Posted by Rick Denney on April 16, 2002 at 15:49:45:
In Reply to: Favorite Recordings of Non-Standard Rep posted by Gary Press on April 15, 2002 at 18:27:54:
Working from what will probably prove to be a faulty memory:
Vaughan Williams: Symphony Number 4, London Philharmonic, Vaughan Williams conducting in 1937 two years after the premiere. Nothing since has the same energy, but don't buy this recording to hear great brass playing. It's a good guide to understanding the English tuba sound before Fletcher, however. The duet with the bassoon in the third movement is a true duet rather than the tuba solo with that awful buzzing in the background that you'd hear today. But the major-chord resolution at the end of the slow movement is a disaster and one of the best things RVW did to revise this work after this recording was made was to drop the flute solo a semitone to leave it in the minor key. The fourth has what may be the most challenging tuba part of anything in the repertoire--read along in the Oxford pocket score and prepare for amazement.
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, London Phil, Boult conducting, Angel, recorded in the 60's. This is usually paired with a delightful rendition of the second symphony, though I prefer a recording from the late 50's conducted by Barbirolli. The Fantasia in this recording has the sense and feel of a cathedral sound unmatched in other recordings. Of course, no brass parts, but the second symphony will make up for that. I assume the tuba in the Boult version of the second is Fletcher, and the sound is awesome.
Rick "whose favorite composer is always left off the standard rep lists" Denney