In October 1938, to celebrate his jubilee as a conductor, Sir
Henry Wood conducted the first performance of a work specially written for the occasion by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The piece was Serenade to Music. Fifty years on, John Steane looks back to that famous premiere and examines how
Vaughan Williams tailored the 16 vocal parts to the voices who sang them. With contributions from the three surviving original soloists,
Dame Eva Turner , Mary Jarred and Roy Henderson , the composer's widow
Ursula Vaughan Williams and the voices of Sir Henry Wood and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Producer ANDREW LYLE. Stereo