CD booklet: Vaughan Williams Symphonies 5 & 7 (LPO-0072)

vaughan williams symphony no. 5 symphony no. 7 (Sinfonia antartica) bernard haitink conductor SHEILA ARMSTRONG soprano london philharmonic ORCHESTRA & CHOIR

A BBC recording

ralph vaughan williams (1872–1958) Vaughan Williams composed music of lasting quality for over 60 years, from the 1890s until just before his death at the height of the Cold War. He wrote his last six symphonies (Nos. 4–9) during a time as unsettled as any in Britain’s history. Other than the consoling Fifth and exuberant Eighth, each symphony offers, at best, a stoical response to the time in which it was composed. Whether consciously or not, Vaughan Williams, like other great artists, had an instinctive ability to reflect the times in which he lived and worked.

Symphony No. 5 in D major 1 2 3 4

Preludio: Moderato Scherzo: Presto misterioso Romanza: Lento Passacaglia: Moderato

After the vehemence and violence of the Fourth Symphony, the contrast in the music of the Fifth, eight years later, could not be greater.

Vaughan Williams composed most of the new symphony during the Second World War, although he began composition in 1938. The Symphony shares some material with the opera (or ‘morality’, as Vaughan Williams called it) based on John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, the composition of which occupied Vaughan

Williams for over 40 years before it received its first performance at Covent Garden in 1951.

Dedicated to ‘Jean Sibelius without permission’, the Symphony was performed for the first time by the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Midsummer’s Day 1943, conducted by the composer. The greatness of the Symphony is at last being appreciated, as its music – so needed at the height of a vicious war – is found to be for our time and for all times. Those listening on that June day 70 years ago would have found comfort in its consoling peace as a shaft of light illuminated the darkness of their country’s great struggle.

The Preludio of the Fifth Symphony begins with two horns playing a phrase in D major over the lower strings in C, establishing a tonal ambiguity that is not resolved until the end of the work. This horn phrase recurs throughout the movement. References to the hymn tune ‘Sine Nomine’ (‘For all the Saints’) and the ‘Dresden Amen’ occur as the movement is developed. The music moves towards a hymnlike climax before returning to the pastoral world of the opening. A reminder of the horn phrase and a further climax lead back to the peace that runs through much of the Symphony and brings the movement to a close.

The fairy world of the Scherzo flits from the opening string melody, presto misterioso, to a cantabile theme for the woodwind with hints of folk dance. Interruptions by the brass with suggestions of Bunyan’s ‘hobgoblins’ create a sense of unease before the movement’s quiet conclusion.

again and a solo horn reminds the listener of the opening phrase, first heard on the cor anglais. ‘Alleluias’ sound in the distance, and we are brought serenely back to earth.

The Romanza is one of the great symphonic slow movements, containing music of heartstopping beauty and intensity. It is dominated by a theme for cor anglais derived from The Pilgrim’s Progress (when Pilgrim sings: ‘He hath given me rest by his sorrow and life by his death.’) Doubts crowd in during a faster passage reflecting Pilgrim’s agitation: ‘My burden is greater than I can bear’, but the brass offer consolation as they play the cor anglais theme.

The strings play an ‘Alleluia’ phrase before the contemplative peace of the movement returns and it ends quietly on the lower strings.

1 Prelude: Andante maestoso 2 Scherzo: Moderato 3 Landscape: Lento – 4 Intermezzo: Andante sostenuto 5 Epilogue: Alla marcia, moderato (non troppo allegro)

A Passacaglia closes the Symphony, the bass line sustaining the form through a set of variations.

Ideas from The Pilgrim’s Progress are considered and themes from the first movement are then recalled before Vaughan Williams produces his masterstroke: a change of key and tempo as we enter the Symphony’s magical coda. The opening theme of the Symphony is played once

Symphony No. 7 (Sinfonia antartica)

By 1947 Vaughan Williams was already an experienced composer of music for films, so he was immediately interested when invited

by Ernest Irving, the musical director of Ealing Films, to compose music for the forthcoming Scott of the Antarctic. The finer aspects of man’s character such as courage, stoicism and an indomitable spirit always moved Vaughan Williams. In The Pilgrim’s Progress he was to show how Pilgrim reflected these qualities, as did Captain Scott as he strove in 1911–12 to reach the South Pole and return safely. Scott might have failed, but his achievement lives on in the grandeur of Vaughan Williams’s music.

By January 1948 Vaughan Williams had completed most of the score, and the film was premiered that November in London. At an early stage he made it clear he wanted to develop the music into a symphony, and he reclaimed his film score before setting it aside for a while.

Scored for a large orchestra, including organ, piano, celeste, glockenspiel, vibraphone, bells and a wordless role for soprano supported by a chorus for women’s voices, Vaughan Williams’s remarkable vision captures the wild barrenness, danger and beauty of the continent. Although film music is by its nature episodic, Scott of the Antarctic contained some periods of silence, allowing Vaughan Williams the freedom to compose longer passages of music than was usual. Nevertheless, the achievement in turning this material into a symphony of exceptional originality cannot be understated. Sir John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra gave the first performance in Manchester on 14 January 1953.

Before each movement Vaughan Williams inscribed the following epigraphs: 1 Prelude To suffer woes which hope thinks infinite, To forgive wrongs darker than death or night, To defy power which seems omnipotent,

Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent: This ... is to be Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free, This is alone life, joy, empire and victory.

(Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound) The ‘majestic’ main theme from the film takes the audience into Scott’s world, the scoring underpinning the hostile environment across which the fragile human figures would struggle.

