So there I was in the late 60s, a teenager listening to 60s prog rock with my teenage friends, and suddenly I discovered RVW - first the Tallis Fantasia, and then the 5th Symphony. I was smitten. My friends all thought I’d lost my marbles. But RVW 5 has stayed with me all my life as my favourite piece of music ever, especially the Romanza. But also the last movement, particularly the way the strings go higher and higher, with an ascending scale in the background, until it all shimmers away into nothingness. And this performance - beyond words!
Same here. I discovered Lark Ascending the same year I studied the Meredith poem. Exquisite then, exquisite now. After that, the other iconic small pieces - Greensleeves, Tallis, Dives & Lazarus - & the brilliant Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner. A very special place in my heart and soul forever.
Anyone else cry during the 4th movement? I was trying to follow along with the score (Seattle Public Library) and I had to put it down because my eyes filled ...
It's OK, you're not alone; but other parts as well for me. This makes me remember my late parents; and my even poor German Shepherd last month. All gone except for our VW.
Likewise.A fantastic performance of a really great symphony.You can fully appreciate why Sibelius greatly admired this symphony.Bravo and r.i.p Sir Andrew
This moves me to tears every time I listen to it. And this was one of the finest versions that I have heard; sublimely beautiful. I first heard this as a boy of eight in 1964 and it bowled me over with its ability to stir up such emotions that I'd only know by being along in the Hampshire countryside and by the southern coast of England and marvelling at the beauty of Nature. Thank you for this video.
It is the best symphony I have ever heard! I want to hear it performed live! The music reminds me of my grandfather and great-grandfather, who both hailed from England. I also feel the emotions as you do!
Quite simply the greatest live performance of this wondrous symphony - passionate, delicate, full-bodied, superbly played and ending sublimely. Utterly outstanding from Maestro Davis and this incredible orchestra.
England in musical form. Soft summer rain. Caring, friendly, open people understanding their own land. Churches. Cornfields. A soft landscape. A sense of time past and time to come. Insects dance above a river in the evening. A summer's day. Bluebells. Swallows. Green fields. A country apart from brash shrill, threatening politics. A place of safety. A delicate, gentle landscape.
I am English and, proud though I am of being so, this beautiful symphony transcends nationalistic thoughts in favour of simply being human and togetherness. Huge respect for this wonderful orchestra.
After a terse and even abrasive out of the box 4th symphony that even convinced Aaron Copland that VW was not a dull pastoralist, along comes the breathtakingly haunting and epic, yes epic, 5th symphony that allows VW to do what he does best: transform his listeners into a world of sonorous, tranquil, lovely, uncluttered, honest symphonic landscapes that lift, move, and better the human soul!! He is English, amen to that, but far from being dull, local, or provincial, he takes the indigenous English folk songs and melodies, makes them fully his own, and then gently covers the panorama of earth like a dawning, pure, soft snowfall, giving without holding back a heartfelt answer, to comfort and renew the fearful, anxious, tired, longing appetency of the 20th century!!! Bravo and HALLELUJAH master composer Vaughn Williams!!! Thank you!!!
I agree - but it is hard to ignore what was going on internationally. Number 4 was written in the 1930s, this was written during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. An interesting comparison with Shostokovitch's Leningrad symphony. Also, VW was having a secret love affair at the time.
@@Kidderman2210 By 1942.selected people knew the Nazi warmachine would eventually fall +VW set out to compose a beautiful work performed in 1943 as a gift to war torn people.INCANDESCENTLY beauty.full.the last 2 movements i play nearly everyday...
Mit all meinen Worten kann ich nicht beschreiben, wie sehr mich dieses wundervolle Werk jedes mal aufs Neue mit seinem überwältigenden Optimismus und seiner Trost und Kraft gebenden Lebensfreude tief im Herzen berührt. Immer wieder bringt es mir ein Licht in diese Welt voller Dunkelheit, und wenn ich an seine unbekümmert voranfließenden Melodien denke, spüre ich die Gewissheit, dass alle Dinge sich irgendwann zum Guten wenden werden. Ich danke den Musikerinnen und Musikern und auch dem großartigen Dirigenten Sir Andrew Davis für dieses wundervolle Geschenk, das ich so sehr gebraucht habe! I cannot describe with all my words how wholeheartedly moved I am by this wonderful Symphony and its purely optimistic and joyful mood, which always gives me a feeling of solace and relief. It is my light in this world full of darkness, and when I think of its everflowing melodies I certainly know that one time everything will fall into place. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift which I so much needed in this time! Edit: I can´t get those last three minutes out of my head. This melody and those last bars reaching into heaven feel like hugging the whole world and are probably the most beautiful moment in music I have ever heard!
This has become one of my favourite recordings of this awesome and delicious piece of RVW's genius - directed by the wonderful, missed and much lamented Sir Andrew Davies. Beautiful interpretation, spot-on tempi and utterly divine delivery - what's not to love about this performance? At the end, the conductor's subtle bow to his orchestra - he knew they had exceeded his expectation. Sir Andrew Davis: May he rest in peace, and rise in glory.
beautiful performance and so sensitively conducted! So wonderful to see a German audience (especially the young boy in the front!) so captivated - ironically the symphony is filled with VW's experiences in the 2 wars. What a genius! Eine wunderschone Vorstellung - es freut mich so sehr das eine deutsche Audienz hatte sie so geliebte!
rest in peace, Sir Andrew. What a fine performance. Note how the "etheral" slimmed-down Vaughan-Williams sound is accomplished, even in the forte parts. Great how this is done with an orchestra who probably don't have this music in their blood. It makes me long for that Sibelius cycle that we never got from Sir Andrew. I daresay that might have been special.
