Cover art for LSO Lives Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos 4 & 6 [download], with bold yellow and white text over swirling yellow and purple clouds, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano.

Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos 4 & 6

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Sir Antonio Pappano leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a pair of symphonies by Ralph Vaughan Williams that span the build-up and aftermath of the Second World War.

Throughout the Fourth Symphony Vaughan Williams channels tension and power through the music in amongst moments of light and clarity. It evokes a sense of hardship and persistence, perhaps suggesting the ever-present threat of war in the 1930s.

Written in 1947, the composer's Sixth Symphony also seems to reflect the hardships and devastation wrought by World War II. Melancholic in some movements, ferocious in others.

Composer Ralph Vaughan Williams
Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano
Performers London Symphony Orchestra

Symphony No. 4 in F minor
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Andante moderato
3. III. Scherzo: Allegro moderato
4. IV. Finale con epilogo fugato: Allegro molto

Symphony No. 6 in E minor
5. I. Allegro
6. II. Moderato
7. III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace
8. IV. Epilogue: Moderato

Release date 16 April 2021
LSO0867 | 0822231186724

Producer Andrew Cornall
Engineers Classic Sound
Recorded Barbican Hall, London
December 2019 & March 2020

1 disc in jewel case
Booklet in English, French & German
SACD incl. stereo | multi-channel 5.1

FLAC - 24bit 96kHz - Compatible with Windows and Android devices
MP3 - 320kbps - Universal compatibility
SACD - Compatible with all CD players

Available on streaming services

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Reviews

“

★★★★★ ‘They’re both electrifying, and they sound absolutely magnificent... Pappano makes sure [the Fourth] sings as often as it can... This is a terrible beauty, energetic, Satanic, utterly spellbinding, keeping enough in reserve to make the biggest climaxes truly shattering... The opening bars of this Sixth, a cry of anguish that’s also passionate bel canto song, promise the very best recording of the work.’

- BBC Music Magazine
“

Album of the Week 'Pappano’s dramatic, thrustful accounts, vividly recorded, have a momentous, dynamic allure that bodes well for his future tenure, and the orchestra plays this music ... to the manner born.’

- The Sunday Times
“

★★★★ The Best Classical CDs & DVDs of 2021

- The Telegraph