A very interesting SOP tonight - on Ralph Vaughan Williams

xbons

Aled presents a very interesting Songs of Praise tonight on Ralph Vaughan Williams (from Dorking, my extended back garden, as it were - ie about 5 miles from where I live, and there should also be some lovely views of the Surrey countryside nearby) The fact sheet is much longer than usual - for which apologies - but please note that there is a performance of "The Lark Ascending" by Jennifer Pike included, and an interview with John Rutter

Songs of Praise - Ralph Vaughan Williams 50th Anniversary

General:
Classic FM listeners recently voted 'The Lark Ascending' their most popular piece of Classical music of all time. Aled Jones tells the story of its composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams. In addition to 9 symphonies, film music (most notably 'The 49th Parallel' (1949) and 'Scott of the Antarctic' (1948), and music for the Queen's Coronation, RVW also wrote memorable tunes for classic hymns like 'Come Down O Love Divine' and 'For All the Saints'. Aled discovers more about the musical genius inspired by the English countryside and English folk traditions whose hymns first appeared in The English Hymnal more than a century ago.

Interviews: Contributors

John Rutter John Rutter is known as one of the world's most successful composers of sacred music. He is also the president of the Leith Hill Musical Festival. He talks about how the festival makes choral music an activity that people can share in. He thinks Vaughan Williams had a gift when it came to writing church music and there is a sense of worshipfulness in everything he wrote.
For further information: http://www.oup.co.uk/music/repprom/rutter/

Brian Kay
From having sung bass with The Kings Singers, Brian Kay has become one of the nation's favourite broadcasters. He is Festival Conductor and on the board which chooses the musical repertoire for the Leith Hill Musical Festival. He talks about Ralph Vaughan Williams being an inspirational figure. We see Brain conducting 'Let All the World in Every Corner Sing' performed by the massed choirs at the Leith Hill Musical Festival.
For further information about Brian and the other major musical events he conducts: http://www.trbc.co.uk/conductors2.php?condid=3

Sir Martin Wedgwood Sir Martin Wedgwood talks about how VW inherited the Wedgwood family home, Leith Hill Place, from his older brother. He gave the house to the National Trust, the first tenant being Sir Martin's grandfather (RVW's second cousin). He remembers the two Ralphs (who were almost exact contemporaries) sitting chatting in the porch of LHP and admiring the beautiful view. .It is, he says, a family trait of the Wedgwoods and Darwins to make up their own minds about things, which might explain RVW's not accepting conventional Christian thinking (although he does think VW took a very Christian attitude in the way he treated everybody equally). An egalitarian attitude is another Wedgwood family trait, and Sir Martin surmises that this may have been why RVW refused all honours except the Order of Merit. RVW would not at first accept a commission in the army, choosing instead to become a stretcher bearer in the RAMC because as a pacifist he would not have wanted to kill anyone.

Renee Stewart
Renee Stewart is an RVW scholar and member of the RVW Society. She studied at the Royal College of Music under Gordon Jacob, for whom RVW once filled in on one of Renee's lessons. She talks of how RVW lived up to his belief that a composer shouldn't inhabit an 'ivory tower', but should be part of the community. She goes on to explain that VW allowed himself to be described as a 'Christian Agnostic' - and how his vitality, sincerity and passionate feeling and desire to serve the main cause and the heart of the music was evident.

Deirdre Hicks
Like Renee, Deirdre Hicks is a former choir conductor and has a long-standing association with the Leith Hill Musical Festival. The Festival was founded in 1905 by RVW's sister Margaret and RVW was the Festival Conductor up to a few years before he died. She says the Festival's format has changed very little from 1905 to the present day and it still attracts choirs from the locality to compete on a friendly basis in the morning sessions, then rehearse together for a concert en masse in the evening. RVW believed that if you didn't sing, you were only half-alive, and decreed that no-one should be excluded, so therefore choirs taking part in the Festival must not be auditioned.

Martin Ellis
Martin Ellis talks about how St Martin's Church in Dorking was where RVW sometimes attended Evensong - and how they honour him as a national figure within their local community as he endeared himself as 'Uncle Ralph' to so many people. Martin Ellis has arranged and conducted the RVW tune 'Abinger', which is the 2nd tune to 'I Vow to Thee My Country' in RVW's 1931 edition of the hymn book, 'Songs of Praise'.

