BBC4 today The Lark Ascending.

[french frank]

Mendham later became a teacher at Clifton College (1926-1940) where he taught Cooper. Mendham, then, active on the Bristol music scene at the time.

Very belatedly, the name of Julia Hwang suddenly rang a bell with me (I was confusing her with the pianist Yuja Wang). Julia is a current pupil at Clifton College and her achievements have been regularly reported in the local press. Another happy Bristol connection with the piece.

[subcontrabass]

Very belatedly, the name of Julia Hwang suddenly rang a bell with me (I was confusing her with the pianist Yuja Wang). Julia is a current pupil at Clifton College and her achievements have been regularly reported in the local press. Another happy Bristol connection with the piece.

Did you notice that the programme from the original concert showed Rev E H Fellowes as one of the performers? Another Bristol connection - he had been Precentor at Bristol Cathedral from 1897 - 1900.

[french frank]

Did you notice that the programme from the original concert showed Rev E H Fellowes as one of the performers? Another Bristol connection - he had been Precentor at Bristol Cathedral from 1897 - 1900.

And I take it everyone except me already knew all this because they'd seen the programme!

Btw, on RVW's relationship to Darwin, I dared not post this on the 'Creationism is not science' thread, but liked the anecdote told by Ursula which I found in a programme note:

"A propos the Darwin heritage, Mrs. Vaughan Williams tells a story I cannot resist passing on. At six or seven, Ralph asked his mother about The Origin of Species and what it meant. She answered: "The Bible says that God made the world in six days, Great Uncle Charles thinks it took longer: but we need not worry about it, for it is equally wonderful either way."

[Serial_Apologist]

Btw, on RVW's relationship to Darwin, I dared not post this on the 'Creationism is not science' thread, but liked the anecdote told by Ursula which I found in a programme note:

"A propos the Darwin heritage, Mrs. Vaughan Williams tells a story I cannot resist passing on. At six or seven, Ralph asked his mother about The Origin of Species and what it meant. She answered: "The Bible says that God made the world in six days, Great Uncle Charles thinks it took longer: but we need not worry about it, for it is equally wonderful either way."

[Pabmusic]

And I take it everyone except me already knew all this because they'd seen the programme!

Btw, on RVW's relationship to Darwin, I dared not post this on the 'Creationism is not science' thread, but liked the anecdote told by Ursula which I found in a programme note:

"A propos the Darwin heritage, Mrs. Vaughan Williams tells a story I cannot resist passing on. At six or seven, Ralph asked his mother about The Origin of Species and what it meant. She answered: "The Bible says that God made the world in six days, Great Uncle Charles thinks it took longer: but we need not worry about it, for it is equally wonderful either way."

Lovely!

[salymap]

I imagine VW's mother saying that in an 'Ursula' voice.

[ardcarp]

# 56
Oldcrofter. Do please carry on posting and don't be put off by clever dicks (I include myself) who affect to know loads of stuff about everything. I think some of us do (a) worry that fine...I hesitate to use the dreadful 'iconic' word....pieces such as The Lark may become debased by over-exposure on CFM and 3beebies and (b) tend to feel the dumbing-down trend...eg presenters with more celeb than musical credentials...is a bit of a pain. But I agree we should be grateful for what BBC4 does for music. There ought to be more of it! And it's refreshing to hear from people who watch a programme and enjoy it without having any baggage or preconceived ideas. I still think Ms Hwang's performance was a stunner and thought the piano version was something of a revelation. I wouldn't go as far as one poster who 'prefers' it to the string version. I would not want to be without that gorgeous VW pastoral string sound...and one of my favourite versions is Nigel Kennedy, CBSO and Rattle. Iconic.

[Pabmusic]

I've now seen the programme and the very fine performance (though I thought the piano was a bit loud-toned). It was really very good throughout, and I'm not at all put out about the elevation of the piece to "the nation's no 1". It's a lovely thing, and it does evoke sunny afternoons on the downs, with a nostalgia that can be heart-rending. I do think the editor could have corrected the text, which had RVW writing "nine symphonies, including the Tallis fantasia", but it was a minor slip.

Just one thing, though. I had always believed Marie Hall's name was Mahr-ie, like Marie Lloyd. I don't know where I got that from, but it sounded wrong in French.

[Barbirollians]

I was sorry to see Michael Kennedy looking a lot thinner and older in the Lark programme than in Bridcut's VW film that preceded it and was made only three years ago .

As for the programme rather glib I thought . Peter Sallis spoke from the heart and old Tazza explained it well although her eyebrows seem to be higher every time I see her !

Was it my ears or did Diana Rigg call the Tallis Fantasia one of his 9 symphonies ?

The performance was sound . I can understand why some forumites are driven mad by the piece's ubiquity but I am very fond of it and have Hugh Bean and Sir Adrian Boult to thank for that - their glorious recording has an exquisite restraint I think.