Vaughan Williams - Symphony 2 'London' [Thomson-London Symphony Orchestra]
This is only the second time this work gets in my Blog, strange considering how well i love it, and it's with the same exact disc [12th April 2010], this is how i originally got to know this Symphony, by buying this disc, it's really become a favourite of mine, and in many ways it's a sort of darker twin of the 5th Symphony, i must also admit that i think Vaughan Williams was right to make cuts to the longer original version, though there is some nice music that was discarded.
Bryden Thomson was Scottish, 1928-1991, recording extensively for Chandos in cycles of Martinu, Nielsen, Bax, and here Vaughan Williams Symphonies, he recorded this disc in 1988, the front cover shows a painting by Turner called 'The Burning Of The Houses Of Parliament', a nice detail of a larger painting.
The second movement is a gorgeous Lento, supposedly meant to depict 'Bloomsbury Square on a November afternoon', but i can certainly think of a lot more descriptive places, it starts off as a low hum of quiet strings, but quickly the quiet is joined by a sad solo cor anglais [0:17+], it's so exactly the mood you just love about Vaughan Williams, the music meanders around the violins, the horns have a lovely muted section [1:40+ & 2:07+], i can just imagine Vaughan Williams as a painter, adding little touches of sound here and there, creating a wash of mood, there's a central 'trio section' where the music changes significantly [4:41-9:09], sounding a lot more pastoral, certainly slightly more upbeat, and there's a certain beat to the whole thing, i love the way the music blossoms out, and we're in 5th Symphony territory [6:20+ & 7:27+], and the music reaches some wonderful climaxes, the opening music comes back to haunt us again [9:09+].
Here's Marcelo Lehninger conducting the second movement Lento on YouTube.
Here's Marcelo Lehninger conducting the second movement Lento on YouTube.
