I discovered this piece of personally precious music aged about 13. I was lying in the bath one Sunday evening listening in reverence to a remarkable recording of a dramatisation of the Pilgrims Progress on BBC radio (strange child!) and was struck, as if by lightening, by the repeating, deeply summoning well of sound that underscored the production. One phrase of music lingered and lingered. I had to find it on a recording, but how! Not knowing where to start, in desperation more than hope, dripping wet, I pulled out the dozen classical LPs my parents had left hopefully on a shelf in my bedroom and rummaged through them. Half way down the pile I found a name that rang bells – Vaughan Williams; my heart skipped a beat for I remembered the announcer mentioning his name at the end of the broadcast. It couldn’t possibly be! In a fever of anticipation I thrust the vinyl onto the turntable – and there it was! Miracle of miracles! That sound, calling to me. As if from within. Familiar and forgotten. It had called to me and within 5 minutes of searching I had found it! And it’s been my constant companion ever since.
Please excuse the rather personal indulgence above but I so wanted to share with you the strange way this magical work came to me and the hold it still has over me. More like a haunting.
Here below is the finest recording yet produced and filmed – in the magical surrounds of Gloucester’s gothic cathedral where the composer intended it to be performed. I have always thought this music to be the perfect embodiment of the seeker on the path. Or perhaps the seeker who faces drowning and searches for release every step of the way. Or some such.
I hope you enjoy. :)
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis HQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihx5LCF1yJY
Thank you to all the other posters; some wonderful, wonderful sounds shared.