The entire symphony is lovely, but the end of the 4th movement is other worldly, takes me somewhere that is beautiful, somewhere where my dad and brother are.
Bravissimo! How wonderful to see a German orchestra playing and fully understanding RVW's music under the brilliant Sir Andrew Davis. What is particularly emotional is that the players and audience seem to be playing/hearing this incredible music respectively for the first time and can hardy believe its emotional intensity. This is a wonderful humanitarian reaffirmation.
It is wonderful to know that the music of this great English symphonist is now being heard in mainland Europe and especially in Germany, a country with such a great tradition of symphonic writing.
The Germans know a good sonata (1st movement) and passacaglia (4th movement) when they hear them. Faint traces of Mahler in the 2nd movement and a big beautiful love song for a 3rd movement will also put one in good stead on the continent.
Throughout his life, RVW struggled against death in all its forms. From the death of his father, when RVW was only three, through the grinding horrors of trench warfare and artillery barrages, the loss of a promising musical peer to PTSD, the death of his first wife, and his own aense, late in life, of the approaching end. A bright and vital spirit, unbowed.
The sound of the opening bars of the Romanza must surly be the most most beautiful sound in all classical music. In 50 years of knowing this masterpiece it never fails to move me.
this symphony is magical and tracendent beyond flags and old fashioned labels like "British Composer" . Flags only undermine the power of music. Vaughan Williams deserves being spread around the world because is the best for ours memories and souls. Is Beauty, elevation and perfection in Music. Demolishes barriers and frontiers.
nicely said Jordi, although there is a distinctively British or English aspect to this symphony and Vaughan William's music in general. He called himself a 'nationalist', but it wasn't the narrow-minded sort of nationalism that people generally assume of the label today. He saw national feeling and tradition as a way to find one's place the world, as a part of that world and to be appreciated by people of the world.
The first time I ever heard this symphony, I was privileged to hear the Weimar Symphony play this while they were in NYC back in the mid-1990s. I had chills then, and I have chills once again. This symphony has helped me through many a rough times in my life!
I used to listen to these symphonies years ago and revisiting them the melodies and motifs all come back to me with such intense nostalgia and scenery I was engaged in with the time.
Without Vaughan williams' s masterpieces and his great performers and conductors such as these magnificent performers and Sir Andrew Davis, my enjoyment and pleasures of the music would have been less , There is something extraordinary in this splendid performance Sir Andrew Davis conducts From Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵
Incredible that this wonderful symphony, an English lovesong was completed and played in the middle of world war 2. His equally inspirational Symphony NO.3, The Pastoral, is similar, though written in France during World War 1. Both these move me beyond words.
One of the very great symphonies of the 20th Century given a wonderfully devoted performance by an excellent German orchestra guided by the sure hands of Andrew Davis who has become a great Vaughan Williams conductor.
Oh my God! I was sobbing at certain segments in this piece. Vaughan Williams Symphony no.5 occupies a special place in my heart for its pastoral (or soothing) yet forward-looking melody. Magnificent!
Marvelous symphony. It pulls at my heart, and I feel as if I'm standing before an open, sweeping landscape after a storm, awaiting the reappearance of a brighter tomorrow.
There is absolutely NOTHING as beautiful as the Romanza! I grew up in Somerset, England and this music sweeps me back to the Somerset of my youth, which has sadly disappeared.
I always remember that line from the biographical film, 'O THOU TRANSCENDENT' (a quote from the 1st Symphony) where we were informed that Vaughan Williams, "left us with tunes: but WHAT tunes!" And the lovely, late, Jill Balcon, telling us how, during his funeral in Westminster Abbey, she managed to hold back the tears, until they struck up with 'The Old 100th'; at which point the Abbey dissolved. Who cares about the 'musical experts': RVW ranks with Elgar, as one of the greatest of ENGLISH composers. RIP.
I think this is Williams' finest symphony. It's meditative ,but also has a large measure of elegance. Bravo to Sir Andrew Davis and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony.
The 'Romanza' is just one of the most deeply moving pieces of music for me. Despite its title, to me its music of such pain, sorrow, and heartache. It's always gives me this image of a person looking out over the sea from a cliff, watching a loved one leave and there waiting for a return which might never come. Generally, the sound of this symphony puts into my mind images of the sea, and its place in the human world - much more so than a choir singing "Behoooold the seeeeeeea".
I love this symphony especially. I tried to listen to Symphony 1 but I couldn't get very far into it. Someone please tell me it's worth listening to for reasons besides being able to say that one has listened to all his symphonies. :-)
Yes, may the Maestro rest well. Thank you for this wondrous performance - the only one I ever listen to/watch, thank you for a fabulous Elgar 1 in Cardiff several years ago, thank you for all your RVW Symphonies, for grace and humility and absolute musicianship. What a life, what a legacy.
