BaL 6.04.24 - Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

3.00 p.m.
David Owen Norris chooses his favourite version of Vaughan Williams's "A Sea Symphony"

A Sea Symphony was written for soprano, baritone, chorus and large orchestra in the early 1900s. It was his first symphony and remained the longest. The texts, from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass attracted Vaughan Williams for their humanist perspective. Ursula Vaughan Williams, in her biography of her husband, wrote: “…he was aware of the common aspirations of generations of ordinary men and women with whom he felt a deep, contemplative sympathy. And so there is in his work a fundamental tension between traditional concepts of belief and morality and a modern spiritual anguish which is also visionary.”

Available versions:-

Isobel Baillie, John Cameron, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, Sir Adrian Boult (CD; Download)

Marcus Farnsworth, Elizabeth Llewellyn, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Martyn Brabbins (CD; Download)

Sheila Armstrong, John Carol Case, London Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult (CD; Download)

Joan Rodgers, Christopher Maltman, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Paul Daniel (CD; Download)

Eleanor Lyons, Christopher Maltman, MDR Sinfonieorchester, MDR-Rundfunkchor, Dennis Russell Davies (CD; Download)

Amanda Roocroft, Thomas Hampson, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis (Download)

Katherine Broderick, Roderick Williams, Hallé Orchestra, Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Ad Solem, Sir Mark Elder (CD; Download)

Dame Felicity Lott, Jonathan Summers, London Philharmonic Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (CD; Download)

Joan Rodgers, William Shimell, Ian Tracey, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vernon Handley (CD; Download)

Susan Gritton, Gerald Finley, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Richard Hickox (SACD; Download)

Margaret Marshall, Stephen Roberts, London Symphony Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Richard Hickox (Download)

Sarah Fox, Mark Stone, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, Andrew Manze (CD; Download)

Heather Harper, John Shirley-Quirk, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, André Previn (Download)

Yvonne Kenny, Brian Rayner Cook, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson (CD; Download)

[Pulcinella]

The BBC MM version (Volume 12, Number 12) is with Joan Rodgers, Simon Keenlyside, Philharmonia Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC SO, under Leonard Slatkin, from a performance at the RAH on 10 September 2001.
The liner notes also credit Trinity College of Music Chamber Choir (off-stage conductor Stephen Jackson); I'm not sure what their role is.

Looks like Slatkin's commercially released recording (indeed the full set of symphonies) is nla.

Boult (EMI), Haitink, Handley, and Previn as well as the BBC MM here.
The Handley was remastered and rereleased fairly soon after its original release on EMI Eminence, iirc.

[smittims]

Aha! Maybe this is why I can't think of anything to say about this programme. I well remember when there was only one available recording.

It will be difficult to find one outstanding one. I've never heard a disappointing performance; it's one of those works that seems to bring out the best in performers, perhaps because of its tremendous optimism and sense of well-being. In sixty years of listeningot it I've never had one 'favourite' recording.

Several versions have wonderful moments without being fully outstanding; for instance,the Slatkin: Tom Allen's singing 'all seas, all ships ' at the end of the first movement, is priceless, but later some of the great moments don't come off . I'm glad Richard Hickox was able to record it twice before his untimely death.

I'll be interested to see if mention is made of the little adjustments to the scoring VW authorised: trombones instead of horns at the opening, and the organ pedal at the scherzo reprise. Apart from these tiny changes he left it unchanged, where elsewhere (A London Symphony for instance) he was an enthusiastic reviser. I believe this was because he saw it as so utterly pre-1914 that it was pointless to try to change it. As Larkin says 'never such innocence again'.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Definitely a favourite work for me, but my preferences are largely formed by my impressions of the soloists, and the recording balance they are given. When I bought my first recording (Boult on Decca Ace of Clubs, and the only one available) I was overwhelmed by it, but now I find Isobel Baillie's voice to be rather weak in tone.

The second version to come along was Boult's EMI recording, and at the time one might have been forgiven for supposing that he was the only conductor who was prepared to tackle the work. It was given rave reviews, and is still the first choice for many, though I really feel uncomfortable with the close miking of Sheila Armstrong - she didn't need this treatment, as her live performances showed. Both the Boult recordings were originally on 3 LP sides (with the Decca one even having a side break in the finale).

Then came Previn's RCA recording, on a single LP. Though it was compared unfavourably with the Boult EMI by the Gramophone reviewer, my impression was that it was the finest to date, and I still hold that view. The soloists' balance is exemplary and it's a fine interpretation.

Haitink's reading has been well received too,

Handley's first appeared on a budget label, with the most natural sound balance between soloists and orchestra/chorus. There's just one moment when the balance doesn't quite work, when the soloists suddenly recede - a pity, for this deserves to be considered as high in the shortlist.

Elder's, I have yet to hear, but he's a master of large scale choral works, so I must get to know it.

[smittims]

The LP cover for the Ace of Clubs reissue was memorable , with the blue banner and monochrome photo of the 'leaves of grass' blowing by the seashore.

The Previn certainly divides opinions: I've known people rave over it, others disparaging. I like it:: superb soloists at any rate.

