Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem

Although Vaughan Williams described himself as ‘a cheerful agnostic’, he was not only steeped in the traditions of the Anglican Church, but sensitive to the mystical significance ‘of what lies beyond sense and knowledge’.

Written in 1936, his cantata Dona nobis pacem sets powerful Biblical texts alongside those by Walt Whitman and John Bright and is both a warning that mankind was sliding disastrously towards another war and a plea for a world without strife.

The oratorio Sancta Civitas, one of his most original choral works, strikingly deploys vocal and orchestral forces to depict the battle between good and evil from the Book of Revelation.

"Hill and his singers and players brought off the tone of the piece perfectly, conveying RVW's complex, polytonal vision in a capable performance… the singers were both thrilling in the louder moments and austerely beautiful in the quieter ones. The Bach Choir also supplied the polished chamber choir; Winchester Cathedral Choir and Winchester Quiristers supplied the atmospheric boys choir.” Music and Vision on a concert performance of the Sancta Civitas

Issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Vaughan Williams’s death, this collection is tantalizing: it starts with one of the best-selling discs in the the catalogue, the Serenade to Music, and includes such favourites as the Five Mystical Songs and The Hundreth Psalm. There are also two intriguing pairings: in Dona nobis pacem, RVW warns of the impending doom of WWII, in A song of thanksgiving we hear his moving response to its successful conclusion; in The shepherds of the delectable mountains we hear an early working of Bunyan’s literary masterpiece, later extensively reworked in the landmark 1942 BBC radio production of The Pilgrim’s Progress featuring Sir John Gielgud and reprised here, this time in condensed form.

Sir Adrian Boult was born on 8th April 1889 in Chester and died on 22nd February 1983 in London and hence 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of his death. He was attending concerts first in Liverpool, primarily with Hans Richter, and then in London, whilst a pupil at Westminster School, with Sir Henry Wood, Claude Debussy, Arthur Nikisch and Richard Strauss. He met Elgar for whose music he was to do so much during his life as was another composer he befriended whilst at Christ Church, Oxford, before graduating in 1912, Ralph Vaughan Williams.

He spent a year studying in Leipzig where Arthur Nikisch had the greatest influence on him. He gained experience conducting for both the Royal Opera House, where he assisted in the first production there of Wagner’s Parsifal , and Serge Diaghilev’s ballet company. He was appointed conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1924 and six years later the BBC made him director of music where he established the BBC Symphony Orchestra and became its chief conductor. During these years he introduced works by Bartók, Stravinsky and the Second Viennese School composers – Schönberg, Webern and Berg including his opera Wozzeck.

Forced to leave the BBC when he reached their retirement age, he became chief conductor of the LPO retiring in 1957. He became a champion of British music, giving numerous performances of Bliss, Britten, Delius, Tippett, Walton and Holst, whose Planets he had premiered, and the aforementioned Elgar and Vaughan Williams. This set brings together all the recordings he made of the latter starting in 1940 to the early 1950’s.

There was a pause until 1967 when he started to commit this set’s stereo recordings to disc ending in 1975. He continued to give concerts and record for a further three years until retiring just before reaching the age of 90.

CD 13 includes audio footage of Sir Adrian in rehearsal.

Celebrated as the musical poet of the English landscape, Vaughan Williams was also a visionary composer of enormous range: from the pastoral lyricism of The Lark Ascending and the still melancholy of Silent Noon to the violence of the Fourth Symphony and the grand ceremonial of All people that on earth do dwell, he assumed the mantle of Elgar as our national composer. This edition, released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death, presents all the major orchestral, chamber, vocal and stage works, as well as many lesser pieces and rarities, in the finest interpretations. All your favourite Vaughan Williams is here, in over 34 hours of music on 30 CDs