Interesting to consider that this wonderful piece saw the light of day when UK & Germany were very much at odds with each other....move on several decades and we now have an excellent German ensemble performing it with a top English conductor at the helm!
Magnificent , beyond words what a great German orchestra can bring to Vaughan Williams one of the greatest but most neglected 20th century symphonists. Bravo Frankfurt!
He is 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% sure not one of the greatest 20th century symphonists. He is a very overrated composer instead, he is just fine.
Raul Espejo That's a lot of zeros, Raul. VW is one of the greatest symphonists of the 20th century. He's up there with Sibelius and Nielsen. His music is complex and daring but accessible. I dare you to find a 20th century symphony as melodious as the 5th. For something this gentle to have been written during WWII is quite amazing.
This is hands down the greatest performance of this magnificent work that I have ever experienced; the prolonged audience ovation at the end is well deserved. Maestro Andrew Davis is a master conductor, always providing tension in the singing musical line and inevitable forward motion, traits all too missing even in the best but lazy orchestras of today.
Sometimes it just clicks: a masterpiece of symphonic music of the 20th Century, a fine conductor, and a terrific orchestra eager to give its best effort to a piece it doesn't know -- result: WOW!
The opening of this wonderful symphony must be among the most haunting and exquisitely beautiful in all music. It does, however, have a tinge of sadness in that in conjures up, for me, a British countryside as it was in the composer's day - not scarred by distribution warehouses and motorways. Well, there is still much beauty left!
This was a tremendous performance! I was intrigued to hear what a central German orchestra, from which I have heard noble performances of Bruckner and Mahler, would make of such a quintessential English composer as Vaughan Williams and with such a very Anglicised symphony as this (which I believe to be the most beautiful (and spiritual) symphony ever written). Interesting that VW dedicated the symphony to Sibelius, who said he loved it. My gold standard of this symphony has been Andre Previn with the LSO on RCA from the 1970s. That was truly ecstatic and I recommend it wholeheartedly, if you can find the CD remasterings anywhere. But I was agreeably surprised how close the Frankfurt orchestra came to that in this live performance. Andrew Davis has certainly coached them well into the English mellifluous more legato mode of playing, with just the right lilt in the Scherzo. Bravo!
@Alan Morrison. Have loved this symphony since I was a teenager and my personal favourite has to be the Barbirolli recording of around 1963 not least because of the unsurpassed playing of the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Not being a native speaker of English, I tripped over the word "mellifluous" in your post and looked it up. Now, I'm sure I know what is meant by this word. There is a very special characteristic with the strings playing in orchestra works by English composers, and especially by RVW, who, by the way, is my absolute favourite composer in the field of orchestra music. I adore his Tallis Fantasia and the 5 Variants of Dives and Lazarus as well as the Norfolk Symphonies and the piece In a Fen Country. This symphony no. 5 is somewhat new to me, but it will become one of my other RVW favourite pieces of music.
This is the best performance of this symphony on YT. The orchestra plays splendidly and Davis is superb. I hope they will programme more works by RVW; the 6th symphony I rate as one of the greatest of the 20th C.
@@christophernunn943 Small correction. If you are thinking of the 2012 Proms performance Andrew Manze is conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
@@christophernunn943 Manze's performance is superb and worthy to stand alongside the greats like Boult, Barbirolli and Handley. I just wish I could have been in London that evening to hear him live.
That ending!....with all the "Alleluias" in the violins wafting to Heaven over the Earthly grounding of the soft E timpani roll....simply transporting.....so beautiful!
Une des plus belles symphonies du XXè siècle, idéalement interprétée, avec une acoustique et une prise de son superbes. Merci de nous offrir toutes ces œuvres.
Davis, um gentleman inglês se destaca nessa regência pela elegância e discrição, adotando um ritmo lento e reflexivo bem adequado à obra de Williams. Ótima sonoridade e um equilíbrio perfeito à obra, com músicos muito bem ensaiados. Gostei muito.
Such a wonderful rendition! One of the best performances of this otherworldly symphony. Davis is reverential, deriving his emotional appeal with such a balanced, yet subtly passionate performance. He should reprise this in Gloucester Cathedral, where his Thomas Tallis was breathtakingly beautiful.
I have always liked Andrew Davis' "way" with Vaughan Williams, and here the FRSO shows its versatility by turning in a very idiomatic performance under his leadership. This symphony is one of the most purely beautiful in sound and emotion, communicating a feeling of serenity and assurance of purpose. It is always a joy to hear, and this production is a triumph all around!
Just love this symphony, and the performance here is sublime. There is something mesmerising about the music, full of imagery - gentle breeze, on a warm summers day. It's also worth acknowledging the audience for giving the silence space at the end.
Well done BRAVO. BRAVO the second. Score is as it is written and is expressive. Thanks to all of You. Miestro. Keep looking you'll find more and become a full symphony and play PHILHARMONIC
Ar the first peeformance of this very great work in 1943, at its conclusion instead of applauding the audience sat in silence for three minutes before applauding- they had been overwhelmed by it. This was reported in newspapers at the time.
I’m not surprised. The music is so evocative of what was happening in 1943. I’d love to know what the German audience thought of it because it reflects in every direction.
