Ralph Vaughan Williams: Norfolk Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2/The Bluebird/Music for an EFDS Masque/Variations for Orchestra/David Matthews: Norfolk March [SACD Hybrid Multi-channel]

Dutton Laboratories, along with Albion Records, have been recording a treasure trove of Vaughan Williams discoveries. This recording focuses mostly on the folk music side from the composer.The incidental music for The Blue Bird is cinematic and engaging, a fun addition into the VW catalog. The Variations for Orchestra, originally for Brass Band, is a showstopper too, but one can hear the music of the work better here than in the virtuosic brass version on Albion.The Music for an EFDS Masque and the Christmas Overture offer tune-laden goodness, all of which are in very high spirits. The Norfolk Rhapsodies inhabit the same tunefulness, but their spirit leans towards the melancholy. VW’s folk modalism is like a cold breeze through the heather on a sunny day; beautiful, but hard won and chilly.With the exception of the first Norfolk Rhapsody, each of the works presented here have been edited, orchestrated, or completed from extant sources; orchestral parts, piano reductions, or program notes. While Gordon Jacob, Stephen Hogger, and Martin Yates do a wonderful job bringing this music to a full orchestra, it isn’t truly 100% RVW’s hand at work here; the notes are his, but the orchestral colors have been interpolated, or in the case of David Matthews, creating a fully reimagined third Norfolk Rhapsody.But this is splendid sounding music in terrific performances from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The crisp and clear Dutton sound is one of the best in the Vaughan Williams series; listen to that harp! Martin Yates is a dedicated advocate of Vaughan Williams’ music, and it shows in each of these entries. Highly Recommended!

I quite enjoyed this. With the exception of the Norfolk Rhapsody #1, always a favorite, this is all new RVW, some orchestrated by other hands, some reworked. The bluebird suite (1913) vaguely resembles the less boisterous parts of “the wasps”. There is a completion and orchestration of Norfolk suite #2, as well as a late orchestral Suite (1957), orchestrated by Gordon Jacob, who also was responsible for the orchestral version of the English folk song suite, with which this shares some tunes, although with more of a modernistic feel, resembling Arthur Bliss.And lastly, a “guest” piece written by modern English composer David Mathews, also showing off some folksong tunes with a 21st century feel, although totally tonal.So the unifying theme in most—if not all—of these pieces is the folksong influences. It’s all lovely stuff, and even if it’s not the most profound RVW, it is all enjoyable nonetheless. And since I’m an unabashed advocate of the “Cowpat school”, I’d have to say this hit the mark for me.