that's why i like the 1st and 2nd symphonies Richard 

What is?

I remember your reasons for going with Haitink in the first place, r, but for me there's an issue with his readings in that they never 'catch fire', remaining cold and dispassionate, which is not how I believe the works to be at all, and certainly not what happens in the three surviving recordings made by the composer - two of which even eighteen months ago were little more than rumours. It happens at the very least intermittently with Previn, Handley, Boult, Thomson, and Slatkin in their cycles, though rather less, if at all (for me at least) with Haitink and Andrew Davis: Hickox's cycle, in progress, seems decidedly inert, too. In the hands of Barbirolli - RVW's 'Glorious John' - the few symphonies he did record (2,5, 7 and 8, and a live 6) achieve well-nigh spontaneous combustion (just as with his Tallis recording), and there are singleton recordings by others which ignite, too.

I realise that what we seek from recordings may be very different, of course.

Thanks for that, Ron. Gosh, RVW really got a move on, didn't he? 10:00 for the Romanza! I take it that the 1952 recording here was the one that caused such a stir when discovered recently?

To complete the cycle:

No.7, Sinfonia Antartica: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra/ Leppard

From the wasteland at the end of the 6th to the wastelands of the Antarctic. I have a sneaking affection for this symphony, which can often be viewed as something of a Cinderella in the wake of the mighty 5th and 6th. I still haven’t managed to see Scott of the Antarctic, but have at least got a disc of the film score on which RVW’s 7th is based. The Indianapolis is the only non-UK orchestra to feature in my line-up today and their playing is extremely polished and they are very well recorded, especially the organ. And well done for allowing the wind machine the last word – other recordings tend to engineer a fade out, or so it seems, but the Indianapolis wind machine is allowed to whistle on for longer, as indeed it did in Richard Hickox’s Philharmonia concert in May. I haven’t heard Robert Spano’s ongoing explorations with his Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, but I wonder how often RVW gets played in the States? I sometimes wish that this were for real - just imagine what a stir it would create!

 

Interesting that Vaughan Williams, who didn’t like programmes attributed to his works, based a symphony on material from a film score.

No.8: LPO/ Haitink

From one musical landscape to an entirely different one – the 8th is such a tightly organised work, seemingly light-hearted in many respects, with unusual scoring – woodwind and brass only in the Scherzo alla Marcia, strings only in the Cavatina, and all that Turandot-inspired percussion glittering in the finale. The scherzo has a Russian flavour to me – DSCH and Prokofiev, anyone? I enjoy Haitink’s account – more serious, for sure, and he brings out the menace in the finale more than most. The Cavatina is quite hauntingly played, providing echoes, for this listener at least, of the Tallis Fantasia; Haitink brings out the writing for lower strings, balancing his forces effectively. What a pity the BBC didn’t televise the performance in this year’s Proms!

No.9: LPO/ Boult

A recording I discovered and downloaded yesterday – recording started 50 years ago today, on the day VW died. In a very brief spoken introduction, Adrian Boult talked about how Vaughan Williams was due to attend the recording sessions, but had died just seven hours before they commenced.
Once again, there is the mysterious suggestion of  programme of sorts, with Hardy’s Tess of the d'Urbervilles mentioned, as well as an unpublished tone poem from 1903 The Solent. There is certainly much bleakness in Boult’s account and the finale is awesome. There is real intensity in the playing, from the symphony’s rugged opening to the finale’s massive three E major chords, receding into the eerie notes from saxophones. Once again, there is unusual scoring, with a lovely, noble opening flügelhorn solo in the second movement, the one most often linked to the Tess idea. It will be interesting to hear tonight’s performance (which is also being televised for later transmission).

To sum up, I can’t think of many composers whose symphonies are all quite so different, in terms of emotion, texture/orchestration, scale. Right to the end, VW was searching, experimenting, it seems and listening to all nine in such a short space of time has certainly been worthwhile.

I take it that would be Rozhdestvensky's 1st, (presumably sung in Russian?) but I'm at a loss to think of the others.

Thanks for that, Ron. I now recall hearing about that Frankfurt 5th and how the Tuba Concerto was an unusual pairing on the CD; less so, when you consider the conductor is also the soloist. I'm surprised Norrington hasn't recorded any RVW yet with the Stuttgarters.

Whoever has listened to the traditional English Romance of the tuba concerto or experienced the foggy summer morning in Kent evoked in the slow final movement of his 5th symphony ...