'Don't Take Any Notice of Me....
... you just carry on!' So Vaughan Williams used to tell orchestras he conducted; but despite his technical deficiencies his performances are extraordinarily powerful. Not least the newly discovered recording of only the second performance of his cantata Dona Nobis
Pacem, the focal point of this evening's sequence. Is there a Vaughan Williams performing tradition? And if so, isn't it about time it was relinquished? And what special qualities can a non-Briton bring to Vaughan Williams's music? Or is it irredeemably 'English'? During the evening, performers, critics and composers from Britain, continental Europe and America offer their own insights. The music itself includes Vaughan Williams conducting: Overture: The Wasps (Acoustic mono: 1925) Aeolian Orchestra Symphony No 4
(Mono: 1937): BBC SO Dona Nobis Pacem (Mono: 1936)
Renee Flynn (soprano) Roy Henderson (bar) BBC Chorus and SO