Ralph Vaughan Williams

In the 50th anniversary year of the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams this highly attractive arrangement for piano of one of his most popular works will surely find its way into the repertoire of many pianists.Treasured by organists but no less admired in its orchestral arrangement often heard on Classic FM this delightful prelude on the Welsh hymn tune known as Rhosymedre is a perfect union of the style of Bach and RVW. No less aptly known by the name of ‘Lovely’ the tune appears in the manner of a choral prelude which Bryan Kelly has skilfully re-crafted for piano solo.Of intermediate difficulty and well within the range of players of Grade 5 standard orabove this new version of the piece also complements the arrangement for piano duet by Reginald Hadfield already available in Stainer & Bell’s Easy Festival Duet series.

Of all his early chamber works the Nocturne is most clearly by the mature Vaughan Williams almost anticipating the influence of Ravel which followed his lessons from the French composer in 1908. In the veiled beauty of its highly chromatic harmonies we hear already the tone-poet of the slow movement of A London Symphony while in the fleet-footed Scherzo there is already a French influence in the way the folk-song is subtly woven into the texture only brief snatches of the tune being heard until the penultimate page when it receives fuller treatment. The work plays for about 10 minutes. The 1904 Scherzo is a vigorous march with fugal episodes whichlasts some 6 minutes and may effectively be performed by itself.

The Oxford Book Of Christmas Carols has to be one of the most famous and complete of all carol collections. This book contains 197 carols. The majority are for the Christmas season but some are intended for Passiontide Easter or for other seasons of the year. All but 30 have traditional carol tunes mostly with traditional texts.

SSA unaccompaniedNo. 1 of Three Elizabethan Part Songs. Arranged by W R Pasfield. Text by George Herbert.

SATB unaccompaniedThe Dark Eyed Sailor; The Springtime of the Year; Just as the tide was flowing; The Lover's Ghost; Wassail Song.