiophiles for their wide dynamic range and natural balance.
- Barry Griffiths was a distinguished British orchestral leader, long associated with the Royal Philharmonic and other major London ensembles.
Track Listing
Symphony No. 2, "London"
- I. Lento; Allegro risoluto — 15:23
- II. Lento — 12:07
- III. Scherzo (Nocturne), Allegro vivace — 7:35
- IV. Andante con moto; Maestoso alla marcia (quasi lento) — 13:38
The Lark Ascending
- The Lark Ascending — 14:15 (Barry Griffiths, violin)
Publishers
℗ © 1987 Telarc International Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio. Pure Digital (DDD). Made in the U.S.A.
Treasure this repertoire? A short review helps other Vaughan Williams lovers find it.
