ALBION RECORDS RELEASES ROYAL THRONE OF KINGS:
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AND SHAKESPEARE ON 1 NOVEMBER 2024
Albion Records ALBCD062 Royal Throne of Kings
060158190621 Release Date: 1 November 2024 (CD, downloads, streaming)
Kent Sinfonia - James Ross, conductor – Eloise Irving, soprano – Malcolm Riley, piano
060158190621 Release Date: 1 November 2024 (CD, downloads, streaming)
Kent Sinfonia - James Ross, conductor – Eloise Irving, soprano – Malcolm Riley, piano
Ralph Vaughan Williams loved Shakespeare: it inspired his music throughout his long composing career. Royal Throne of Kings brings this music back to life, much of it now heard for the first time.
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 several plays by Nathaniel Lew. Vaughan Williams wrote a Henry V Overture in 1913, but the full score has long since been lost. Twenty years later, he wrote an overture for brass with the same title, based on that 1913 overture, but it was developed in a completely different way. Some of the orchestral parts have survived at Stratford, and David Owen Norris was able to put the original version together for this recording. The comparison between the two versions is interesting, but you will have to listen to ALBCD052 Vaughan Williams on Brass for the later version.
Nathaniel Lew has arranged a Richard II Concert Fantasy, using incidental music commissioned from Vaughan Williams by the BBC for radio in 1944 but not used at the time.
The orchestral music is played by Kent Sinfonia, conducted by James Ross. The recital is interspersed by five settings by Vaughan Williams of words found in Shakespeare's plays, sung by soprano Eloise Irving, accompanied by Malcolm Riley.
The Producer for the orchestral music was Andrew Walton and Engineer was Deborah Spanton. Malcolm Riley engineered the vocal settings, and Melanie Riley was the producer for these tracks.
The orchestral recordings were made at St. Gregory and St. Martin’s Church, Wye, Kent, on 16-17 February 2024. The songs were recorded at St. Leonard’s Church, Hythe, Kent, on 29 April 2024.
Kent Sinfonia
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James Ross
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Eloise Irving
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Malcolm Riley
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Royal Thone of Kings: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare - Track List
Richard III (1913)
1. My Kingdom For a Horse: 0’47
Richard II (1944)
2. Richard II Concert Fantasy: 17’12
Arranged by Nathaniel Lew
3. The Willow Song (1897): 3’06
Henry IV (1913)
Henry IV Suite arranged by Malcolm Riley
4. I Induction: 2’00
5. II Falstaff and Prince Hal: 1’00
6. III Interlude - Princess Royal: 0’41
7. IV Music to My Weary Spirit: 4’14
8. V Arrest: 1’17
9. VI Gloria Tibi: 1’22
10. VII Happy Life: 1’36
11. Orpheus with His Lute (1903)
Henry V (1913)
12. Henry V Overture (original version): 7’00
Reconstructed from orchestral parts by David Owen Norris, edited by Malcolm Riley
Three Songs From Shakespeare (1925)
13. Take O Take Those Lips Away: 0’59
14. When Icicles Hang From the Wall: 1’09
15. Orpheus With His Lute: 1’42
Stratford Suite (1913)
Arranged by Nathaniel Lew
16. I. Royal March: 4’24
17. II. Greensleeves: 3’00
18. III. Dances: 4’09
19. IV. Intermezzo: 2’18
20. V. Solemn March: 1’20
21. VI. Finale: 3’24
22. Dirge for Fidele (1922): 3’44
Arranged for Strings and Harp by Malcolm Riley
The England of Elizabeth (1955)
Two Shakespeare Sketches from ‘The England of Elizabeth’
Arranged by Muir Mathieson
23. I. The Wind and the Rain: 1’24
24. II. It was a Lover and His Lass: 1’40
Total running time: 72’13
Kent Sinfonia, conducted by James Ross (tracks 1-2, 4-10, 12, 16-24)
Albion Singers, conducted by James Ross (track 9)
Eloise Irving, soprano, with Malcolm Riley, piano (tracks 3, 11, 13-15)
Richard III (1913)
1. My Kingdom For a Horse: 0’47
Richard II (1944)
2. Richard II Concert Fantasy: 17’12
Arranged by Nathaniel Lew
3. The Willow Song (1897): 3’06
Henry IV (1913)
Henry IV Suite arranged by Malcolm Riley
4. I Induction: 2’00
5. II Falstaff and Prince Hal: 1’00
6. III Interlude - Princess Royal: 0’41
7. IV Music to My Weary Spirit: 4’14
8. V Arrest: 1’17
9. VI Gloria Tibi: 1’22
10. VII Happy Life: 1’36
11. Orpheus with His Lute (1903)
Henry V (1913)
12. Henry V Overture (original version): 7’00
Reconstructed from orchestral parts by David Owen Norris, edited by Malcolm Riley
Three Songs From Shakespeare (1925)
13. Take O Take Those Lips Away: 0’59
14. When Icicles Hang From the Wall: 1’09
15. Orpheus With His Lute: 1’42
Stratford Suite (1913)
Arranged by Nathaniel Lew
16. I. Royal March: 4’24
17. II. Greensleeves: 3’00
18. III. Dances: 4’09
19. IV. Intermezzo: 2’18
20. V. Solemn March: 1’20
21. VI. Finale: 3’24
22. Dirge for Fidele (1922): 3’44
Arranged for Strings and Harp by Malcolm Riley
The England of Elizabeth (1955)
Two Shakespeare Sketches from ‘The England of Elizabeth’
Arranged by Muir Mathieson
23. I. The Wind and the Rain: 1’24
24. II. It was a Lover and His Lass: 1’40
Total running time: 72’13
Kent Sinfonia, conducted by James Ross (tracks 1-2, 4-10, 12, 16-24)
Albion Singers, conducted by James Ross (track 9)
Eloise Irving, soprano, with Malcolm Riley, piano (tracks 3, 11, 13-15)
'This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England….'
William Shakespeare, Richard II
Digital pre-order, download and streaming links will be published here.
Electronic press kit and pre-release listening link available for reviewers.
Electronic press kit and pre-release listening link available for reviewers.