[makropulos]

I'll be interested to see if mention is made of the little adjustments to the scoring VW authorised: trombones instead of horns at the opening, and the organ pedal at the scherzo reprise. Apart from these tiny changes he left it unchanged, where elsewhere (A London Symphony for instance) he was an enthusiastic reviser. I believe this was because he saw it as so utterly pre-1914 that it was pointless to try to change it. As Larkin says 'never such innocence again'.

It will be interesting to see if those details are discussed a little – and I agree with you that there are several good recordings of it around (Andrew Davis as well as those you mention) though I still go back to Boult's stereo set. For me, it is the performance that most completely captures the sweep of the whole work – a vast, majestic seascape, magnificently realised – and it's still in pretty good sound (though I take your point about the close balance for Sheila Armstrong). Oddly enough – and in spite of fabulous soloists – I've never quite got on with Previn's version, but that's probably just me. I do like a lot of Slakin's – and Mark Elder's live performance a couple of years ago (broadcast a few days later) was a tremendous experience in the hall, though I haven't yet heard his recording. We were at the concert with friends, then listened to the broadcast during an idyllic short break on a boat on the Norfolk Broads – so rather lovely memories of it.

[Serial_Apologist]

The best performance for me would be the one in which Whitman's words were always audible - in the full choral passages as well as the solos. In the case of most choral works I am not usually concerned with what in jazz we call "the lyrics", as they are so often trite or meaningless set against the music; but in the case of the Sea Symphony the words and the music are truly inseparable... and I haven't yet heard a version that lives up in this aspect to the sheer grandeur of the latter.

[Pianoman]

I remember when Jonathan Swain covered this on BAL and came out with Robert Spano's Atlanta recording on Telarc - which I promptly bought. It's one of (if the the) fastest on disc and has tremendous choral singing. The soloists are an acquired taste but it often comes out first when I have a Sea symphony 'binge', as I did recently. Haitink's is a polar opposite but just as enjoyable, and in many ways Andrew Davis on Teldec strides a nice middle ground. A true masterpiece that never ceases to move the listener.

[Barbirollians]

Much VW’s worst symphony IMO - no matter who is conducting .

[LMcD]

Much VW’s worst symphony IMO - no matter who is conducting .

Try as I might, I just can't 'get to grips' with it, but luckily that doesn't apply to any of the other 8 symphonies, or indeed many of RVW's other works.

[Barbirollians]

Try as I might, I just can't 'get to grips' with it, but luckily that doesn't apply to any of the other 8 symphonies, or indeed many of RVW's other works.

That’s how I feel.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Try as I might, I just can't 'get to grips' with it, but luckily that doesn't apply to any of the other 8 symphonies, or indeed many of RVW's other works.

Well - we’re all different. For me, only the 5th is better.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

The BBC MM version (Volume 12, Number 12) is with Joan Rodgers, Simon Keenlyside, Philharmonia Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC SO, under Leonard Slatkin, from a performance at the RAH on 10 September 2001.
The liner notes also credit Trinity College of Music Chamber Choir (off-stage conductor Stephen Jackson); I'm not sure what their role is.

They were the semi-chorus in the 4th movement (where the text is: "Wherefore unsatisfied soul? ... Whither O mocking life?")

Four on the shelves here: Davis, Hickox, Manze and Brabbins. The Hickox was the first I acquired, only getting into it when it came up for a BBCSC performance, as I recall a FNOP with Oramo. The Brabbins was a subsequent performance and recording, a project redeemed at the last minute, after a dreary series of earlier rehearsals, by MB's suggestion that the Chorus sing "mixed-up" for the second half of his piano rehearsal, and then for the concert. (Note to chorus directors: if you have a group capable of that, do it, especially if it's not a work where antiphonal effects are a factor.)

Unfortunately, the Brabbins recording will be an also-ran for BAL due to other factors - and I don't mean that he's not Haitink, Handley or other BAL favourites.

[Barbirollians]

I have always found it to be too long and rather boring . I have Handley, Haitink and the EMI Boult in complete sets. Will give it another try this week.

[Pulcinella]

They were the semi-chorus in the 4th movement (where the text is: "Wherefore unsatisfied soul? ... Whither O mocking life?")

Four on the shelves here: Davis, Hickox, Manze and Brabbins. The Hickox was the first I acquired, only getting into it when it came up for a BBCSC performance, as I recall a FNOP with Oramo. The Brabbins was a subsequent performance and recording, a project redeemed at the last minute, after a dreary series of earlier rehearsals, by MB's suggestion that the Chorus sing "mixed-up" for the second half of his piano rehearsal, and then for the concert. (Note to chorus directors: if you have a group capable of that, do it, especially if it's not a work where antiphonal effects are a factor.)

Unfortunately, the Brabbins recording will be an also-ran for BAL due to other factors - and I don't mean that he's not Haitink, Handley or other BAL favourites.

Of course.
We didn't have such luxuries in the performance I sang in.


Mixed-up singing can been a real boon in rehearsals. I find it helps tuning to be singing next to a different part than your own.