alt=European man of early middle age, in sem-profile; he is clean-shaven and has a full head of dark hair|thumb|Vaughan Williams in 1913
A London Symphony is the second symphony that Ralph Vaughan Williams composed. The work is sometimes referred to as Symphony No. 2, though the composer did not designate that name for the work. First performed in 1914, the original score of this four-movement symphony was lost and subsequently reconstructed. Vaughan Williams continued revisions of the work into its final definitive form, which was published in 1936.
Background and premiere
The first mention of A London Symphony is in a letter from Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp in July 1911: "I am in the middle of a great work & unless I get stuck in it I don't want to leave it". In the view of his biographer Michael Kennedy, the composer's comment suggests he may have begun to compose the work as early as 1910. His friend and fellow composer George Butterworth had urged him to write a symphony:
In a programme note written in 1925 the composer set out his intentions in writing the symphony:
The work was first performed on 27 March 1914 at the Queen's Hall, London,
conducted by Geoffrey Toye. The Times commented, "His harmonic freedom is exhilarating. ... A ragtime tune in the first movement, the cry of the lavender sellers in the lento, the 'hoochy-koochy' chords, such as a youth sucks from a mouth-organ, preluding the first trio of the scherzo, are pieces of realism, plain enough to make the dull listener imagine that it is all a fantasy on street music. But it is much more than that; it is a symphonv, a work written solely in music and meant to appeal solely to the musical imagination of the hearers". The Musical Times observed, "There is a big impulse, a big rhythmic line underlying the whole design which makes it a real symphony and a real reflection of the London spirit, a spirit which we feel all the more strongly because it is disguised beneath a myriad attractions and distractions".
Instrumentation
The work is scored for:
- Woodwinds: three flutes (the third doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon
- Brass: four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba
- Percussion: timpani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, tam-tam, sleigh bells, cymbals, glockenspiel
- Strings: harp, and strings.
:<score sound="1"> \relative c' { \clef treble \key g \major \time 3/2 c2\p\flageolet e\flageolet d\flageolet | g,1.\flageolet | c2\flageolet d\flageolet e\flageolet | c1.\flageolet } </score>
After a silent pause, the allegro risoluto section, much of it triple forte, is vigorous and brisk, and the ensuing second subject, dominated by the wind and brass, is no less so (evoking "Hampstead Heath on an August Bank Holiday")
:<score sound="1"> \relative c { \clef treble \key g \minor \tempo "Allegro risoluto" \numericTimeSignature \time 2/2 r2 <g d b>2~->\fff | <g d b>8 <fis cis a>-> <f c aes>-> <e b g>-> <ees bes ges>2->~ | <ees bes ges>4 \times 2/3 { <ees bes ges>8-- <e b g>-- <f c aes>-- } <e b g>4(\< <ees bes ges>8)\! } </score>
:<score sound="1"> \relative c { \clef treble \key g \minor \numericTimeSignature \time 2/2 \partial 2*1 d4->\ff cis8.-> a16-> | b8->[ b->] b-> r r d-> cis->[ a->] | b1~ | b8 } </score>
After a contrasting gentle interlude scored for string sextet and harp, the vigorous themes return and bring the movement to a lively close, with full orchestra playing fortissimo.
II. Lento
The composer wrote, "The second (slow) movement has been called 'Bloomsbury Square on a November afternoon'. This may serve as a clue to the music, but it is not a necessary "explanation" of it.
Later history and versions
Shortly after the first performance the composer sent the manuscript score to the conductor Fritz Busch in Germany, and it disappeared in the upheaval of the outbreak of the First World War. Butterworth, aided by Toye, and the critic E. J. Dent, reconstructed the score from the orchestral parts,
The symphony went through several revisions before reaching its final form. Vaughan Williams revised it for a performance in March 1918, conducted by Adrian Boult. and again in 1919–1920, a version which Albert Coates premiered at the Queen's Hall.
Richard Tiedman commented, "The 1913 score is more meditative, dark-shaded and tragic in tone, almost Mahleresque in its inclusiveness. By 1933 Vaughan Williams's concept of symphonic architecture was becoming more aligned with a Sibelian logic and severity."
