ALBCD062 Royal Throne of Kings

Ralph Vaughan Williams loved Shakespeare, and it inspired his music throughout his long composing career. ALBCD062 Royal Throne of Kings is a collection of some of that music.
In 1912 and 1913 Vaughan Williams composed and conducted music for Shakespeare plays in the Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon, where Sir Frank Benson presented plays for many years. He composed some new music, but preferred to use music of Shakespeare's own time whenever possible. The album includes a Henry IV suite assembled from the surviving cues by Malcolm Riley, and a Stratford Suite, put together from a number of plays by Nathaniel Lew.
Vaughan Williams wrote a Henry V Overture in 1913, but the full score has long since been lost. Twenty years later, he wrote an overture for brass with the same title, based on that 1913 overture, but it was developed in a completely different way. Some of the orchestral parts have survived at Stratford, and David Owen Norris was able to put the original version together for this recording. The comparison between the two versions is very interesting - but you will have to listen to ALBCD052 Vaughan Williams on Brass if you want to hear the later version.
Nathaniel Lew has arranged a Richard II Concert Fantasy, using incidental music commissioned from Vaughan Williams by the BBC in 1944 but not used at the time.
The disc has a lot of orchestral music, all played by Kent Sinfonia, conducted by James Ross. The recital is broken up by five settings by Vaughan Williams of words found in Shakespeare's plays, sung here by soprano Eloise Irving, accompanied by Malcolm Riley on the piano.
The album will be released on 1 November 2024 - as a CD, and for download and streaming in resolutions up to 24/96.
The Producer for the orchestral music was Andrew Walton and the Engineer was Deborah Spanton.
The full track list is:
1 Richard III - My Kingdom For a Horse
2 Richard II Concert Fantasy
3 The Willow Song (1897)
Henry IV Suite (1913), arranged by Malcolm Riley
4 Induction
5 Falstaff and Prince Hal
6 Interlude - Princess Royal
7 Music to My Weary Spirit
8 Arrest
9 Gloria Tibi Domine
10 Happy Life
11 Orpheus With His Lute (1903)
12 Henry V Overture (original version)
Three Songs From Shakespeare (1925)
13 Take, O Take Those Lips Away
14 When Icicles Hang by the Wall
15 Orpheus With His Lute
Stratford Suite (1913), arranged by Nathaniel Lew
16 Royal March
17 Greensleeves
18 Dances
19 Intermezzo
20 Solemn March
21 Finale
22 Dirge for Fidele (1922)
Arranged for Strings and Harp by Malcolm Riley
The England of Elizabeth (1955)
Two Shakespeare Sketches from The England of Elizabeth
Arranged by Muir Mathieson
23 The Wind and the Rain
24 It was a Lover and His Lass
Albion Records is the recording arm of The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society. Join today at www.rvwsociety.com.

[@UofLWoodwinder]

I cannot wait for this release!