Ralph Vaughan Williams - world famous in the UK?

[Mark Thomas]

Vaughan Williams is currently BBC Radio 3's Composer of the Week. Of course many of his compositions (including several hymns) are part of the musical fabric of the UK, The Lark Ascending and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis being regularly voted amongst the nation's favourite compositions. I was prompted to wonder, though, just how well known is his music in the rest of the world? It used to be said that Elgar was "world famous in England"; I think his music is better known and highly regarded pretty generally now, but what of RVW? 

[Wheesht]

A few years ago I travelled to Freiburg, Germany, specially for a concert of RVW's Sea Symphony – as I never expected to hear this performed in Switzerland. His is certainly not a familiar name here, his works are very rarely played as far as I can tell.

[Alan Howe]

Good question.

I think there's been a lot of interest in the US. However, I doubt whether mainland Europe has paid him much attention - which is a scandal, as (IMHO) he's our greatest composer, on a par with contemporaries such as Sibelius and Nielsen.

Let's wait and see whether any of today's younger conductors and performers will take him up. Keep your eye on Petrenko (Kirill) in Berlin, for example. (Their Digital Concert Hall currently only has the Tallia Fantasia).

[sdtom]

I can speak I think for the US and can vouch for his huge popularity. The exception is the tremendous work of Holst The Planets likely being #1 in popularity. I for one have 20 of his works my favorite being Sinfonia Antarctica, the film version on Chandos.

[Alan Howe]

Take VW's most-recorded symphony, No.5: these are the conductors currently listed at ArkivMusic - non-British Europeans are in red:

Bakels, Kees
Barbirolli, Sir John
Bostock, Douglas
Boult, Sir Adrian
Brabbins, Martyn
Collins, Michael
Elder, Mark
Haitink, Bernard
Hickox, Richard
Hilgers, Walter
Kalmar, Carlos
Koussevitzky, Serge
Manze, Andrew
Norrington, Roger
Previn, André
Rozhdestvensky, Gennadi
Slatkin, Leonard
Spano, Robert
Thomson, Bryden
Vaughan Williams, Ralph

Conclusion: VW has made little headway in (continental) Europe.

[regriba]

I'm from continental Europe (Denmark), and if I had to name just one overall favourite composer, RVW would be the one. So he has made that much headway here 

But seriously, I think you judge the situation correctly. I don't quite understand why because I completely agree that VW's music is on par with that of Sibelius and Nielsen and quite a few better known composers. But then Sibelius and Nielsen also enjoy a much larger standing in the English-speaking world than elsewhere, apart from Scandinavia, of course. I think we could equally say that Nielsen is world-famous in Denmark - some of my acquaintances are quite surprised that we discuss him in a forum devoted to unsung composers. But it seems to me that British composers in general have problems making headway in continental Europe. I remember reading an anecdote once, according to which a work by a modern British composer had been performed before the break by a Danish symphony orchestra. In the break the source of the anecdote heard a prominent Danish composer say to a prominent Danish critic, "So that's how they write in Britain". To which the critic replied, "And we don't like that". The source claimed that the "we" sounded as if it was supposed to include the whole Danish music establishment.

But as to VW, perhaps the modal nature of his music speaks against his acceptance. I once suggested "The Lark Ascending" to a violinist friend of my daughter. After listening to the first few minutes she declared that "it was far too Chinese for her"(!)

[eschiss1]

A video of Paavo Berglund conducting part of the 4th symphony is on YouTube. (And I note that several of the conductors not "red"-ded out aren't British, they're North or South American (Kalmar), e.g.) Neeme Jarvi has conducted some works by Vaughan Williams though perhaps not the symphonies?...

[Alan Howe]

The mention of Berglund leads me to believe that almost all European conductors who have programmed Vaughan Williams are likely to have worked extensively in Britain and got to know his music here.

The only exception in the list I gave above seems to be Walter Hilgers who seems to have had no connection with Britain at all.

[sdtom]

I would be curious to know how many Planet performances constitute the English performances.

[eschiss1]

8th - Stokowski? (who did record it.)

[Alan Howe]

Well, Stokowski was born in London (England)!

[eschiss1]

You're right, I -just- checked and forgot that, too, grumble...

[joelingaard]

Well, Stokowski was born in London (England)!

He wrote a lovely symphony I think.

[eschiss1]

... Stojowski did, haven't heard one by Stokowski.
Bernstein recorded VW symphonies too, hrm as did Mitropoulos.

[joelingaard]

... Stojowski did, haven't heard one by Stokowski.
Bernstein recorded VW symphonies too, hrm as did Mitropoulos.

Yes, Stokowski wrote it from 1906-1909 and it was broadcasted by the British BBC in 2013.