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Version !! Mvt I !! Mvt II !! Mvt III !! Mvt IV !! Epilogue !! Total
|-
| 1914 || 408 || 202 ||386 || 227 || 109 || 1322
|-
| 1920 || 407 || 162 || 398 || 173|| 85 || 1225
|-
| 1936 || 407 || 150 || 398 || 162 || 60 || 1177
|}
The final version is around twenty minutes shorter than the original, as some indicative timings show:
1914 version:
- London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox: 61:19 (I: 15:04; II: 16:16; III: 11:04; IV: 18:50)
- Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Eugene Goossens (rec 1941): 38:45 (I:11:06: II:9:22; III: 5:09; IV: 13:15) [This performance makes no cuts, but does not play the repeat in the third movement.]
1933/36 revision:
- Queen's Hall Orchestra/Sir Henry Wood (rec 1936): 37:09 (I:11:40: II:8:39; III: 5:21; IV: 10:49)
- London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult (rec 1971): 43:03 (I: 14:24; II: 9:32; III:7:07; IV:12:00)
The reception accorded to the Chandos recording of the 1914 score persuaded Ursula Vaughan Williams to authorise a live performance of the original version. In November 2003, Richard Hickox conducted the original 1914 score with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, in the first live performance of this version since 1918. The Proms presented an additional live performance of the 1914 version on 19 July 2005, with Hickox conducting the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Recordings
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: left; margin-right: 0;"
! scope="col" |Conductor
! scope="col" |Orchestra
! scope="col" |Year
! scope="col" |Ref
|-
| 1914 version
|
|
|-
| Richard Hickox
| London Symphony
| 2000
|
|-
| 1920 version
|
|
|-
| Sir Dan Godfrey
| London Symphony
| 1925
|
|-
| Eugene Goossens
| Cincinnati Symphony
| 1941
|
|-
| Martin Yates
| Royal Scottish National
| 2015
|
|-
| Martyn Brabbins
| BBC Symphony
| 2016
|
|-
| 1936 version
|
|
|-
| Sir Henry Wood
| Queen's Hall
| 1936
|
|-
| Dimitri Mitropoulos
| NBC Symphony
| 1945
|
|-
|Ralph Vaughan Williams
|London Symphony
|1946
|
|-
| Sir Adrian Boult
| London Philharmonic
| 1952
|
|-
| Sir John Barbirolli
| Hallé
| 1957
|
|-
| Sir Malcolm Sargent
| Chicago Symphony
| 1967
|
|-
| Sir John Barbirolli
| Hallé
| 1967
|
|-
| Sir Adrian Boult
| London Philharmonic
| 1971
|
|-
| André Previn
| London Symphony
| 1972
|
|-
| Vernon Handley
| London Philharmonic
| 1977
|
|-
| André Previn
| Royal Philharmonic
| 1986
|
|-
| Bernard Haitink
| London Philharmonic
| 1986
|
|-
| Bryden Thomson
| London Symphony
| 1988
|
|-
| Gennady Rozhdestvensky
| USSR State Symphony
| 1988
|
|-
| Owain Arwel Hughes
| Philharmonia
| 1988
|
|-
| Leonard Slatkin
| Philharmonia
| 1991
|
|-
| Vernon Handley
| Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
| 1992
|
|-
| Andrew Davis
| BBC Symphony
| 1993
|
|-
| Kees Bakels
| Bournemouth Symphony
| 1993
|
|-
| Roger Norrington
| London Philharmonic
| 1996
|
|-
| Christopher Seaman
| Melbourne Symphony
| 2005
|
|-
| Owain Arwel Hughes
| National Youth Orchestra of Wales
| 2009
|
|-
| Sir Mark Elder
| Hallé
| 2010
|
|-
| Christopher Seaman
| Rochester Philharmonic
| 2011
|
|-
| Andrew Manze
| Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
| 2015
|
|-
| Andrew Manze
| BBC Scottish Symphony
| 2019
|
|}
;Piano arrangement
- Lynn Arnold and Charles Matthews (pianos). Arrangement of 1920 version for piano duet by Archibald Jacob (2021)
::Source: WorldCat and Naxos Music Library