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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Resuscitating the Human Spirit, 16 Dec 2005
In the opening pages of his book: “Vaughan Williams and the Vision of Albion“, Wilfred Mellor writes:“Vaughan Williams has been referred to … as a ‘Christian agnostic’, even as a ‘disillusioned Theist’: tags which help to define his crucial position in English history.” He possessed, writes Mellor, “an awareness of the numinous, if not the acceptance of an accredited faith. In the course of long creative life … Vaughan Williams demonstrated that the human spirit, however abused by industrial materialism and bureaucratic institutionalism, lay dormant, awaiting resuscitation.” David Lloyd-Jones new disc for Naxos is doubly to be welcomed, both for the world premier recording of “Willow Wood”, and two other works which I believe have not been much recorded: “The Voice out of the Whirlwind” - a motet for chorus and orchestra - and, “The Sons of Light” - a cantata for chorus and orchestra written specifically for children’s choir and set to words by his wife, Ursula. “Willow Wood” is a setting of four poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and despite being well received, it has not been performed since 1909. Though written before the “Sea Symphony” it is in every way representative of Vaughan William’s mature style. Performances are, as we have come to expect from David Lloyd-Jones, absolutely outstanding. If I have a very slight disappointment, it is that the recording sounds a fraction too close, especially in louder passages. Don’t let this put you off: this is a must for all lovers of Vaughan Williams’ music.
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