Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Symphony No. 5 in D major (1938-43)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor (1956-57)
London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Antonio Pappano
rec. live, 17 & 18 April, 2024 (No 5); 15 December 2024 (No 9), Barbican Hall, London
LSO Live LSO0900 SACD [75]
This is the second instalment of Sir Antonio Pappano’s projected Vaughan Williams symphony cycle. I’ve been waiting impatiently for it to appear ever since the first release in the series, a magnificent coupling of the Fourth and Sixth symphonies (review). I thought so highly of that coupling that it was one of my Recordings of the Year in 2021. Thus, I approached this new disc with great anticipation. I remembered also reading a review of the 18 April performance of the Fifth by my Seen and Heard colleague John Rhodes. That was the second performance, on consecutive evenings, from which this recording was sourced and John summed it up as “a truly wonderful performance”.
In his career as a symphonist, VW frequently displayed a propensity to surprise. For example, after his experiences in World War I he produced not an overt cri de cœur but rather the ‘Pastoral’ Symphony – though, of course, significant darkness lay beneath the music’s surface. As we shall see, more surprises were in store with his last symphony. However, it was extraordinary that he should have composed the serene Fifth amid the turmoil of the early years of World War II. In it he used material from Pilgrim’s Progress, the then-unfinished opera over which he had already laboured for many years and which he must have feared would never be completed and performed. That material lay at the heart of the symphony and gave it a memorable foundation. In this performance, Pappano and his orchestra make an immediately favourable impression at the start of the ‘Preludio’; the music is perfectly paced and exudes serenity. The sound of the strings has a most welcome bloom while the woodwinds and brass add warmth to the textures. Just after 5:10 the pace picks up a bit and the skies darken somewhat as VW brings in an ominous three-note motif from the ‘Vanity Fair’ scene in Pilgrim’s Progress. Pappano is responsive to the change in mood, just as he is when VW reverts to the mood and material with which the movement began. The performance builds to a radiant climax, after which I greatly admire the way the hushed ending is brought off. This is, in all respects, an ideally judged account of the movement.
Though Pilgrim’s Progress permeates much of the symphony, I’m not sure how relevant it is to the Scherzo. Indeed, the shadowy, magical music seems to me to suggest A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Michael White’s notes include a fine description of the movement: “a thing of spritely busyness that grows out of material heard like whispers, as though through closed doors, never completely caught or comprehended”. A successful performance requires absolute precision from the orchestra; this the LSO provides in spades. The dynamic range of both the orchestra and the engineering is such that the louder passages in this movement really make their impact, though nothing is ever forced. I love the way that the gossamer-light playing of the concluding bars make the movement vanish into the ether.
The ‘Romanza’ is the softly beating heart of this symphony. The principal thematic material is derived from music to which, in the opera, Pilgrim sings the words ‘He hath given me strength by his sorrow and life by his death’. The tune is first intoned by the cor anglais (here, the eloquent Augustin Gorisse). Gorisse’s solo is just the first of a succession of beautiful solo contributions by him and his fellow woodwind principals. Again, the sounds produced by the LSO string choir are a delight. Indeed, the entire orchestra seems to be absolutely in the moment. The closing moments of the movement are simply wonderful. This is as fine an account of the ‘Romanza’ as I can recall hearing. The finale is again based on material from Pilgrim’s Progress. This time the motif in question is based on music heard when Pilgrim delivers the line ‘I will go forth on my journey [to the Celestial City]’. Pappano leads a performance that is sturdy and confident; there’s marvellous acuity in the playing. At the climax, VW brings back the horn calls heard right at the start of the symphony; but where they were once hushed, now they are noble and assertive. Once past that climax (from 7:00) VW presents a quiet, reposeful coda based on the main theme of the movement. Pappano and the LSO deliver this coda beautifully; eventually the music dies away to a whisper and one is glad that there is no applause to dispel the atmosphere that has been so wonderfully built.
