Search - R. Vaughan Williams :: Vaughan Williams: Job

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Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 03/25/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It seems hard to believe no one's written a review of Handley's rendition of Job: A Masque for Dancing, Ralph Vaughan Williams only dance music. The composer was influenced by watercolor etchings of William Blake that depicted scenes from the Biblical book of Job and this score is the result of that fascination. The score depicts scenes of the devil, Job, Elihu and others from the Biblical text, realized here by Adrian Boult's mentee, Vernon Handley, and played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.



This is a nautral for Vaughan Williams' expert Handley that is also included in the conductor's most recently updated box of all the Vaughan Williams symphonies. Handley manages Vaughan Williams better than most conductors even though complaints of conducting neutrality may seep in from time to time. Still, Handley is among the most celebrated living conductor of English music and this recording adds to that legend.



The music itself is unlike anything else Vaughan Williams composed, not only because it is dance music, but because of its orchestral textures that are echt-Stravinkian and late 20th century, its level of emotional content that is on a par with the Symphonies 4 and 6. It is otherwise among the composer's more programmatic content, including his trip to Antarctica in the Symphony No. 7 and his dally around London town in Symphony No. 2.



I've graded the performance four stars arbitrarily. I am a great fan of Vaughan Williams but not so much of Job. It is so startlingly different than the rest of the composer's output as to rattle the listener on first discovery. Anyone coming to the music for the first time should make their own decision about this, of course. On the plus side, this re-recording has a track for every scene, far better than the three tracks that were available when it was first released. The sound, from aoubt 1980, is good without being at the top of today's standards.



Anyone looking for another side of Ralph Vaughan Williams -- or anyone that only thinks he wrote in the 20th century British romantic-pastoral format -- should hear this to understand differently."

Corrections of the first review.

Harry M. Geduld | Bloomington, IN USA | 04/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first reviewer states: "Job" is "Vaughan Williams' only dance music." It isn't. RVW also composed a ballet entitled "Old King Cole." The same reviewer states "Job is unlike anything else Vaughan Williams composed." It isn't -- as he'll become aware if he listens to RVW's 4th Symphony.

I had the fortunate experience of seeing and hearing a production of "Job" in London many years ago. It was a profoundly moving experience. There's a superb choral and orchestral recording: CD #11 in the recently-issued "Vaughan Williams: The Collector's Edition."



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