Vaughan Williams - Symphony 5 [Previn-London Symphony Orchestra]
Andre Previn is German, but later became an American citizen in his teenage years, he is now 81 years of age, he has recorded a full cycle of Vaughan Williams Symphonies, quite a pioneering set after Adrian Boult's cycle.
I listened to this while walking through the park, i must admit that this was a glorious experience, i haven't been so deeply touched and affected by VW's fifth for quite some time, nor might i add by any piece of music so deeply for a while, quite a religious experience.
All of the Symphony was truly heavenly, but most especially the third movement Romanza, i must admit that this is packed with really good things, it's hard to single out some highlights, it starts off with the most heavenly soft and delicate strings, like something appearing out of the mist [0:00-0:32], and then a soulful and sorrowful cor anglais tune creates a real mood of melancholy [0:33-0:55], later an oboe and cor anglais have a dialogue [4:50-6:04], with clarinet [5:44+], flute [5:47+], and bassoon [5:52+] joining in, right after the woodwinds and brass get agitated [6:05-6:45], and these shimmering strings come in, with horns in the background [6:45-7:20], the brass / trumpets get angry [7:20-7:38], there's very low woodwind / horns [7:50+ & 8:10+], and these high yet sorrowful strings cry out twice [8:01+ & 8:20+], before the movement returns to the more serene opening, today i was stunned by this masterpiece, and to me this is the Symphony's spiritual centre, i'm a better person for listening to this today.
Here's Previn conducting the third movement on YouTube.