Music:
"SONGS OF PRAISE" SIG. TUNE Composer: Robert Prizeman
Performers: Robert Prizeman, Maurice Murphy, Steven Geraghty
Not commercially available.

Music one:
COME DOWN, O LOVE DIVINE Source: English Hymnal # 152
Tune: Down Ampney
Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Words: Bianco da Siena, d. 1434. Tr. R. F. Littledale
Performers: The choir and congregation of St Mary-the-Virgin, Primrose Hill
Organist: Bryan Almond, Conductor: Noël Tredinnick.
Noël is one of our regular Songs of Praise conductors. He is also Organist and Director of Music at All Souls Church, Langham Place, 2 All Souls Place, London, W1B 3DA Tel: 020 7580 3522

Music two:
LET ALL THE WORLD IN EVERY CORNER SING
Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams - No. 5 of 'Five Mystical Songs' (1911)
Words: George Herbert (1593-1633)
Performers: Leith Hill Musical Festival Chorus
Conductor: Brian Kay, Accompanist: Alan Brown

Music three:
HE WHO WOULD VALIANT BE Source: The English Hymnal #402
Tune: Monks Gate
Music: adapted from an English Traditional Melody by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Arranger: Dr Francis Roads from the West Gallery Association
Words: J Bunyan 1628-88 and others
Performers: The Choir of St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill
Conductor: Michael Willford
Instrumentalists:
Oboe: John Miles
Fiddle: Vic Godrich
Cello: Josephine Abbott
Curtal: Mike Brain

Music four: I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS SAY
Source: "Songs of Praise" Hymnbook #149
Words: H. Bonar (1808-89), Tune: Kingsfold
Music: English traditional melody
Coll. Lucy Broadwood (1858 - 1929); Arr. R. Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)
Copyright: From the English Hymnal by permission of Oxford University Press
Arranger: Specially commissioned for 'Songs of Praise' to be arranged in the style of RVW by Dr Andrew Earis
Performers: Congregation/choirs at the Church of the Holy Innocents, Highnam
Conductor: Gordon Stewart, Organist: Andrew Earis
Instrumentalists: Carducci String Quartet
Publishers: Oxford University Press/BBC Books
Location: Church of the Holy Innocents, Highnam, Gloucestershire
For further information about the Carducci String Quartet and details of their recordings contact: http://www.carducciquartet.co.uk/

Music five:
THE LARK ASCENDING
Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Performer: Jennifer Pike [Violin]
Arranger: Geoff Ellerby (specially recorded for 'Songs of Praise')
Location: Chapel of Rest, Wreay, Cumberland
For more information about Jennifer Pike - www.jenniferpike.com

Music six:
I VOW TO THEE MY COUNTRY
Source: "Songs of Praise" (1931 edition; Music Editor, RVW) #319
Words: Cecil Spring Rice (1859-1918)
Tune: Abinger
Composer: R Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Arranger: Martin Ellis (specially commissioned for this programme)
Location: St Martin's Church, Dorking
Performed by St Martin's Church Choir, Dorking with organist David Pipe and conducted by Martin Ellis

Music seven:
FOR ALL THE SAINTS Source: The English Hymnal #641
Words: Bishop W.W. How 1823-97
Tune: Sine Nomine
Music: R. Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Performers: The choir and congregation of St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, London
Conductor: Noël Tredinnick, Organ: Bryan Almond

Locations:

Leith Hill Tower, Leith Hill Lane, Holmbury St Mary, RH5 6LY
Leith Hill Tower, a fortified folly, is the highest point in the south east of England - the top of the tower being 317 metres (1,029 ft) above sea level. The 19.5 metre (64 ft) tower, built in 1765 by Richard Hull of Leith Hill Place, dominates the hilltop and commands magnificent views across the North and South Downs: to the north it is possible to see St Paul's Cathedral and to the south there is a panorama over the Weald to the English Channel. On a clear day, 13 counties are visible.
Leith Hill summit and tower were given to the National Trust in 1923 by Mr W J MacAndrew.
For further information contact: Tel: 01306 711777 Fax: 01306 712153
Email: leithhill@nationaltrust.org.uk
Admission prices: Adult £1, child: 50p

Leith Hill Place
Leith Hill Place and its estate were donated to the National Trust by composer Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1944. Since then the estate has grown to 349 hectares (861 acres), acquired through bequests from individuals, public subscription, grants and donations. The house is tenanted and not open to the public, but can be viewed from the surrounding National Trust land and accessible public footpaths.