... and emotionally satisfying as well with the dynamic arc reaching its climax in the recapitulation from 8:34 to 9:41. That extended cadential sequence starting at 9:21 is noteworthy as it clears the movement's final logjam before the slow harmonic rhythm of the coda initiates a return to the Prelude's opening tranquility. I would say the perfection of its construction rests upon twin pillars: (1) Sonata Allegro form and (2) an A-B-A dynamic scheme of Soft - Loud - Soft.
I love this symphony - gotta love what a very different sounding orchestra to those which normally play it bring to the table here. Depth of sound and discipline levels are huge - but that ethereal shimmering Vaughan Williams is not lost. This is really good stuff.
I've often wondered, Mark, how a musician maintains the necessary focus if they are playing a piece of music with which they feel an emotional connection...
@@christophernewman5027 I agree. I've not yet heard a recording of the final 4 minutes to match Previn's with the London Symphony (and I've used streaming services to cover quite a few not in my CD collection!). It may be something to do with the fact that Previn was not English - there's a touch of "reserve" about many of the usual RVW suspects on the podium, though the Scottish conductor Bryden Thomson with the Ulster Orchestra comes close.
I heard this piece played by the RundFunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin last night with Sir Andrew Davis conducting. He is very consistent with his style with this piece, he conducted it very similarly to this performance, and I especially like how the "Benediction" at the end of the Passicaglia (35:40) is gently faded to the conclusion. He holds that silence at the end. Very peaceful!
This is a remarkable orchestra. It responds to conductors who elicit an appreciation of the finer points in a nuanced and honest style .. hence we can enjoy lovely performances. Thank you for sharing.
So there I was in the late 60s, a teenager listening to 60s prog rock with my teenage friends, and suddenly I discovered RVW - first the Tallis Fantasia, and then the 5th Symphony. I was smitten. My friends all thought I’d lost my marbles. But RVW 5 has stayed with me all my life as my favourite piece of music ever, especially the Romanza. But also the last movement, particularly the way the strings go higher and higher, with an ascending scale in the background, until it all shimmers away into nothingness. And this performance - beyond words!
Same here. I discovered Lark Ascending the same year I studied the Meredith poem. Exquisite then, exquisite now. After that, the other iconic small pieces - Greensleeves, Tallis, Dives & Lazarus - & the brilliant Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner. A very special place in my heart and soul forever.
As a fellow RVW fan, can your musical mind still tolerate Mike Oldfield's OMMADAWN (1975) ?
Me too!
This is my story too. RVW speaks to something deep in my English soul.
@@studentjohn35I love RVW... Until the day I die. But I also love Ommadawn!
Anyone else cry during the 4th movement? I was trying to follow along with the score (Seattle Public Library) and I had to put it down because my eyes filled ...
It's OK, you're not alone; but other parts as well for me. This makes me remember my late parents; and my even poor German Shepherd last month. All gone except for our VW.
@@jackharrison6771 Regards Jack
I never listen to this symphony in public 😢
Listening today in memory of Sir Andrew Davis. RIP.
Likewise.A fantastic performance of a really great symphony.You can fully appreciate why Sibelius greatly admired this symphony.Bravo and r.i.p Sir Andrew
Excellent horns - clean, balanced, perfect intonation, artistically phrased. Thank you.
This moves me to tears every time I listen to it. And this was one of the finest versions that I have heard; sublimely beautiful.
I first heard this as a boy of eight in 1964 and it bowled me over with its ability to stir up such emotions that I'd only know by being along in the Hampshire countryside and by the southern coast of England and marvelling at the beauty of Nature.
Thank you for this video.
It is the best symphony I have ever heard! I want to hear it performed live! The music reminds me of my grandfather and great-grandfather, who both hailed from England. I also feel the emotions as you do!
I almost don't want it to end, sort of like a horizon, it keeps going.
Quite simply the greatest live performance of this wondrous symphony - passionate, delicate, full-bodied, superbly played and ending sublimely. Utterly outstanding from Maestro Davis and this incredible orchestra.
England in musical form. Soft summer rain. Caring, friendly, open people understanding their own land. Churches. Cornfields. A soft landscape. A sense of time past and time to come. Insects dance above a river in the evening. A summer's day. Bluebells. Swallows. Green fields. A country apart from brash shrill, threatening politics. A place of safety. A delicate, gentle landscape.
Would that it were still so.
I was lucky enough to get to hear Sir Andrew Davis perform this piece with the Baltimore Symphony last night. Amazing!
In my opinion, this is one of the 20th century's finest symphonies.
Indeed
Yes, James. I agree.
It is also the best posting of it on UA-cam, for it has no mid-movement adverts.
Very much so
I am English and, proud though I am of being so, this beautiful symphony transcends nationalistic thoughts in favour of simply being human and togetherness. Huge respect for this wonderful orchestra.
