Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Roland Wood & Andrew Kennedy - The Solent: Fifty Years Of Music (CD)

Release Date: 09/04/13

Vaughan Williams: Burley Heath, The Solent, Harnham Down, Songs of Travel, Four Hymns, Mayor of Casterbridge - nominated for a Grammy Award

First recordings of Vaughan Williams's 1902-1903 Three Impressions for Orchestra (Burley Heath, The Solent and Harnham Down); Incidental Music to the Mayor of Casterbridge; Prelude on an Old Carol Tune - all with Paul Daniel and the RLPO. Roland Wood sings Songs of Travel Book 1; Andrew Kennedy sings Four Hymns with Nicholas Bootiman (viola). Nominated for a Grammy and received with acclaim.

In the fifty years between Vaughan Williams's Three Impressions for Orchestra and his Prelude on an Old Carol Tune, despite unprecedented worldwide social and political change, the composer's style remained remarkably consistent. The Impressions, recorded here for the first time, describe three natural beauties of England - Burley Heath, Harnham Down and the Solent. The Mayor of Casterbridge was written for a radio serial broadcast in 1951, and it too receives it's world premiere. The remainder of the disc includes the first book of the Songs of Travel and the Four Hymns for tenor, viola & strings. Performers include tenor Andrew Kennedy, baritone Roland Wood, violist Nicholas Bootiman and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra led by Paul Daniel.