Vaughan Williams: Film Music Classics

Every piece of music on this disc had previously been recorded elsewhere, but none of it had previously been grouped with other film music by Ralph Vaughan Williams — and take it from someone who loves every aspect of his music, it's a lot more convenient and edifying to have pieces such as the "Prelude" from 49th Parallel presented alongside other of the composer's cinema-related works, such as the "Story of a Flemish Farm - Suite." The RTE Concert Orchestra under Andrew Penny has done a masterful job of invigorating the music without losing any of its subtleties, so that the majestic opening of the "Flemish Farm" suite gives way to a suitably lyrical second movement, "Night By the Sea - Farewell to the Flag," presented as a moody misterioso. Similarly, the rousing "Coastal Command - Suite" takes well to the expansive and vigorous treatment that it is accorded here, and the "Three Portraits From the England of Elizabeth" at last get to stand in fitting company, instead of being placed rather awkwardly alongside a chronologically related (but otherwise totally unconnected) symphony, as it was presented on the earlier Previn recording. The RTE Concert Orchestra — which is based in Ireland — sounds a match for the best established orchestras in England, and Penny's conducting is superior to the work of most of the men who have previously recorded any of this material, including Bernard Herrmann (who did a too-slow version of the 49th Parallel prelude in the 1960s). This is not only a choice gift for any serious movie music enthusiast, but a good extension of the Vaughan Williams catalog.