This is another request - Vaughan Williams' second symphony, called the London symphony. This is a 1941 recording from the Cincinnati Symphony conducted by Eugene Goossens, reissued on RCA's budget label Camden in the early 1950s.
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| Eugene Goossens |
OK, if it's the Cincy Symphony, why does it say the Cromwell Symphony on the cover? Well, RCA used pseudonyms with all or almost all its early LP reissues on Camden. It's not clear why - although they probably did not want to cannibalize sales from their higher priced line by parading low-cost reprints touting famous names like Stokowski and Koussevitzky. So the Philadelphia Orchestra became the Warwick Symphony, the Boston became the Centennial and so on - and the conductors became anonymous.
The requestor was interested in this recording because it is the only version to use Vaughan Williams' 1920 edition of the score, which contains more music than the final edition, which is the one usually recorded. (Notably, the epilogue is extended.) That's not to say that the timing of this particular recording is longer than others - Goossens does not take the repeat in the scherzo, and is generally quite swift in his tempos. Not that I'm complaining - I love this work, but an urgent approach does it no harm and there is no lack of warmth in the rendition. Goossens was a talented conductor who was music director in Cincinnati from 1931-46. The sound of this recording is good as well.
It remains to be said that this is not the most "complete" version of the symphony out there. The late Richard Hickox and the London Symphony recorded the original (1914) version a number of years ago, and it does include substantially more music. It's worth seeking out.
LINK (August 2025 remaster in ambient stereo)