After a terse and even abrasive out of the box 4th symphony that even convinced Aaron Copland that VW was not a dull pastoralist, along comes the breathtakingly haunting and epic, yes epic, 5th symphony that allows VW to do what he does best: transform his listeners into a world of sonorous, tranquil, lovely, uncluttered, honest symphonic landscapes that lift, move, and better the human soul!! He is English, amen to that, but far from being dull, local, or provincial, he takes the indigenous English folk songs and melodies, makes them fully his own, and then gently covers the panorama of earth like a dawning, pure, soft snowfall, giving without holding back a heartfelt answer, to comfort and renew the fearful, anxious, tired, longing appetency of the 20th century!!! Bravo and HALLELUJAH master composer Vaughn Williams!!! Thank you!!!
yours is a fine critique of RVW's genious
I agree - but it is hard to ignore what was going on internationally. Number 4 was written in the 1930s, this was written during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. An interesting comparison with Shostokovitch's Leningrad symphony. Also, VW was having a secret love affair at the time.
@@Kidderman2210 By 1942.selected people knew the Nazi warmachine would eventually fall +VW set out to compose a beautiful work performed in 1943 as a gift to war torn people.INCANDESCENTLY beauty.full.the last 2 movements i play nearly everyday...
@@johnday530 Actually, much of it was written before the war. The third movement is based on music he wrote for "Pilgrims progress"
You have me wondering about the downside of being a (dull) pastoralist.
Ralph Vaughan William's music never ceases to affect me often causing tears, I don't think there is another Composer that can achieve this.
RIP, Sir Andrew. I trust you will be reunited with this Romanza in the realm above.
Mit all meinen Worten kann ich nicht beschreiben, wie sehr mich dieses wundervolle Werk jedes mal aufs Neue mit seinem überwältigenden Optimismus und seiner Trost und Kraft gebenden Lebensfreude tief im Herzen berührt. Immer wieder bringt es mir ein Licht in diese Welt voller Dunkelheit, und wenn ich an seine unbekümmert voranfließenden Melodien denke, spüre ich die Gewissheit, dass alle Dinge sich irgendwann zum Guten wenden werden.
Ich danke den Musikerinnen und Musikern und auch dem großartigen Dirigenten Sir Andrew Davis für dieses wundervolle Geschenk, das ich so sehr gebraucht habe!
I cannot describe with all my words how wholeheartedly moved I am by this wonderful Symphony and its purely optimistic and joyful mood, which always gives me a feeling of solace and relief. It is my light in this world full of darkness, and when I think of its everflowing melodies I certainly know that one time everything will fall into place.
Thank you so much for this wonderful gift which I so much needed in this time!
Edit: I can´t get those last three minutes out of my head. This melody and those last bars reaching into heaven feel like hugging the whole world and are probably the most beautiful moment in music I have ever heard!
This has become one of my favourite recordings of this awesome and delicious piece of RVW's genius - directed by the wonderful, missed and much lamented Sir Andrew Davies. Beautiful interpretation, spot-on tempi and utterly divine delivery - what's not to love about this performance? At the end, the conductor's subtle bow to his orchestra - he knew they had exceeded his expectation. Sir Andrew Davis: May he rest in peace, and rise in glory.
One of the most beautiful symphonic works ever composed, and this is a magnificent performance of it.
The music feels effortless in its flow, a soft glow emanates.
beautiful performance and so sensitively conducted! So wonderful to see a German audience (especially the young boy in the front!) so captivated - ironically the symphony is filled with VW's experiences in the 2 wars. What a genius! Eine wunderschone Vorstellung - es freut mich so sehr das eine deutsche Audienz hatte sie so geliebte!
rest in peace, Sir Andrew. What a fine performance. Note how the "etheral" slimmed-down Vaughan-Williams sound is accomplished, even in the forte parts. Great how this is done with an orchestra who probably don't have this music in their blood. It makes me long for that Sibelius cycle that we never got from Sir Andrew. I daresay that might have been special.
Es ist eine sehr schöne Symphonie und ich fühle mich ruhig.
Une bien belle symphonie du 20ème siècle...j'aimerais qu'elle soit plus souvent programmée en France. Merci encore.
The entire symphony is lovely, but the end of the 4th movement is other worldly, takes me somewhere that is beautiful, somewhere where my dad and brother are.
The slow movement to this work is one of the most beautiful pieces in classical music. ‘Definitely deserves more exposure.
Bravissimo! How wonderful to see a German orchestra playing and fully understanding RVW's music under the brilliant Sir Andrew Davis. What is particularly emotional is that the players and audience seem to be playing/hearing this incredible music respectively for the first time and can hardy believe its emotional intensity. This is a wonderful humanitarian reaffirmation.
It is wonderful to know that the music of this great English symphonist is now being heard in mainland Europe and especially in Germany, a country with such a great tradition of symphonic writing.
Arrechisísimo!
is his reputation growing?
The Germans know a good sonata (1st movement) and passacaglia (4th movement) when they hear them. Faint traces of Mahler in the 2nd movement and a big beautiful love song for a 3rd movement will also put one in good stead on the continent.
I love the way the first movement keeps moving and how one can hear all the lines so clearly
Alas not.
This is one of the 5 or 6 pieces of music that I simply cannot listen to without tearing up. The Music of the Spheres!
Yeah....
Same!
@@robertvarner9519 ?
What are the 5 other pieces? Would be curious😊
Throughout his life, RVW struggled against death in all its forms. From the death of his father, when RVW was only three, through the grinding horrors of trench warfare and artillery barrages, the loss of a promising musical peer to PTSD, the death of his first wife, and his own aense, late in life, of the approaching end.
