It’s hard to believe that Vaughan Williams’ cantata for women’s voices, Folk Songs of the Four Seasons, first performed 60 years ago, is here receiving its world-premiere recording. A work of this scale (more than 40 minutes long) and containing such a wealth of popular material, attractively arranged for voices and orchestra, seems an obvious programming choice. But never mind, the women of Clare College Choir handily introduce us to this music, organized into a Prologue (To the Ploughboy), followed by sets of songs representing each of the four seasons. The settings are varied, from two- and three-voice unaccompanied numbers to all manner of accompanied configurations, from unison to multi-part chorus, and the orchestral parts are Vaughan Williams at his most stylish and colorful. Early in the Spring, The Lark in the Morning, and The Sprig of Thyme show off the lyrical beauty, richness, and vibrant character of these female voices, while pieces such as Wassail Song and the concluding God Bless the Master engulf the listener in a celebration of sumptuous sound and infectious festivity.
In Windsor Forest is another so-called “cantata” derived from music from Vaughan Williams’ opera Sir John in Love (based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor). The composer arranged it in order to save at least some of the opera’s music from what he expected would be certain neglect. It’s definitely quite dramatic–especially the chorus Falstaff and the Fairies–and, while not a likely prospect for many concert programs, this version for women’s voices impresses for its uninhibited grandness of scale and immediate entertainment value. Of course, the fact that this is a world-premiere recording and the original version by the composer has scarcely appeared on disc only confirms that Vaughan Williams’ fear of neglect wasn’t confined to the opera itself.
Nevertheless the performances here are first rate–marked by an irresistible enthusiasm and solid ensemble singing. My only complaint regards the sometimes skewed balances in the choral sections, but overall the sound, from West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge, is very good.
Albion Records was formed in 2007 by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and is “devoted to recordings of rare RVW” works. This disc was issued to mark the 90th birthday of David Willcocks on 30 December, 2009, and is among at least eight releases issued so far in 2009-10. Fans of the composer will definitely want to pay attention to this very worthy project. [8/18/2010]
