Sir Neville Marriner and his Academy made some of the most priceless recordings of Vaughan Williams for Decca and Philips and this collection restores to circulation his Philips traversal of music by this composer with the addition of five pieces made for Decca – the Romance for harmonica (with Tommy Reilly), possibly the best version of The Lark Ascending ever recorded (with the late Iona Brown), his second recording of Fantasia on Greensleeves, the Concerto Grosso and the English Folk Song Suite. The collection is filled out with the nine perky folk song arrangements he recorded, receiving their first international release on CD.
CD 1
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Wasps: Overture
Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
In the Fen Country – Symphonic Impression
Variations for Orchestra
Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 in E minor
Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus’
Romance for strings, piano and harmonica*
CD 2
The Lark Ascending**
Fantasia on Greensleeves
Concerto Grosso
English Folk Song Suite
British Folk Song Arrangements arr. Leslie Pearson, Chris Hazell
Tommy Reilly, harmonica*
Iona Brown, violin**
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Neville Marriner
Recording producers: Erik Smith (The Wasps, Tallis Fantasia, In the Fen Country, Variations, Norfolk Rhapsody, Dives and Lazarus); Michael Bremner (The Lark Ascending); Chris Hazell (Concerto Grosso, Romance, Greensleeves, English Folk Song Suite, British Folk Song Arrangements)
Recording engineers: Erdo Groot, Jan Wesselink, Alex Marcou (The Wasps, Tallis Fantasia, In the Fen Country, Variations, Norfolk Rhapsody, Dives and Lazarus); Stanley Goodall (The Lark Ascending, Romance, Greensleeves, English Folk Song Suite, British Folk Song Arrangements); John Dunkerley, Martin Atkinson (Concerto Grosso)
Recording locations: Abbey Road Studios, London, UK, July 1993 (The Wasps, Tallis Fantasia, In the Fen Country, Variations, Norfolk Rhapsody, Dives and Lazarus); Kingsway Hall, London, UK, October 1972 (The Lark Ascending), February 1980 (Greensleeves, English Folk Song Suite, British Folk Song Arrangements); St. John, Smith’s Square, London, UK, June 1976 (Romance), January 1977 (Concerto Grosso)
‘…a good bargain collection of some of this composer’s best loved works…’ MusicWeb
*** Penguin Guide
‘the beauty of the playing is a constant source of delight’ Gramophone