A bright and vital spirit, unbowed.
The sound of the opening bars of the Romanza must surly be the most most beautiful sound in all classical music. In 50 years of knowing this masterpiece it never fails to move me.
The Romanza is probably RVW‘s most moving piece of music to me. I’m always at the same time devastated and comforted when hearing it..
Indeed!
The lark Ascending for me.
@@rufus_the_cat too cliche for me but not a bad piece
It's beyond powerful
this symphony is magical and tracendent beyond flags and old fashioned labels like "British Composer" . Flags only undermine the power of music. Vaughan Williams deserves being spread around the world because is the best for ours memories and souls. Is Beauty, elevation and perfection in Music. Demolishes barriers and frontiers.
nicely said Jordi, although there is a distinctively British or English aspect to this symphony and Vaughan William's music in general. He called himself a 'nationalist', but it wasn't the narrow-minded sort of nationalism that people generally assume of the label today. He saw national feeling and tradition as a way to find one's place the world, as a part of that world and to be appreciated by people of the world.
Bravo! Couldn't agree more
*Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)*
*Symphony No. 5 in D Major (1943)*
00:28 *I. Preludio*
11:57 *II. Scherzo*
17:20 *III. Romanza*
28:52 *IV. Passacaglia*
39:10 *Applause*
*Frankfurt Radio Symphony*
*Sir Andrew Davis, conductor*
_Alte Oper_
_Frankfurt, Germany 🇩🇪 May 13, 2016_
I've listened to this symphonic piece over 200 times and it never fails to move me every time! For me, RVW is the quintessential English composer!
Hear, hear. 😊
Absolutely sir.
This is one of those rare pieces of music for which I am always in the mood. It never fails to move me...
The first time I ever heard this symphony, I was privileged to hear the Weimar Symphony play this while they were in NYC back in the mid-1990s. I had chills then, and I have chills once again. This symphony has helped me through many a rough times in my life!
Love what this orchestra is doing, putting out a wide range of repertoire and reaching more people globally.
The coda of the last movement is so beautiful. I hate VW for not making that part longer
I used to listen to these symphonies years ago and revisiting them the melodies and motifs all come back to me with such intense nostalgia and scenery I was engaged in with the time.
Any day is a great day for the Ralph
18:07-21:17 it seems these are the most beautiful notes ever penned by the hand of man
Quite wonderful. What a beautiful performance of one of the greatest symphonies by an English composer.
Without Vaughan williams' s masterpieces and his great performers and conductors such as these magnificent performers and Sir Andrew Davis,
my enjoyment and pleasures of the music would have been less ,
There is something extraordinary in this splendid performance Sir Andrew Davis conducts
From
Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵
My goodness, this is an astonishingly superb performance. Do I have an absolute no. 1 favourite recording of my favourite V.W. symphony? You betcha.
This wonderfully calming music is helping during Covid-19 quarantine. Lol.
You are exactly correct! ...glad someone else feels that way, also.
Incredible that this wonderful symphony, an English lovesong was completed and played in the middle of world war 2. His equally inspirational Symphony NO.3, The Pastoral, is similar, though written in France during World War 1. Both these move me beyond words.
One of the very great symphonies of the 20th Century given a wonderfully devoted performance by an excellent German orchestra guided by the sure hands of Andrew Davis who has become a great Vaughan Williams conductor.
Oh my God! I was sobbing at certain segments in this piece. Vaughan Williams Symphony no.5 occupies a special place in my heart for its pastoral (or soothing) yet forward-looking melody. Magnificent!
RVW work is so atmospheric and beautiful it’s beyond words.
If you’re not moved by it then you have a heart of stone.
Most beautiful performance of this music I've ever heard.
Marvelous symphony. It pulls at my heart, and I feel as if I'm standing before an open, sweeping landscape after a storm, awaiting the reappearance of a brighter tomorrow.
One of the most beautiful symphonies I know of. it gives a true balm to the spirit. What a lovely performance this is.
My well remembered Frankfurt orchestra in their magnificent Alte Oper. One of the most beautiful symphonies ever written, sumptuously played.
Das ist die beste Aufführung von RVWs 5 ich hab’ gehört, fantastisch, ausgezeichnet, vielen Dank.
That first few minutes of the Romanza just gets me in the gut EVERY SINGLE TIME. Swoon swoon swoon. Is there anything more beautiful??
There is absolutely NOTHING as beautiful as the Romanza! I grew up in Somerset, England and this music sweeps me back to the Somerset of my youth, which has sadly disappeared.
The last four minutes (35:00) must surely constitute one of the most exquisite endings to any symphony. And what a great performance here!
What a stupendous rendition I bow to all the artists and conductor. Nothing but hr Frankfurt symphony, great.
I've been at the concert and it has been magnificient. What a shame so little Vaughan Wiiliams is heard in German concert halls
bubffm
Unfortunately this applies also to the UK
I would love to hear the "Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis" with this orchestra.
