Welcome to ‘Dodd’s Discoveries’, a review series from NativeDSD Senior Music Reviewer Bill Dodd. This series focuses on Bill’s latest selections, with new reviews regularly. And the best part… the albums featured in the most current review will be available at a reduced price! Click the button below to see all of Dodd’s Discoveries and to find the current album(s) on sale.
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Sir Antony Pampano’s recent recording of Vaughan Williams’ Symphonies 5 and 9 will no doubt be one of my nominations for an album of the year nomination, so I thought it would be an excellent time to remind you of this superb release from 2021. VW’s 4 and 6 are remarkable. Instead of folk melodies and pastoral loveliness, these are hard hitting, sad, angry, and intense works. The two span each side of WWII, and although VW denied it, the 4th seemed to mirror the state of the world in the immediate pre-war days. The 6th came after the war, and seems to suggest the devastation that occurred.
Now don’t get me wrong– These are not atonal or unapproachable. The two symphonies are completely accessible. They contain moments of beauty, but it is a sad beauty. And another thing I find remarkable is that these symphonies do not wear nationality on their sleeves. VW’s 4th and 6th are both symphonies for the whole world.
Pampano seems to get to the heart of these works– as he does with more recent 5th and 9th. I have many recordings of these symphonies, but Sir Antony Pampano and the LSO would be my choice for modern recordings. Strongly recommended!
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