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Brian Rayner-Cook does not disappoint his way with the music is elevated and he shows a very good feeling for the musical line. ‘Reconciliation’, the movement that follows, includes a major solo for the baritone. There’s great presence and impact in the Chandos recording and though the music is often tumultuous I was delighted by the amount of orchestral detail that emerges, as well as the clarity of the voice parts. In the second section, ‘Beat! Beat! Drums’ his performance conveys the brazen frenzy of Whitman’s lines that VW translated so vividly into music. Thomson proves a sure-footed guide to the score.
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Brian Rayner-Cook, who has rather more to do, also does well, while the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra certainly deliver the goods. She’s beautifully expressive in the quieter episodes in which she’s involved, such as the opening of the work, but she can also surmount the loudest ensemble with ardent pleas for peace. The Canadian soprano, Edith Wiens, sings really well. There isn’t a weak link among the performers. Returning now to Bryden Thomson’s recording after many years, I found a great deal to admire in it. The text, which blends words from a variety of sources, including the Old Testament and VW’s beloved Walt Whitman, is discerningly chosen and the music to which VW set the words is by turns, powerful and movingly lyrical. I think Dona Nobis Pacem is not only one of VW’s finest choral works but, more than that, one of his finest achievements in any genre. That performance is available on CD and is strongly recommended to anyone with an interest in the work, especially since the transfer issued by SOMM is so good ( review). The composer didn’t conduct the premiere – that was entrusted to Albert Coates – but a few weeks later he conducted a BBC broadcast in which the original soloists took part. The piece was written for the centenary of the Huddersfield Choral Society in 1936. A far more convincing case, surely, can be made for the cantata Dona Nobis Pacem as VW’s expression of grave concern at what was going on in the world around him. It used to be thought that the Fourth symphony was heavily influenced by the alarming political developments in Europe in the early 1930s though it’s now more widely believed that this was not the case. I heard the disc not long after it was released and it’s been interesting to return to it nearly thirty years later. That left just one more recording: his coupling of these two vocal works. I was impressed with Thomson’s performances and that led me on to investigate his other Chandos recordings of orchestral music by VW ( review ~ review). Most of those recordings had not previously been appraised here because they were released before MusicWeb International was founded in 1995. Not long ago, I reviewed the cycle of Vaughan Williams symphonies that Bryden Thomson set down for Chandos between 19. London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra/Bryden Thomson Support us financially by purchasing this fromĮdith Wiens (soprano) Brian Rayner-Cook (baritone)