Vaughan Williams, R. - Songs of Travel - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The Hallé releases it's second volume of works by Vaughan Williams, continuing it's award-winning survey of British music under Musical Director Sir Mark Elder. The combines two highly contrasting works, for a disc that is both moving and uplifting. The Symphony No. 5 is a generally tranquil work with music influenced by Ravel, with whom Vaughan Williams had studied, and is scored for very traditional forces. The Symphony No. 8 is dedicated to Sir John Barbirolli, and was premiered by the Hallé in 1956. It is the shortest and least serious of the symphonies, and has a more exotic instrumental color, with an enhanced percussion section.

For baritone Alexandre Beuchat and pianist Marija Bokor, life with music is an exciting and never-ending journey; a journey through a wide variety of works and eras, a journey to faraway places and a journey to themselves. For the album InchSongs of TravelInch, they have embarked on a journey that is as arduous as it is rewarding, with songs by Vaughan Williams, Schubert, Bloch and Mahler.

This second volume of Trombone Travels (Volume 1 is on 8.574093) continues with Matthew Gee's exploration of three great cycles of early 20th-century British song. Elgar's Sea Pictures evoke lullaby and turbulence alike, Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel chart a wanderer's lonely journey through the landscape, and in Songs of the Sea Stanford's music embraces both the somber and the exhilarating, with Gee joined by a trombone chorus to emulate the male voice choir. Throughout the recital Gee lavishes coloristic effects, the use of mutes, and subtle inflections that reinforce the trombone's unique ability to mimic vocal techniques.