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the LSO recorded a notable Vaughan Williams symphony cycle with their then Principal Conductor, André Previn. The Fifth was among the last to be recorded and I think that it was a high point in the series (review; review). More than fifty years later, the present LSO and their current Chief Conductor have matched and, arguably, surpassed that achievement. This is an outstanding account of the Fifth and I think that John Rhodes’ verdict, quoted above, was right on the money.
I referred to VW’s capacity to surprise and that trait was again on display when he composed his Ninth symphony. By the time he completed it the composer was 85 but, though the work was quite cooly received at first, I don’t believe it shows a decline in his powers as a symphonist, albeit he did not quite match some of the peaks in his earlier symphonies, most notably the central trilogy. He certainly retained his delight in innovation; the orchestral scoring is consistently inventive, not least in his decision to enrich the orchestral palette through the use of a flugelhorn and a trio of saxophones. (He had used the timbre of the saxophone in the Sixth symphony but there he contented himself with just one of those instruments.)
The first movement’s opening has an air of mystery to it, as if VW is peering back into the mists of time. However, it isn’t long before the composer begins to build power in the music; Pappano and the LSO achieve this build-up really well. They show themselves to be equally accomplished, though, in the more delicately scored, calmer episodes. That said, it’s the potency of the music that made the strongest impression on me and it put me strongly in mind of VW’s earlier E minor symphony. Such is strength of both music and performance that it comes as something of a surprise when a seraphic solo violin (Andrej Power), accompanied just by the harp, ushers in a much more tranquil episode not long before the end. This is not VW’s last word, though; a darker, albeit hushed coda means that the movement achieves an uneasy conclusion.
Though the second movement is marked Andante sostenuto, I’m not sure I’d classify it as a slow movement. The very opening, a haunting melody intoned by the flugelhorn, might give that impression, but almost at once we hear a ‘barbaric march theme’; Michael White tells us that this was the composer’s own description. Thereafter, the march-like material regularly reasserts itself forcefully, though there are several episodes of modal, calmer music. Pappano knits these various strands together very well. The saxophones come into their own in the Scherzo. This is tart, highly pointed music. The way it’s delivered here made me think I was listening to music that is a combination of the Scherzo of the Sixth symphony and a particularly malevolent Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The music is despatched with terrific precision by the LSO. Midway through, there’s a little fugal passage for the three saxophones; I can imagine the twinkle in the composer’s eye when he not only deployed these three instruments, hitherto mostly associated with jazz and light music, in a symphony and then gave them something as ‘formal’ as a fugue to play! I referenced a moment ago, VW’s description of the ‘barbaric’ march in the preceding movement. To be honest, that adjective could apply even more to his Scherzo, especially when projected with the power and precision that we experience in this performance.
The finale is marked Andante tranquillo. For much of the movement’s course the music is indeed tranquil, the textures luminous, though there are passages of strength later on. Pappano is a sure guide to the movement. In the closing pages we hear music of towering power; for the last time in his career, VW summoned the full majesty of the modern symphony orchestra and he did so to great effect. I never cease to marvel at the very end of the symphony: huge tutti chords, twice interrupted by visionary washes of sound from the harps and saxophones; VW original to the last. So ends an enthralling performance of the symphony by Pappano and the LSO.
As you’ll have gathered, I think this is an exceptionally fine disc. It’s a worthy follow-up to the preceding pairing of the Fourth and Sixth symphonies. If Pappano and his orchestra maintain this standard of interpretation and execution – and I can see no reason why they wouldn’t – this could come to be regarded as one of the finest VW symphony cycles of all. It’s been quite a wait between the first and second instalments of this cycle but that’s entirely understandable; the music of any one composer has to be fitted into the full and varied prospectus of a season’s programmes. I see that Pappano and the LSO performed A Sea Symphony in February this year (review); I hope it won’t be long before we can hear that performance on disc. It would be particularly pleasing if the cycle could be completed by 2028 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of VW’s death.
It only remains to comment on the presentational aspects. As usual, the recordings have been made by a team from Classic Sound, the regular partners of LSO Live. The engineers have done an excellent job. Both symphonies are presented in SACD sound that has impact, detail and a fine dynamic range. The documentation, in English, French and German, includes very good notes by Michael White.
Other review: Jim Westhead (October 2025)
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