To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Vaughan Williams’ death this year EMI have released a 30-CD set of his "Masterworks"; a comprehensive introduction to his body of work. If you don’t want to stretch that far, however, then this 2-CD collection will do very nicely indeed.

If any label was to do a retrospective of Vaughan Williams’ work then it is wholly appropriate that it should be EMI. Their archive contains an unrivalled collection of recordings that have come to be seen as definitive, and in many cases are the only recordings of that work. They have plundered their treasury to provide a superb compendium here. It all begins with Hugh Bean’s classic account of The Lark Ascending which evokes the still timelessness of a summer’s day under Boult’s expert direction. Boult is also on call for his classic Serenade to Music with a top collection of soloists who suggest happy memories of a bygone era, quite fitting in the light of this work’s origins. Boult’s set of symphonies is also used to provide the movement from the Sinfonia Antartica as is his Job from the same 1970s set. The other major orchestral contributions come from Sir John Barbirolli whose justly famous accounts of Greensleeves and the Tallis Fantasia are given here. His spellbinding Tallis Fantasia is the most marvellous account of the work I have come across: the performances elicited from each constituent group blend into a marvellous whole, helped by the splendid EMI sound which places you in the centre of what feels like a vast acoustic surrounded by the participants. If you don’t have this recording then buying this set is worth it for this track alone.

EMI stalwart David Willcocks turns up happily often too. He conducts the Jacques Orchestra in a marvellously sonorous Dives and Lazarus. He conducts many sung items too, including the magical opening of the G Minor Mass and one of the Five Mystical Songs. The hymns are marvellously and professionally sung, though not with too much polish, which is important for congregational pieces. The solo singing from English legends like Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk is most welcome and the various folksongs are treated like the excellent music they are. Even David Daniels gives a marvellous other-worldly feel to Orpheus with his Lute.

With performances like this all collected together for the first time, this set is a guaranteed winner. It would be easy to complain about some omissions, but that would be churlish in light of the riches on offer here. Every aspect of Vaughan Williams’ output is represented - except the concertos and operas - and it’s impossible to imagine a better introduction to the marvellous diversity of his work. After this it would be fitting to explore the heavier repertoire such as the symphonies, but this forms an excellent springboard.

-- Simon Thompson, MusicWeb International