I always remember that line from the biographical film, 'O THOU TRANSCENDENT' (a quote from the 1st Symphony) where we were informed that Vaughan Williams, "left us with tunes: but WHAT tunes!" And the lovely, late, Jill Balcon, telling us how, during his funeral in Westminster Abbey, she managed to hold back the tears, until they struck up with 'The Old 100th'; at which point the Abbey dissolved. Who cares about the 'musical experts': RVW ranks with Elgar, as one of the greatest of ENGLISH composers. RIP.
I think this is Williams' finest symphony. It's meditative ,but also has a large measure of elegance. Bravo to Sir Andrew Davis and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony.
The 'Romanza' is just one of the most deeply moving pieces of music for me. Despite its title, to me its music of such pain, sorrow, and heartache. It's always gives me this image of a person looking out over the sea from a cliff, watching a loved one leave and there waiting for a return which might never come.
Generally, the sound of this symphony puts into my mind images of the sea, and its place in the human world - much more so than a choir singing "Behoooold the seeeeeeea".
I love this symphony especially. I tried to listen to Symphony 1 but I couldn't get very far into it. Someone please tell me it's worth listening to for reasons besides being able to say that one has listened to all his symphonies. :-)
20:37 That"s so amazing😭😭
Yes, may the Maestro rest well. Thank you for this wondrous performance - the only one I ever listen to/watch, thank you for a fabulous Elgar 1 in Cardiff several years ago, thank you for all your RVW Symphonies, for grace and humility and absolute musicianship. What a life, what a legacy.
Interesting to consider that this wonderful piece saw the light of day when UK & Germany were very much at odds with each other....move on several decades and we now have an excellent German ensemble performing it with a top English conductor at the helm!
Magnificent , beyond words what a great German orchestra can bring to Vaughan Williams one of the greatest but most neglected 20th century symphonists. Bravo Frankfurt!
Top orchestra, top conductor and top composition....what's not to love?
In a nutshell!!
He is 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% sure not one of the greatest 20th century symphonists. He is a very overrated composer instead, he is just fine.
I wish i was that overrated! ;)
Raul Espejo That's a lot of zeros, Raul. VW is one of the greatest symphonists of the 20th century. He's up there with Sibelius and Nielsen. His music is complex and daring but accessible. I dare you to find a 20th century symphony as melodious as the 5th. For something this gentle to have been written during WWII is quite amazing.
This is hands down the greatest performance of this magnificent work that I have ever experienced; the prolonged audience ovation at the end is well deserved. Maestro Andrew Davis is a master conductor, always providing tension in the singing musical line and inevitable forward motion, traits all too missing even in the best but lazy orchestras of today.
Sometimes it just clicks: a masterpiece of symphonic music of the 20th Century, a fine conductor, and a terrific orchestra eager to give its best effort to a piece it doesn't know -- result: WOW!
The opening of this wonderful symphony must be among the most haunting and exquisitely beautiful in all music. It does, however, have a tinge of sadness in that in conjures up, for me, a British countryside as it was in the composer's day - not scarred by distribution warehouses and motorways. Well, there is still much beauty left!
Magnifique !
This was a tremendous performance! I was intrigued to hear what a central German orchestra, from which I have heard noble performances of Bruckner and Mahler, would make of such a quintessential English composer as Vaughan Williams and with such a very Anglicised symphony as this (which I believe to be the most beautiful (and spiritual) symphony ever written). Interesting that VW dedicated the symphony to Sibelius, who said he loved it. My gold standard of this symphony has been Andre Previn with the LSO on RCA from the 1970s. That was truly ecstatic and I recommend it wholeheartedly, if you can find the CD remasterings anywhere. But I was agreeably surprised how close the Frankfurt orchestra came to that in this live performance. Andrew Davis has certainly coached them well into the English mellifluous more legato mode of playing, with just the right lilt in the Scherzo. Bravo!
@Alan Morrison. Have loved this symphony since I was a teenager and my personal favourite has to be the Barbirolli recording of around 1963 not least because of the unsurpassed playing of the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Not being a native speaker of English, I tripped over the word "mellifluous" in your post and looked it up. Now, I'm sure I know what is meant by this word. There is a very special characteristic with the strings playing in orchestra works by English composers, and especially by RVW, who, by the way, is my absolute favourite composer in the field of orchestra music. I adore his Tallis Fantasia and the 5 Variants of Dives and Lazarus as well as the Norfolk Symphonies and the piece In a Fen Country. This symphony no. 5 is somewhat new to me, but it will become one of my other RVW favourite pieces of music.
This is the best performance of this symphony on YT. The orchestra plays splendidly and Davis is superb. I hope they will programme more works by RVW; the 6th symphony I rate as one of the greatest of the 20th C.
Прекрасная музыка; чистый бальзам на душу; бесконечно хочется слушать.Наверно очень добрый человек создал подобную целебную музыку.
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The greatest symphony of the 20th century.
Ever heard of Mahler??????????
@@agapanthus1953
I am not a great fan of Mahler, I find his music too cerebral.
Nah. Ives' 4th
@@PETERJOHN101 You would want to admit that?
nah. too many good symphonies to pick.
What a lovely performance of this great symphony. Andrew Davis just "gets" Vaughan Williams.
Absolutely. Sir Andrew's recording of RVW's Sixth with the BBCSO is one of the best ever (if not THE best) and freezes my blood every time I hear it.
