Classical Music: Royal Throne of Kings

Royal Throne of Kings – Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare

Richard III: My Kingdom for a Horse; Richard II Concert Fantasy; The Willow Song; Henry IV Suite; Orpheus With His Lute; Henry V Overture; Three Songs From Shakespeare: Take O Take Those Lips Away; : When Icicles Hang by the Wall; Orpheus With His Lute; Stratford Suite; Dirge for Fidele; Two Shakespeare Sketches: I The Wind and the Rain; II It Was a Lover and His Lass

Albion Singers & Kent Sinfonia. Conductor: James Ross
Eloise Irving (soprano), Malcolm Riley (piano),

Albion Records ALBCD062
https://albionrecords.org/

This bumper CD from the inventive team at Albion Records is a feast of musical delights and a thoroughly enjoyable listen. James Ross’ Kent Sinfonia performs with such beauty, the strings in particular conveying that RVW characteristic sound; the balance between the different sections is well-judged, and the playing is marvellous. The Albion Choir is also in good form.

In 1912 and 1913, Vaughan Williams composed and conducted music for Shakespeare plays in the Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon, where Sir Frank Benson presented plays for many years. He composed some new music but preferred to use music of Shakespeare's own time whenever possible. The album includes a Henry IV Suite assembled from the surviving cues by Malcolm Riley and a Stratford Suite, put together from a number of plays by Nathaniel Lew. Vaughan Williams wrote a Henry V Overture in 1913, many years before developing the material into a new work for brass with the same title—we have been able to reconstruct the lost 1913 score from the orchestral parts. Nathaniel Lew has arranged a Richard II Concert Fantasy, using incidental music commissioned from Vaughan Williams by the BBC in 1944 but not used at the time.

Five settings by Vaughan Williams of words from Shakespeare's plays, performed here by soprano Eloise Irving with piano accompaniment by Malcolm Riley, punctuate the recital, and the connection between the performers is palpable.

The arrangements are superbly conceived, especially the gorgeous Greensleeves and the equally delectable Dirge for Fidele. Such sublime beauty. 

If you enjoy RVW’s music, this will most definitely not disappoint and would make that perfect Christmas present.