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Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 3 & 5 / Adrian Boult, Margaret Price


Release Date: 09/12/1991 
Label:  Emi Classics   Catalog #: 64018   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:  Margaret Price
Conductor:  Sir Adrian Boult
Orchestra/Ensemble:  New Philharmonia Orchestra,  London Philharmonic Orchestra
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 11 Mins. 

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2 Customer
Reviews

Notes and Editorial Reviews

This was Sir Adrian's second complete recording of Vaughan Williams's symphonies... Since everybody must know by now the sheer authority which Boult brought to everything he conducted, it is enough to add a few odd comments... [M]y own love is the sensitive and subtle No. 5... Of the Pastoral (No, 3) Vaughan Williams wrote something like "I've written a Symphony. Four movements, all of them slow". The work sounds dull, put like that, but it never is; and anyway, the movements are not quite "all of them slow"... Here, at any rate, on these splendid records is the chance to get to know the music better by more frequent hearing than we are allowed in the concert hall.

-- Gramophone [4/1984]
 Read more reviewing an LP box set of the Boult/Vaughan Williams symphonies recordings

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[T]his record is to be greatly welcomed. The whole set having been reviewed by me so recently I can only repeat that they are as authoritative as performances of Vaughan Williams's symphonies can ever be, since the composer was present at the sessions and Sir Adrian was of course the most completely understanding of VW's interpreters. (VW's own performances varied so greatly from occasion to occasion that none can be called 'definitive') Margaret Price sings the distant solo in the Pastoral most beautifully.

-- Gramophone [5/1985]
reviewing the Pastoral Symphony on LP, HMV 290408
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Works on This Recording

1. Symphony no 3 "Pastoral" by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer:  Margaret Price (Soprano)
Conductor:  Sir Adrian Boult
Orchestra/Ensemble:  New Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1921; England 
2. Symphony no 5 in D major by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Conductor:  Sir Adrian Boult
Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1938-1943; England 

Sound Samples

A Pastoral Symphony (No. 3): I. Molto moderato
A Pastoral Symphony (No. 3): II. Lento moderato
A Pastoral Symphony (No. 3): III. Moderato pesante - Presto
A Pastoral Symphony (No. 3): IV. Lento - Moderato maestoso
Symphony No. 5 in D: I. Preludio (Moderato - Allegro - Tempo I)
Symphony No. 5 in D: II. Scherzo (Presto misterioso)
Symphony No. 5 in D: III. Romanza (Lento)
Symphony No. 5 in D: IV. Passacaglia (Moderato - Allegro - Tempo primo - Tempo del Preludio)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 2 Customer Reviews )
 Quintessential.... February 5, 2013 By S. Martorella (East Greenwich, RI) See All My Reviews "For those who grew up listening to these fine examples of some of the best music in the English tradition, these recordings represent the finest performances ever....at least in this listener's humble opinion. True, sonic recording has come a long way since, but the interpretations here are not only a glimpse into history, but represent an artistic tradition that will likely never again be equalled, if for nothing more than the sheer concentration and focus upon the music, a focus that our digital age could never fathom. The lines and the balance offer a sense of repose, while the music literally paints a picture of a life and time gone by. The orchestras play with depth and sensitivity, and the engineers have done fine work of restoring the lustre back into these older recordings. Boult brings color and warmth to his rendering of these pieces, and the players are at their best. Inspired listening offered here...nothing less." Report Abuse
 Often February 1, 2013 By richard b. (salem, CT) See All My Reviews "I keep forgetting that this piece is already on the shelf in my collection.. Nice an quiet to read." Report Abuse
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