Vaughan Williams: An Oxford Elegy, Dives and Lazarus, Flos Campi

Here is more of Ralph Vaughan Williams' music in the classic 1960s recordings led by David Willcocks, transferred from early HMV pressings.

This disc contains three of the composer's most interesting works. The longest piece is "An Oxford Elegy" from 1947-49. Sharing the other side of the disc are the "Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'" from 1939 and "Flos Campi" from 1925. Cecil Aronowitz is the viola soloist in the latter work.

As before, my transfer comes from a vintage UK pressing, which is much more full-bodied and atmospheric than the later CD release - and superior to the US vinyl pressing as well.

An Oxford Elegy

"A Oxford Elegy" is among the most unusual works in Vaughan Williams' catalogue. It is a setting for speaker and orchestra of passages from two related poems by Matthew Arnold (1822-88), "The Scholar-Gypsy" and "Thyrsis."

Matthew Arnold

As is the case in many of the composer's works, the theme has to do with the loss of innocence and a spiritual quest. As were many of his contemporaries, Arnold was concerned with the Industrial Revolution's impact on society. The disillusioned "scholar-gypsy" of his poem left Oxford University behind to wander with a troupe of gypsies in search of meaning in life. In his excellent dissertation on this work, Robert Joseph Taylor explains that the poet imagines that the scholar has achieved immortality by pursuing the secret of human existence, and that his spirit can still to be found in the countryside near Oxford.

John Westbrook

It is a contemplative work, but also a most beautiful one that will be of interest both to those who love Arnold's poetry and Vaughan Williams' music. Even so, some critics believe that the juxtaposition of spoken word and music serves neither well. And clearly it does take concentration on the poetry to make the music come alive.

Fortunately, the performance at hand has an excellent speaker - the actor John Westbrook (1922-89) could hardly be bettered in the role. The performance of Vaughan Williams' music by the choir and orchestra also is very fine.

The download includes Taylor's dissertation, which contains a detailed explanation of how the composer combined and edited the two related Arnold poems into his text, as well as the final text itself.

Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'

The "Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'" is a gorgeous work, one that deserves some of the popularity of "A Lark Ascending" and the "Serenade to Music." Vaughan Williams first encountered the folk song "Dives and Lazarus" as far back as 1893. Through the years, he collected several variants of the tune, and it is these that constitute the raw material of his work.

Vaughan Williams and Willcocks

The "Five Variants" were written for the 1939 New York World's Fair. Adrian Boult led the premiere in Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic. (That was quite an occasion - the program also included the first performances of Bliss' Piano Concerto and Bax's Seventh Symphony.)

Flos Campi

Cecil Aronowitz

Vaughan Williams' work for viola, wordless choir and orchestra, "Flos Campi," was inspired by passages from the Biblical "Song of Songs." Over time, this text has become seen as a metaphor of God's love for Israel, the church or his people, but the original meaning was frankly erotic. The composer himself wrote, "The title 'Flos Campi' [which translates as 'flower of the field'] was taken by some to connote an atmosphere of 'buttercups and daisies...' In reality, the piece is unabashedly sensual and lushly orchestrated, which is quite appropriate considering its subject matter."

The suite has six movements, played without pause, each headed by an unspoken passage from the "Song of Songs." The lover is represented by a solo viola, played at the work's premiere by Lionel Tertis and here by Cecil Aronowitz (1916-78), one of the founders of the Melos Ensemble.

Reginald Jacques

In this work and the "Oxford Elegy," the choral parts are taken by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, which Willcocks then headed. The Jacques Orchestra appears in all three works. Conductor Reginald Jacques (1894-1969) founded the orchestra in 1936; its twin specialties were baroque and contemporary music. He also was the longtime conductor of the Bach Choir. (On this site, you can hear Jacques conducing that choir in their 1950 recording of Christmas carols.)

Jacques himself retired from conducting in 1960; succeeding him at the Bach Choir was Willcocks. The two had a close relationship, collaborating on the first volume of "Carols for Choirs" in 1961. The Jacques Orchestra continued recording after the founder's retirement; it produced a disc of carols and an LP of the music of Robert Still and Edmund Rubbra. This Vaughan Williams LP, which dates from 1968, may have been its last.  

HMV Ad in the February 1970 Gramophone