VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / ELGAR
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
PINCHAS ZUKERMAN, Violin &
Conductor
Decca 478 9386 / *****
Lovers
of string music should not miss this excellent album which brings together the
best-loved string works of two English masters, Ralph Vaughan Williams
(1872-1958) and Edward Elgar (1857-1934).
American violinist Pinchas Zukerman plays
the role of both soloist and conductor. His svelte and sweet tone is best heard
in Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, a single-movement violin
concerto all but in name. Its use of modal themes relives the hallowed
tradition of English folk music, continuing into the Fantasia On A Theme By
Thomas Tallis, where three string choirs are employed to resonant effect.
Here is a cathedral of sound, and a nod to the great English choral tradition.
Elgar
is represented by his ubiquitous Salut D'Amour, once again with Zukerman
doing the honours. The strings players of the London-based Royal Philharmonic
are excellent in the three-movement Serenade For Strings, and shorter
pieces Chanson De Matin, Chanson De Nuit and In Moonlight (with
Zukerman now on viola), extracted from the tone poem In The South.
This
splendid album is completed by the virtuosic Introduction and Allegro,
which highlights a string quartet amid a full body of strings. A feast of
glorious strings beckons.
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