Items recorded:
Interview with Sir Martin Wedgwood
For further information contact: Tel: 01306 711777 Fax: 01306 712153
Email: leithhill@nationaltrust.org.uk

Dorking Halls, Reigate Rd, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1SG
Dorking Halls is the venue for the Leith Hill Musical Festival. Ralph Vaughan Williams was partly responsible for the Halls being built.

Items recorded:
'Let All the World in Every Corner Sing' performed by massed choirs taking part in the Leith Hill Musical Festival.
Interviews with John Rutter, Brian Kay, Deirdre Hicks and Renee Stewart
For further information contact:
Administration Officer
Dorking Halls,
Reigate Rd,
Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1SG
Tel: 01306 879200, Email: dorking.halls@molevalley.gov.uk
Information about Dorking Halls can be found on the following website:
www.dorkinghalls.co.uk
Information about the Leith Hill Musical Festival can be found on the following website: www.lhmf.co.uk

Christ Church, Coldharbour
Christ Church is where Ralph's parents Arthur and Margaret were married in February 1868 and the church RVW attended in his youth, walking or riding over from Leith Hill Place. Its organ was endowed by Vaughan Williams's sister, Margaret. The Church's west window depicts WW1 soldiers receiving Holy Communion from an army Padre and standing at the foot of a wayside crucifix (seen in the introduction to 'A Lark Ascending').
Christ Church
Broome Hall Road
Cold Harbour
Surrey RH5 6HB
For further information contact:
Ms Caroline Sack
The Rectory
Abinger Common
Dorking RH5 6HZ
Tel: 01306 737160 Website: www.achurchnearyou.com

St Martin's Church, Dorking
St Martins Church is where RVW directed many concerts and yearly performances of the Bach 'Passions'. On the occasions when he attended church in Dorking, this is where he would go to Evensong.
Items recorded:
Performance of 'I Vow To Thee My Country'
Interview with Martin Ellis
For more information contact: Tel: 01306 742629
http://www.londonorgan.co.uk/stmartinsdorking.htm

St Mary-the-Virgin, Primrose Hill
This is the church from which the then Vicar, Percy Dearmer, edited the English Hymnal (Music Editor: RVW). The tradition of worship and service is still maintained at this church. The Director of Music is Michael Willford; the Assistant Organist, Bryan Almond.
Address: Elsworthy Road, Primrose Hill, London NW3 3DJ.
T: 020 7722 3238 Website: www.smvph.org.uk

Church of the Holy Innocents, Highnam, Gloucestershire.
Designed by Thomas Gambier Parry, father of the composer Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.

Other Information:
All archive photographs were reproduced by kind permission of:
The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society http://www.rvwsociety.com/
Membership Secretary: David Betts at davidbetts@tudorcottage.plus.com

'There was a Time: a pictorial journey from the collection of Ursula Vaughan Williams'. Published by The Albion Music Company (http://www.albionmusic.co.uk/), a division of the RVW Society and available by emailing Cynthia Cooper. cjc@cooper94.plus.com
Or write to Cynthia at 4 Guthrum's Meadow. Golf Lane, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, IP15 5PN

The drama re-construction with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst was originally used in the English Hymnal programme and was filmed at the following locations:-

THE OLD POST OFFICE, HIGH STREET, WANGFORD, NR SOUTHWOLD,SUFFOLK, NR34 8RA
These are holiday apartments recently restored in the Arts and Crafts style by owner Tony Geering
http://www.puritanvalues.co.uk/house.htm
Mobile: 07966 371676
The Dome: 1502 722211

THE ANGEL INN, HIGH STREET, WANGFORD, NR BECCLES
SUFFOLK, NR34 8RL
Tel: 01502 578636

THE CHURCH OF ST PETER and ST PAUL, WANGFORD, SUFFOLK, NR34 8RH

ST ANDREW'S CHURCH, COVEHITHE
Contact: Rev Leonard Payne. Tel: 01502 675208

Actors
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Mark Ranawake
Gustav Holst: Julian Field
Rustic Oboeist: John Miles

Phew - lots of information there!
For anyone who wants to see Leith hill tower and the view south from the top of Leith Hill, go to
CLICK HERE and scroll down to the third picture

xbons

xbons · Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:52 am Post subject:

This really was a lovely programme - very interesting, beautiful music, beautiful countryside (of course!); I learnt so much!! Very Happy

It is available on BBC iplayer until this coming Sunday and is well worth a viewing

xbons