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Hickox Conducts Vaughan Williams | 
 enlarge | Creators: Stephen Roberts [baritone], Ralph Vaughan Williams, Richard Hickox, Northern Sinfonia Of England, Bradley Creswick
Label: EMI Classics
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $10.97
You Save: $6.01 (35%)
New (12) Used (6) from $10.00
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 102617
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 724357398626
EAN: 0724357398626
ASIN: B00004TQQ6
Release Date: August 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
Disc 2
| • | 1. Rondo pastorale (Allegro moderato) | | • | 2. Minuet and Musette (Allegro moderato) | | • | 3. Finale (Scherzo) (Presto - Lento - Presto) | | • | Allegro pesante | | • | Adagio | | • | Presto | | • | "Introduction and theme" in B modal minor | | • | "Variant I" in B modal minor | | • | "Variant II" (Allegro moderato) in B modal minor | | • | "Variant III" in D modal minor | | • | "Variant IV" (L'istesso tempo) | | • | "Variant V" (Adagio) in B modal minor |
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| Customer Reviews:
 good music, played well August 6, 2008
Music Man (Illinois)
No one has ever put Vaughan Williams in the pantheon of great composers with Beethoven. Mozart and Bach. But his best music can be very, very thrilling and emotional. This isn't his best music. But who cares?! It is relaxing and always entertaining. If you know Vaughan Williams. you know that before you hear the music. If you don't, it's a great place to start. Upon absorbibg this music, there is greater possibility that one might move onto the "greater" stuff. But that's not our concern here. Take this music on its own terms. Enjoy it These CDS are great value, filled with good music, played very well and guided by perhaps the best living interpreter of Vaughan Williams music. I have been listening to classical music for alnost fifty years and this is still one of my favorite sets. Listen, smile and relax.
 A bargain two- fer, but barely one CD of worthy music November 24, 2007
Santa Fe listener
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Vaughan Williams was one of those prolific composers, Like Saint-Saens, who could curn out music in his personal style on request. Much of the contnets of this bargain Two-fer features second-best efforts, even by Vaughan Williams' loose standards. I love the composer's best music, but my attention wandered during the Poison Kiss Overture and the piffle of a ballet based on the nursery tune, Old King Coe. The Five Mystical Songs is a major work, But Hickox underplays the accompaniments, and the baritone Soloist, Stephen Roberts, isn't up to much. The abbreviated Serenade to Music in its orchestral arrangement sorely misses the singers.
And so it goes. CD 2 contains the Oboe Concerto in a gnelte, appealing reading, along with the Concerto Academico for violin, a rather mousy neo-classical effort marred here by shrill, edgy sonics. There are half a dozen other fillers that amount to an agreeable listen, but we are spoiled for choice in Vaughan Wiliams's music, which the British record over and over, so there's no reason not to pick the vry best. The very best isn't found here by a long shot.
a gem September 16, 2007
R. V. Wendel (NYC, NY United States)
What more to say then that this set is a gem all the way. Recording, performances, ensemble all great. A fine way to get to know some lesser-known VW works too. "Old King Cole" is a real find.
Vaughan Williams --- off the beaten path May 16, 2006
chefdevergue (Spokane, WA United States)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This ample collection demonstrates that Richard Hickox has to be considered one the leading Vaughan Williams interpreters in the post-Boult world, as he puts forth sparkling performances of many little-known works, including the Concerto accademico and the film music "49th Parallel," among others. Quite a number of these compositions are rarely recorded, if ever; it is quite nice to see them in a very affordable collection such as this.
Like another reviewer, I find the affected style of Stephen Roberts to be distracting & annoying. Also, the orchestral version of the Serenade to Music is a pale imitation of the original version...if you have heard Boult's recording, you will understand that the original version is far superior. It is a shame that it wasn't included here.
These are mere quibbles, however. For a dirt-cheap price, you have the opportunity to fill in the gaps of your Vaughan Williams collection. There is no good reason to pass on this. If you stumble across these CDs (I found mine at BestBuy of all places), grab it.
 Hickox Conducts Vaughan Williams September 5, 2000
Peter Bryant (Western Kentucky University, USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a most-welcome CD release, especially since it contains a number of pieces not available on CD until now. It's also excellent value--two discs for the price of one.Of particular interest is the curious ballet Old King Cole, written for an outdoor performance at Trinity College, Cambridge. Essentially a light-hearted piece, the music is not of the highest level of inspiration overall, but there are moments of real beauty that make up for any shortcomings in the score. For the convinced Vaughan Williams admirer, this is a must-have (RVW himself recorded some of this music; this early mono recording has been released on CD by Pearl records.) Other items of similar interest include the Prelude On An Old Carol Tune, written for a BBC radio play, and a pair of hard-to-find marches. The instrumental version of the Serenade to Music is a gorgeous novelty, but no substitute for the original version for 16 vocalists and orchestra. Also included are two important concertos; one for oboe and one for violin, both with string accompaniment. The violin concerto receives the better performance. The rendering of the oboe concerto suffers from too-slow tempi, particularly in the final movement. Neither are major works, but are nonetheless full of interest and deserve to be better known. Some well-known RVW works are included, among them The Lark Ascending and Five Mystical Songs. The latter is marred by the soloist's excessive tendency to roll his r's--an almost comical sound sometimes. RVW was known to have disliked this sort of affectation. Overall a valuable collection for anyone interested in this composer. The recordings were made in the 1980s.
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