Ralph Vaughan Williams: "A London Symphony"

• published: 12 Jul 2013
• views: 114941

[SEE BELOW FOR A LIST OF ARTISTS FEATURED] Vaughan Williams's great paean to the city of London, written shortly before the outbreak of the Great War of 1914-18. 1st movment: Lento - Allegro risoluto 00:00 2nd movement: Lento: 14:00 3rd movement: Scherzo 24:43 4th movement Andante con moto - Maestoso all marcia 32:28 The performance is by the London Philharmonic conducted by Sir Roger Norrington on a wonderful Decca disc which also includes beautiful performances of the Tallis Fantasia and the Serenade to Music. To accompany the music, I have used paintings of London which reflect the changing mood of the music as I hear it. Most of the paintings date from the early 20th century, though some are much later and a few somewhat earlier. They are listed below (work in progress: first three movements only. FIRST MOVEMENT 00:10 George Hyde Pownell (1876-1932) Tower Bridge 00:59 David Roberts (1796-1864) St Paul's From the West 01:54 Marcus Ford (1914-1989) Tower Bridge 02:53 Edward Seago (1910-1974) Thames Embankment 03:25 Charles William Wyllie (1853-1923) Tower Bridge 04:13 William Logsdail (1859-1944) Bank of England 04:28 Anon (circa 1850) Snow Hill, Holborn 04:58 Rose Maynard Barton (1856-1929) Trafalgar Square 05:11 " " " " " 05:21 " " " " Fleet Street 05:33 William Logsdail Royal Exchange 05:44 Rose Maynard Barton Wesminster 05:44 Anders Zorn (1860-1920) 'Impressions of London' 06:03 Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) Blackman Street 06:24 Rose Maynard Barton 06:44 John O'Connor (1830-1899) Pentonville Road & St Pancras 06:56 Donald Maxwell (1877-1936) Lots Road Power Station 07:12 Sir George Clausen (1852-1944) 'Where the Guns Are Made' 07:32 Luther Hooper (1849-1932) 'Nocturn' 08:10 George Hyde Pownall (1876-1932) London Bridge 08:38 " " " 09:33 Edward Seago 10:27 Atkinson Grimshaw Hampstead 10:43 Unknown Street scene 11:01 Unknown High Holborn? Signed 'Smith' 11:27 John O'Connor Detail from picture at 06.44 11:43 Atkinson Grimshaw 11:54 " " 12:06 " " The Strand 12:24 Rose Maynard Barton London Bridge and Parliament 12:39 George Hyde Pownall St Pauls 12:50 Charles Dixon (1872-1934) Shipping on the Thames 13:10 William Lionel Wyllie (1851-1931) 'Toil Glitter Grime & Wealth' 13:34 Charles Dixon Greenwich SECOND MOVEMENT 14:00 John Atkinson Grimshaw 14:27 Abraham Pether (1756-1812) 14:53 John Atkinson Grimshaw 15:17 Unknown 15:38 John Atkinson Grimshaw 16:09 David Cressman (b1980) Battersea Power Station 16:31 George Hyde Pownall (1876-1932) 17:02 John Atkinson Grimshaw 17:26 Claude Monet (1840-1926) 18:00 John Atkinson Grimshaw 19:19 John Arnesby Brown (1866-1955) 19:48 Unknown 19:55 John Atkinson Grimshaw (sequence of 4 pictures) 21:34 Unknown 22:06 Frederick William Scarborough (1860-1930) 22:43 John Atkinson Grimshaw (sequence of 2 pictures) THIRD MOVEMENT Most pictures in this movement are paintings of Piccadilly and London's 'theatreland' at night by George Hyde Pownall. Other paintings featured are: 26:14 Unknown (Piccadilly Circus at night) 28:49 John Atkinson Grimshaw (Pall Mall) 30:32 John T Wood (Piccadilly and Regent Steet) 30:50 Giuseppe De Nittis (1846-1884) Westminster 31:21 John Atkinson Grimshaw: 2 pictures of Westminster