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Vaughan Williams: Five Tudor Portraits

Stephen Johnson analyses Vaughan Williams's settings of the Tudor poet John Skelton's verse in Five Tudor Portraits.

Stephen Johnson explores Vaughan Williams's Five Tudor Portraits.

It was Edward Elgar who suggested that Vaughan Williams might enjoy the verse of the Tudor poet John Skelton. When he read the poems, it's clear that Vaughan Williams was impressed by them and when he came to set a selection of Skelton's work as Five Tudor Portraits, he responded to the jazz-like qualities in the metre, making inventive use of the poet's colourful language.

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10 minutes

Last on

Fri 3 May 2013 20:20

Music Played

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Symphony no. 4 in F minor

    Conductor: Richard Hickox Performer: London S O.

    • CHANDOS.
    • CHSA 5003.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    5 Tudor portraits for soloists, choir and orchestra

    Conductor: Richard Hickox Performer: Jean Rigby Performer: John Shirley-Quirk Performer: London S O. Performer: London Symphony Chorus

    • CHANDOS.
    • CHAN 9593.

Credit

Role Contributor
Composer Ralph Vaughan Williams

Broadcast

  • Fri 3 May 2013 20:20

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