Vaughan-Williams Suite for viola; McEwen Viola Concerto
Power and Brabbins unite for British viola gems
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Ralph Vaughan Williams, John (Blackwood) McEwen
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 12/2011
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA67839

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra |
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer
BBC National Chorus of Wales BBC National Orchestra of Wales Lawrence Power, Viola Martyn Brabbins, Conductor Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer |
Concerto for Viola |
John (Blackwood) McEwen, Composer
BBC National Chorus of Wales BBC National Orchestra of Wales John (Blackwood) McEwen, Composer Lawrence Power, Viola Martyn Brabbins, Conductor |
Flos campi |
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer
BBC National Chorus of Wales BBC National Orchestra of Wales Lawrence Power, Viola Martyn Brabbins, Conductor Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer |
Author: Jeremy Dibble
This is especially so in the case of the two works by Vaughan Williams. Though I admit to a special fondness for Willcocks’s 1964 recording of Flos campi, with the radiant, numinous sound of King’s College Choir, Power’s intonation, tone and interpretative insight have the edge over that of Cecil Aronowitz, especially in the lyrically expansive paragraphs. But Power (and Brabbins, who exercises his usual imaginative flair and masterly orchestral control in this repertoire) is at his best in the Suite of 1934. Here the very sound of the viola seems to articulate that quintessential voice of the composer: the generous paraphrase of Bach in the Prelude, the simple melody of the ‘Carol’, the heavenly aura of the ‘Ballad’, the mercurial élan of the ‘Moto perpetuo’ and the deeply innocent ‘Musette’. This is a ‘must have’ for all lovers of Vaughan Williams and British music in general!
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.

Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.