If I Could Choose Only One Work By...VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

It Would Have To Be...Job: A Masque for Dancing
There's more than just the pretty stuff to this composer, and this masterpiece has it all.

The List So Far:
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major

[baileyrob]

5 variants of Dives and Lazarus. It simply MUST be.

[graydomn]

Symphony Antarctica. This piece got me through COVID and is creative, evocative, and a memorial to brave men. It manages to be both characteristic of his approach while being idiosyncratic.

[VallaMusic]

me still can't stop chuckling over the "version in a nitrogen atmosphere" 🤣

[deepgk]

We love you Mr Hurwitz! Thank you for all your videos and all the work you put into Youtube.

[mr-wxlv]

For me, the lark ascending. Simply because it's one of the most chilled pieces ever written. And brings me peace...

[mattestabrook]

Another great choice, Dave--Job never came to my mind but hits the mark. There are a lot of contenders here (London, Lark, Tallis, Symphony No. 5), but I would choose a piece that is close to my heart: the Fantasia on Christmas Carols. I love this piece--it's so characteristic of RVW in terms of orchestration, but it also puts on display his love of folk music and his knack for choral writing. A gem.

[johnshea]

Yes, Dave. I love RVW's music above all other composers. The breadth of his work is stunning. The loveliest choral and vocal pieces, and the varied symphonic cycle. But it is Job which seems to sum it all up. It's my #1 desert island RVW work. So powerful, so beautiful. I've been compelled by age to begin downsizing my cd collection, but so far I've refused to touch my British music, 75% of which is RVW. My "Job"s are three: by Vernon Handley on EMI, the recent one by Andrew Manze paired with the Old King Cole and The Running Set, and the wonderful Adrian Boult version (which is contained in the 30-cd EMI collection, which if still available must by now be under the Warner banner, this being the very finest way to appreciate the man's greatness. Stop me before I go any further. Thank you, Dave, for everything you do for classical music.

[robertparry]

SPOILT FOR CHOICE BUT IT HAS TO BE JOB.I LOVE YOUR TALKS--INFORMATIVE, OFTEN WITTY AND WASPISH BUT ALWAYS FULL OF DEEP LEARNING AND FELING.I AM DELIGHTED YOU HAVE DONE SO MANY TALKS ON R.V.W., BAX, ARNOLD AND LLOYD.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

[musicianinseattle]

Spot-on commentary, Mr. Hurwitz! Having had the unique pleasure of taking part in not one, but TWO, concert performances of “Job” in my lifetime (as well as many other VW works), I can attest to its power both as an executant and as a listener. My runner-up would be a tie between the “Pastoral” and the Sixth, but choosing amongst this great composer’s many riches is a near-impossibility… Might I also steer those who don’t know it in the direction of his Piano Concerto, the least-known of his four concertos and another fabulous piece in his more “modern” vein, albeit with a gorgeous, romantic slow movement (Bartók is said to have prized this concerto highly).

[jonathanadkins]

With RVW, It was the Sinfonia Antartica and the 4th Symphony which taught me how little I know about a composer I thought I knew quite well! Looking forward to getting to know Job better...

[pawdaw]

Wholeheartedly agree. It amazes me that even among people who know RVW's music, they don't know Job. Yes, it's a ballet, but far from being mere frippery, Job is one of RVW's profoundest utterances. Every movement is memorable, the orchestration is stupendous. When the music of the opening returns in the Epilogue, it's seen through the eyes of experience; you feel how Job is changed by turmoil and hardship. Incredibly moving.

[compositortiagoprado]

Prokofiev - The Love for Three Oranges
I believe this opera has practically all the aspects that make Prokofiev's music so wonderful. It is a colorful, moving work, with wonderful melodies, beautiful orchestration and that mix of fun, sarcasm and morbidity that make Prokofiev so identifiable and unique.

[erikdaumann]

I think THE most characteristic work of RVW is "The Pilgrim's Progress". This choice might be strange, I know. But THERE you have all the characteristics of Vaughan Williams, not only musically. And it is the work its composer most struggled with.

[cyberprimate]

This channel has become so important in my life.

[garethwilliams]

Hard one! I appreciate your reasons but have always highly regarded Job but never loved it or found it much fun! First love is Pilgrim's Progress and for fun and sheer craftsmanship the Five Tudor Portraits with its take on Walton.

[raymondcox]

I would agree with the choice of Job, yet it raises even more firmly the question why it has been neglected compared with most of the other works mentioned, both in concert and recordings.

[zdl]

Fantasia on a Theme of Tallis - the ultimate string choir work, nothing comes close. That Constantin Silvestri recording beats them all, which is also Dave's fave!

[goonbelly]

Another Vaughan Williams composition that combines elements of his pastoral music along with elements of his edgier stuff would be the Sinfonia Antarctica. On any given day, I may have a different favorite Vaughan Williams symphony depending on how I feel and the Sinfonia Antarctica is no exception.

[harisamp]

Good choice. RVW Suite for viola and small orchestra. It's perfect for me. Heart breaking and elevating.

[robertdandre]

the third so-called pastoral work dedicated to the British soldier of the 1st World War who fought in the work that could evoke the English countryside with its very particular cachet... ..beautiful work in any case