Soprano and chorus try to seduce the listener, with the wind-machine and descriptions of ice (celeste, vibraphone, piano) further emphasising the bleak surroundings before a climax. This is cut off peremptorily as the bells and voices threaten Scott and his party, but the movement closes optimistically with powerful chords underpinning the immensity of the task ahead.

2 Scherzo There go the ships and there is that Leviathan whom thou has made to take his pastime therein.

(Psalm 104) We join Scott on his way south. The busy life aboard ship is reflected in the music and a whale (Leviathan) is spotted before the party reaches land, where the antics of penguins are observed.

The loneliness of the new camp seems to imbue the music as the movement ends.

3 Landscape Ye Ice falls! Ye that from the mountain’s brow Adown enormous ravines slope amain – Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice, And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge!

Motionless torrents! Silent cataracts!

(Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Hymn before Sunrise, in the Vale of Chamonix)

An oboe theme, over harp chords, provides a moment of repose and thoughts of home.

Solo strings and a cor anglais maintain the atmosphere before soft bells herald music used for the death of Lawrence Oates in the film. The oboe returns and, quietly, the clarinet and cellos surrender to the harp and remaining pizzicato strings.

In his Landscape, Vaughan Williams conveys the implacability of the alien world in music that overwhelms the listener. As the expedition begins we move from the icy wastes of Ross Island (flutes and horns with timpani, cymbals and harp) towards the Beardmore Glacier. A relentless theme for full orchestra (including piano and organ pedal) propels the music inexorably forward.

A threatening drum-roll heralds the glacier in a mighty climax: the ‘silent cataracts’ of the organ sustained by repeated brass chords, the piano and gong. Scott and his party may have climbed the glacier but, exhausted, the music recedes, pianissimo, into the Intermezzo.

5 Epilogue I do not regret this journey ... We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, therefore we have no cause for complaint.

(Captain Scott’s Last Journal)

4 Intermezzo Love, all alike, no season knows, or clime Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

(John Donne, The Sun Rising)

For the Epilogue, string and woodwind trills beneath a trumpet fanfare herald a march derived from the Prelude’s main theme. There is little optimism as the march becomes more and more disjointed, and the barren landscape and wind come to dominate.

Vaughan Williams once more uses bells, a wind-machine and women’s voices to reinforce the bleakness of Scott’s doomed expedition. The implacable wind and cold remain as the distant voices sing their bleak farewell – niente.

Programme notes © Andrew Neill

bernard haitink

© Clive Barda

conductor With an international conducting career that has spanned nearly six decades, Amsterdam-born Bernard Haitink is one of today’s most celebrated conductors. As the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor from 1967–79, he presided over some of the Orchestra’s most memorable and acclaimed performances.

Haitink was for 27 years Chief Conductor of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; he is now its Conductor Laureate.

Previously he also held posts as Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera and of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is Conductor Emeritus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has made frequent guest appearances with most of the world’s leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and London Symphony orchestras, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Bernard Haitink has recorded widely for Phillips, Decca and EMI with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His discography also includes many opera recordings with the Royal Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Most recently he has recorded extensively with the London Symphony Orchestra for LSO Live – including the complete Brahms and Beethoven symphonies – and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for its ‘Resound’ label. He received Grammy Awards for his recordings of Janáček’s Jenůfa with the Royal Opera, and for Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Bernard Haitink has received many international awards in recognition of his services to music, including an honorary Companion of Honour in the United Kingdom and the House Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands.

SHEILA ARMSTRONG

soprano English soprano Sheila Armstrong was born in Northumberland and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, winning the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship in 1965. The same year, she made her operatic debut as Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at London’s Sadler’s Wells. She found particular success at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, making her debut in 1966 in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and her Covent Garden debut in Beethoven’s Fidelio in 1973. She is recognised equally as a singer of opera, oratorio, lieder and symphonic music, and appeared at festivals throughout Europe, the Far East, and North and South America. A regular BBC Proms performer for over 25 years, she was a champion of English music in particular, performing and recording many works by Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Britten and Walton. Sheila Armstrong retired from professional performance in 1993. She was a Trustee of the Kathleen Ferrier Award for over 20 years and President of the Kathleen Ferrier Society for over 17 years, overseeing the Bursary, retiring in 2012.

London Philharmonic orchestra and CHOIR One of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham. Since then its Principal Conductors have included Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2007 Vladimir Jurowski became the Orchestra’s twelfth Principal Conductor.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It also has residencies in Brighton, Eastbourne and at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and performs regularly around the UK and abroad. The Orchestra broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and has recorded soundtracks for numerous films. In 2005 it began releasing live, studio and archive recordings on its own CD label.

The London Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1947 as the chorus for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Now widely regarded as one of the nation’s finest choirs, it performs regularly with the LPO and other world-class orchestras at major venues and festivals throughout the year.

It regularly tours abroad and records for CD, radio and television.

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872–1958)

CD1 43:37

Symphony No. 5 in D major

01 02 03 04

Preludio: Moderato Scherzo: Presto misterioso Romanza: Lento Passacaglia: Moderato

12:50 5:41 12:57 12:09

CD2 42:06

Symphony No. 7 (Sinfonia antartica)

01 02 03 04 05

Prelude: Andante maestoso Scherzo: Moderato Landscape: Lento – Intermezzo: Andante sostenuto Epilogue: Alla marcia, moderato (non troppo allegro)

11:08 6:18 10:19 5:45 8:36

BERNARD HAITINK conductor

SHEILA ARMSTRONG soprano london philharmonic ORCHESTRA

Ladies of the london philharmonic CHOIR

Joakim Svenheden leader (Symphony No. 5)

David Nolan leader (Symphony No. 7)

Recorded live at Southbank Centre’s ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, London

LPO – 0072