With William Blake’s famous words as a stepping-off point, we’re traversing the pastoral musical landscapes of the British Isles. Bill opens with a reading of Hilaire Belloc’s idyllic essay, “The Mowing of a Field.” We continue with a piece written by Patrick Hadley on the occasion of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s 70th birthday, as well as one of Vaughan Williams’s folk influenced works. Then Bill turns his focus to 16th century lute music from William Byrd, and to Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, inspired by a visit to Fingal’s Cave in Scotland. We also enjoy music from the friendship of Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.
Green and Pleasant Land
Playlist
Episode 1
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford: Symphony No.3 in F Minor, Op. 28, “Irish”
III. Andante Con Moto
IV. Allegro Molto Vivace
Ulster Orchestra/Vernon Handley
Stanford: Symphony No. 3 · Irish Rhapsody No. 5
Chandos 8545
21:28
Patrick Hadley: “One Morning in Spring”
Philharmonia Orchestra/Matthias Bamert
Works by Patrick Hadley and Philip Sainton
Chandos CHAN241-22
4:21
Vaughan Williams: “Linden Lea”
Bryn Terfel, baritone; Malcolm Martineau, piano
DG B0004216
2:21
George Butterworth: “The Banks of Green Willow”
English Chamber Orchestra/Jeffrey Tate
The Banks Of Green Willow
EMI 7-47945-2
6:48
Herbert Howells: Pastoral Rhapsody
London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox
Howells: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1
Chandos 9410
12:25
Benjamin Britten: Folksong Arrangements, Vol.1 and 3 “British Isles”
I. “The Salley Gardens”
II. “The Foggy, Foggy Dew”
Bryn Terfel, bass baritone; Malcolm Martineau, piano
DG B0004216
2:13
Episode 2
Traditional: “Blow the Wind Southerly”
Kathleen Ferrier, contralto
Kathleen Ferrier Edition Vol 8 – Blow The Wind Southerly
London 433475
2:25
Traditional: “My Boy Willie”
Kathleen Ferrier, contralto; Phyllis Spurr, piano
Kathleen Ferrier Edition Vol 8 – Blow The Wind Southerly
London 433475
1:46
Traditional: “In a Garden So Green”
Mary Lawson, voice; Nancy Hadden, flute
Elizabethan Ballads and Dances- Circa 1500
AVS 163
2:59
Benjamin Britten: Spring Symphony
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Andre Previn
St. Clement Danes School Boys Choir
Sheila Armstrong, Dame Janet Baker, Robert Tear
Benjamin Britten – Spring Symphony
EMI 47667
26:57
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Colin Davis; Hilary Hahn, violin
DG 000312136
16:11
Episode 3
William Byrd: “The Woods so Wild”
Julian Bream, lute
The Woods So Wild
RCA 61587
2:08
Felix Mendelssohn: The Hebrides, Op.26, (Fingal’s Cave)
New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein
Violin Concerto / Symphony No. 4 “Italian” / “The Hebrides” Overture
Sony 47592
9:02
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op.56, (Scottish)
II. Vivace non troppo
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Kurt Masur
Mendelssohn: Symphonies No 3 and 4
Apex 49817
4:18
Granville Bantock: A Hebridean Symphony
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Vernon Handley
Bantock: Hebridean Symphony
Hyperion 66450
19:31
Dylan Thomas: “Fern Hill”
Dylan Thomas, poet
An Evening With Dylan Thomas Reading His Own And Other Poems
Caedmon 1157
4:01
Peter Warlock: “The Curlew, Cry No More”
Music Group of London; Ian Partridge, tenor
A Warlock Centenary Album
EMI 65101
7:09
Peter Warlock: “Captain Stratton’s Fancy”
Bryn Terfel, bass baritone; Malcolm Martineau, piano
Silent Noon
DG B0004216
1:57
Episode 4
Frederick Delius: Two Pieces for Small Orchestra
I. “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring”
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Davis
Paris · In a Summer Garden · Brigg Fair
Teldec 90845
5:58
Frederick Delius: Sea Drift for Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra
IV. “O rising stars!”
V. “O brown halo in the sky”
Welsh National Opera Orchestra and Chorus/
Sir Charles Mackerras; Thomas Hampson, baritone
Delius: Sea Drift, Florida Suite
Decca 430206
6:48
Frederick Delius: “A Song of Summer”
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Davis
Best of British from the BBC Proms
DG 477 7352
9:45
Edward Elgar: Serenade in E Minor, Op. 20
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Davis
Cockaigne / Introduction And Allegro / Serenade /
Variations On An Original Theme ‘Enigma’
Teldec 73279
12:19
Edward Elgar: “My love dwelt in a Northern Land”
The Cambridge Singers/John Rutter
There Is Sweet Music (English Choral Songs, 1890-1950)
Collegium COLCD 104
4:22
Edward Elgar: Sea Pictures, Op. 37
I. “Sea Slumber,” (Roden Noel)
II. “In Haven” (C. Alice Elgar)
London Symphony Orchestra/Barbirolli; Janet Baker, mezzo soprano
Cello Concerto • Sea Pictures
EMI 56219
7:09
Edward Elgar: In The South, Op. 50, “In Moonlight” (arr. of Canto Populare)
Nigel Kennedy, violin; Peter Pettinger, piano
Nigel Kennedy Plays Elgar
Chandos 8380
3:10
Episode 5
Benjamin Britten: Folksong Arrangements, Vol. 1
the British Isles: “Oliver Cromwell”
Bryn Terfel, bass baritone; Malcolm Martineau, piano
DG B0004216
:46
Neil Burns: “O Once I Lov’d A Bonnie Lass” (Handsome Nell)
Davy Steele
Robert Burns: Complete Songs Vol. 5
Linn Records 086
3:27
Gustav Holst: A Hampshire Suite, Op. 28, No. 2-
I. “Song Without Words: I’ll Love My Love” (Andante)
Munich Symphony/Douglas Bostock
Gustav Holst
Classico Class CD 284
2:21
Gustav Holst: A Somerset Rhapsody, Op. 21, No. 2
London Symphony Orchestra/Hickox
Holst: Orchestral Works
Chandos 9420
9:31
Arthur Somervell: A Shropshire Lad
IV. ” In Summer-time on Bredon Hill”
Bryn Terfel, bass baritone; Malcolm Martineau, piano
DG B0004216.
3:21
Ralph Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge
V. “Bredon Hill”
Phillip Langridge, tenor; Howard Shelley, pianoforte; Britten Quartet
Ravel: String Quartet; Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge
EMI 54346
7:01
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3, “A Pastoral Symphony”
1. Lento: Moderato Maestoso
Philharmonia Orchestra/Slatkin; Linda Hohenfeld, soprano
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 3 & 4, Greensleeves
RCA Victor 61194
11:18
Peter Maxwell Davies: “Farewell to Stromness”
Peter Maxwell Davies, piano
A Celebration of Scotland
Unicorn-Kanchana 9070
2:49
Hubert Parry: “Jerusalem”
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Davis
Last Night of The Proms
Teldec 97868
2:49
Frederick Delius: To be Sung of a Summer Night on the Water (II)
The Cambridge Singers/John Rutter
There Is Sweet Music (English Choral Songs, 1890-1950)
Collegium 104
2:19