Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2, "A London Symphony" - Bernard Haitink, London Philharmonic Orchestra

The symphony was composed from 1912 to 1913. It is dedicated to Vaughan Williams's friend and fellow composer George Butterworth (1885-1916) who was killed by a sniper on the Somme during World War I. It was Butterworth who had first encouraged Vaughan Williams to write a purely orchestral symphony. The work was first performed on 27 March 1914 at Queen's Hall, conducted by Geoffrey Toye. The performance was a success, but shortly thereafter the score was lost after being sent to the conductor Fritz Busch in Germany at almost the same time as the outbreak of World War I. The composer, aided by Toye, Butterworth and the critic E. J. Dent, reconstructed the score from the orchestral parts, and the reconstruction was performed on 11 February 1915 under Dan Godfrey. The symphony went through several revisions before reaching its final form. Vaughan Williams revised it for a performance in March 1918, and again in 1919–20. This second revision became the first published version and was recorded for the gramophone in 1941 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Eugène Goossens. While he was working on his fourth symphony in 1933, Vaughan Williams made time to revise A London Symphony yet again. He regarded this version, which was published in 1936, as the definitive one, and it is this version that entered the repertoire, being played in concert and on record by many conductors.

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, also known as the Tallis Fantasia, is a piece of orchestral music by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It was composed in 1910 for the Three Choirs Festival, and was one of the first major successes for Vaughan Williams. He revised the work twice, in 1913 and 1919. Performances of the work generally run for some 16 minutes. The work takes its name from the original composer of the melody, Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585). Vaughan Williams took much inspiration from music of the English Renaissance and many of his works are associated with or inspired by the music of this period. In 1906 Vaughan Williams included Tallis's Third Tune in the English Hymnal, which he was then editing, as the melody for Joseph Addison's hymn When Rising from the Bed of Death.

In an interview haitink once stated that "one should drink wine only in the country where it was made." Hence the choice for the LPO for these recordings.

Tracklist:
1. Symphony No. 2: Lento – Allegro risoluto
2. Symphony No. 2: Lento
3. Symphony No. 2: Scherzo (Nocturne)
4. Symphony No. 2: Finale – Andante con moto – Maestoso alla marcia – Allegro – Lento – Epilogue
5. Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis




P.S. If you enjoy these posts, please feel free to leave a comment or look at my other posts.