Yes I agree and also Andrew Manze bbc symphony orchestra is another world class performance also on UA-cam
@@christophernunn943 Small correction. If you are thinking of the 2012 Proms performance Andrew Manze is conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
@@davidgriffiths7215 of course,,yes my mistake. What is your take on it?
@@christophernunn943 Manze's performance is superb and worthy to stand alongside the greats like Boult, Barbirolli and Handley. I just wish I could have been in London that evening to hear him live.
It´s so beautiful! Something very special.
That ending!....with all the "Alleluias" in the violins wafting to Heaven over the Earthly grounding of the soft E timpani roll....simply transporting.....so beautiful!
Une des plus belles symphonies du XXè siècle, idéalement interprétée, avec une acoustique et une prise de son superbes. Merci de nous offrir toutes ces œuvres.
So beautiful, and such a wonderful orchestra. I never fail to be moved by the artistry of FRS!
My favorite Vaughan Williams symphony. A splendid performance. Thank you!
Davis, um gentleman inglês se destaca nessa regência pela elegância e discrição, adotando um ritmo lento e reflexivo bem adequado à obra de Williams. Ótima sonoridade e um equilíbrio perfeito à obra, com músicos muito bem ensaiados. Gostei muito.
Such a wonderful rendition! One of the best performances of this otherworldly symphony. Davis is reverential, deriving his emotional appeal with such a balanced, yet subtly passionate performance. He should reprise this in Gloucester Cathedral, where his Thomas Tallis was breathtakingly beautiful.
I have always liked Andrew Davis' "way" with Vaughan Williams, and here the FRSO shows its versatility by turning in a very idiomatic performance under his leadership. This symphony is one of the most purely beautiful in sound and emotion, communicating a feeling of serenity and assurance of purpose. It is always a joy to hear, and this production is a triumph all around!
Just love this symphony, and the performance here is sublime. There is something mesmerising about the music, full of imagery - gentle breeze, on a warm summers day. It's also worth acknowledging the audience for giving the silence space at the end.
Absolutely beautiful
Beautiful sounding orchestra, but Sir Andrew Davis always could produce 'that' sort of sound, wherever he was directing ❤
Never fails to move me, both for the sheer beauty of the music itself and for evoking an England that is slipping away before my eyes...
Well done BRAVO. BRAVO the second. Score is as it is written and is expressive. Thanks to all of You. Miestro. Keep looking you'll find more and become a full symphony and play PHILHARMONIC
Ar the first peeformance of this very great work in 1943, at its conclusion instead of applauding the audience sat in silence for three minutes before applauding- they had been overwhelmed by it. This was reported in newspapers at the time.
I’m not surprised. The music is so evocative of what was happening in 1943. I’d love to know what the German audience thought of it because it reflects in every direction.
I wasn't there
This is the greatest performance of this sublime work I ever hope to hear.
Deep emotion grew into my heart , and it was the time of supreme bliss . 🍎
That first movement is one of the most perfectly constructed in the history of the form.
... and emotionally satisfying as well with the dynamic arc reaching its climax in the recapitulation from 8:34 to 9:41. That extended cadential sequence starting at 9:21 is noteworthy as it clears the movement's final logjam before the slow harmonic rhythm of the coda initiates a return to the Prelude's opening tranquility. I would say the perfection of its construction rests upon twin pillars: (1) Sonata Allegro form and (2) an A-B-A dynamic scheme of Soft - Loud - Soft.
I love this symphony - gotta love what a very different sounding orchestra to those which normally play it bring to the table here. Depth of sound and discipline levels are huge - but that ethereal shimmering Vaughan Williams is not lost. This is really good stuff.
So beautiful
Wonderful! Extraordinary conduction, impossible not to be emotional at this masterpiece!
Brilliant piece ❤
This is really, really good !
One of the finest performances of this work I've ever heard.
Thank you for posting. Today this has helped me.
Performed this just last weekend. Such a deep and moving piece. Difficult not to get emotional playing the third movement.
I've often wondered, Mark, how a musician maintains the necessary focus if they are playing a piece of music with which they feel an emotional connection...
Andre Previn, a great exponent of this symphony, said that it was difficult for him to hold back tears in the coda of the last movement.
@@salt_cots His is my favourite recording of the fifth.
@@christophernewman5027 I agree. I've not yet heard a recording of the final 4 minutes to match Previn's with the London Symphony (and I've used streaming services to cover quite a few not in my CD collection!). It may be something to do with the fact that Previn was not English - there's a touch of "reserve" about many of the usual RVW suspects on the podium, though the Scottish conductor Bryden Thomson with the Ulster Orchestra comes close.
Rest In Peace, dear Sir Andrew Davis!
I heard this piece played by the RundFunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin last night with Sir Andrew Davis conducting. He is very consistent with his style with this piece, he conducted it very similarly to this performance, and I especially like how the "Benediction" at the end of the Passicaglia (35:40) is gently faded to the conclusion. He holds that silence at the end. Very peaceful!
The kind of music that the whole neighborhood can appreciate. 400 watts worth.
This is a remarkable orchestra. It responds to conductors who elicit an appreciation of the finer points in a nuanced and honest style .. hence we can enjoy lovely performances. Thank you for sharing.
they are a pleasure to watch, as well.