Ralph Vaughan Williams: English Folk Songs (Suite): Concert Band

20th century English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams is perhaps best known for his symphonies and large-scale choral works however the essence of his music can also be found in his songs. His 1903 House of Life cyclefeatures 6 songs out of which the most famous one is the second Silent Noon. Composed before the rest of the cycle and first published separately this piece in E-flat major for Voice and Piano can easilystand alone. By using the sonnet of renowned 19th century English painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti Williams celebrates the beauty of the English language and advances toward the true 20th century Englishart song. All of the songs in House of Life are written for sonnets from Rossetti?s sonnet-sequence of the same name and thus the continuity of the cycle is enforced both by the music and the lyrics. At the same time thesimilarity given by the strict rules of the Petrarchan sonnet-form emphasises the differences in mood meaning and music between the six songs. Even though the (male) narrator in Silent Noon is optimistic andhopeful some of the variations in the passages suggest the despairing of love in Song 6 (?Love?s Last Gift?) which gives this piece an interesting lyrical atmosphere.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was an English composer of symphonies chamber music opera choral music and film scores. At his death he left an unfinished Cello Concerto an opera Thomas the Rhymer and music for a Christmas play The First Nowell which was completed by his amanuensis Roy Douglas. The First Nowell has been here arranged for Male Voices specifically TBARB. In Nine Carols For Male Voices (Carol IV).

Vocal ScoreCantata for Baritone Solo SSAA chorus and orchestra Following the revelatory release of A London Symphony in its original version the publication of Willow-wood is another landmark in our deepening understanding of the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams.Last performed in 1909 the year of The Wasps and On Wenlock Edge this setting of four sonnets by the Victorian poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti has recently been reconstructed from the autograph score and orchestral material made available on hire from the publisher. Reflecting the veiled eroticism and sombre atmosphere of the texts the music is dark-hued andsensuous its wordless female choir looking forward to the Five Mystical Songs A Sea Symphony and Flos Campi. In this heightened atmosphere of Pre-Raphaelite passion the composer\'s richly chromatic harmonies sound an unfamiliar note and the piece which lasts about 14 minutes will not only fascinate specialists but also have a broad appeal to many lovers of English music for whom it will be a significant discovery. A recording of Willow-wood on the Naxos label is scheduled for release early in 2006.

Through the years this well-known English folk song has been a favorite with composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams (English Folk Song Suite) and George Butterworth (The Bank of Green Willow). One of the best-known versions of Percy Grainger's 1921 setting for two pianos and this delightful arrangement for young bands is based in part on Grainger's version. Dur: 2:45

Pour Cor Anglais (Ou Flûte Ou Clarinette Ou Alto) Violon Et Violoncelle-Rarely has a musical work been better characterized by its subtitle than Nicolas Bacri’s Lyric Interlude: ‘A Study in Pastoral Style’. When in 2008 the composer received the commission for a piece with English Horn from Cecilia Benner patron of the Chamber Music Society of Detroit he immediately thought of the duo between this instrument and the Oboe that Berlioz in the Symphonie fantastique placed at the beginning of the ‘Scène aux champs’ making suddenly appear a nocturnal country landscape where two shepherds carry on a dialogue on their pipes. First performed in March 2009 atone of the Scarab Club Concerts in Detroit the Lyric Interlude for English Horn Violin and Cello (Op.110a) nonetheless proclaims another tradition: that of British pastoralism illustrated by the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) the 50th anniversary of his death having just been celebrated. This score pays him homage of rare sensitivity: set off by refined counterpoint the undulating lament of the beginning rhythmically supple evokes the waving wheat as does Vaughan Williams in the opening undulation of his Symphony No.3. The lyrical effusion briefly interrupted by a scherzo in 6/8 again pours out making the work evolve towards a slow ecstatic atmosphere close to the last of the English composer’s Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes. Far from bucolic postcard clichés and servile imitation this Lyric Interlude opens the doors to a realm where pure beauty reigns. The composer also wrote another version of this work for English Horn (or Flute Clarinet or Viola) and Piano Op.110b (AL 30 750)

John Duarte was passionate about introducing English musicians to the cultural wealth of their own indigenous folk songs. Using the great collection of folk songs that were ‘run to earth’ in the early 1900’s by Cecil Sharpe and Ralph Vaughan Williams among many others Duarte has made a selection of what he considered beautiful characterful tunes set them for the Guitar student and collected them in Sixteen English Folk Songs.Duarte originally earned a degree in chemistry and worked as an industrial chemist for year before abandoning that life to devote himself to music. His life as a Guitarist composer teacher and writer was long and fulfilling. He composed 150 works mainly for Guitar ranging widely over many styles including various national idioms.

The Bassoon part for Vaughan Williams' Six Studies in English Folk Song adapted for Bassoon by Alan Hawkins. The piano accompaniment (Ref. H47) can be purchased separately.

In 1977 The Association of English Singers and Speakers published a four-volume work A Heritage of Twentieth Century British Song which was a collection of songs published by Boosey & Hawkes and which were in the opinion of the editors worthy of the attention that such a publication would bring. Sixteen years later with the benefit of further perspective the Association has published this supplemental volume differing from its distinguished predecessor in that it includes works both unpublished and published by a variety of companies. The composers range from the very most familiar and celebrated Ralph Vaughan Williams Arnold Bax Elizabeth Poston to thelesser-known like Rebecca Clarke and Alastair MacGeorge. The book includes biographical information on the composers and notes about each song for performance purposes. The technical requirements range from quite straightforward to most demanding.

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'. The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.