Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Symphony No. 5

Vaughan Williams, Sibelius & The Letter That Got Away

Here’s a little something that springs to mind, on this, the birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

I am the proud owner of two Sibelius signatures. One is at the end of a typed letter, of which admittedly many exist, in which the composer extends his thanks to a grateful fan for the gift of some “excellent cigars.” This I obtained from another dealer during my years in the book trade. The other is a signed photograph given to me by the composer’s grandson, with whom I had formed a friendship during his years in Philadelphia. Needless to say, I am beyond happy to have these.

But I might have had three, had I been able to make up my mind to commit to the considerable expense of a letter I found online a few years ago, which was written by Sibelius to Vaughan Williams on the occasion of the latter’s 80th birthday.

Sibelius and Vaughan Williams are my two favorite composers in the entire history of the world. The two inhabited a mutual admiration society, with Vaughan Williams dedicating his Symphony No. 5 to Sibelius, “without permission and with the sincerest flattery.” (For whatever reason, Sibelius exercised an incalculable influence over composers in the U.K. And thank goodness for it!) Fortunately, Sibelius very much enjoyed the piece. So clearly this letter would have had powerful associations for me.

Sadly, prudence prevailed. In my hesitation, someone else bought it, and a while later I found it on another site listed at a higher price. Eventually, it turned up at auction, where it sold for £2400.

It’s a decision that still tugs at my heart. It would have been an enormous expenditure for me, but it’s not like it would have put me on the streets. I just wouldn’t have paid any bills and not eaten very well and been stressed out for a while. It’s not like it hadn’t happened before. I’d have gotten by somehow.

Since then, I kind of wish I had just made the leap into the void. Now, I’m doomed to look back wistfully, as in the poem of Whittier:

For of all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these: “It might have been!”

PHOTOS: Vaughan Williams with Foxy; and the one that got away

October 12, 2025
Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 5 in NJ & PA

Thanks, New Jersey Festival Orchestra and conductor David Wroe, for a glorious performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5, presented last night in the acoustically-impressive St. Helen’s Church in Westfield, NJ. You did RVW proud!

It was also my great pleasure to meet Facebook friend Jim Barclay Jr., who, like me, traveled a little over an hour to get there. RVW devotees unite!

Two further area performances of this symphony coming up – astonishing as, to my knowledge, it has not been performed in the Philadelphia area since André Previn led the Curtis Orchestra in 1995.

On November 4 at 7:30 p.m., the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra will perform the Fifth at Calvary Baptist Church, 1380 S. Valley Forge Road, in Lansdale, PA – again, for me about an hour’s drive. Also on the program will be Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” Two of my favorite pieces in English music! Allan R. Scott will conduct.

https://www.spso.info/concert-ii-elgars-enigma/

The Main Line Symphony Orchestra will perform the Fifth on November 17 at 8 p.m., also about an hour away, at Valley Forge Middle School in Wayne, PA. The latter concert is especially attractive in that the Symphony No. 2 by Vaughan Williams pupil Ruth Gipps will also be performed. Ernest Bloch’s “Schelomo” will feature as soloist Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Yumi Kendall. The conductor will be Don Liuzzi, also of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

https://www.mlso.org/concerts.htm

Prior to yesterday, I only ever heard the Fifth in concert twice! (The other time was with Leon Botstein conducting at a Bard Music Festival devoted to Sibelius in 2011.)

As always, I ask everyone to keep me apprised of Vaughan Williams performances on the East Coast. To hear the Fifth Symphony live, as it was played last night, can be transformative. It’s a hard heart indeed that can resist its third movement Romanza, but the whole thing is a wonder.

PHOTO: Vaughan Williams conducting the Fifth Symphony at Royal Albert Hall

October 7, 2023
Vaughan Williams Concerts US 2023-24

I know I’ve groused about the lack of Vaughan Williams performances in the United States, especially last year, surrounding the composer’s sesquicentenary, while seemingly the party never stopped – and continues – in the U.K.

This year, things are looking a little better, with more Vaughan Williams performances across the U.S. I can’t make all of these, of course – it’s a big country, and I’ve got limited resources – but, if I am able to make arrangements, I am game for anything roughly down to the D.C area, possibly up to Boston, and as far west as Pittsburgh.

In the U.S., you’re most likely to encounter the composer’s choral and vocal works. Beyond the “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” and “The Lark Ascending,” performances of the big orchestral pieces by major orchestras are rare.

Here are some RVW performances that have come to my attention for the 2023-24 season, with a special emphasis on fairly local performances scheduled to take place over the next seven weeks or so.

Wouldn’t you know it, my favorite of the symphonies, the Symphony No. 5, makes a strong showing this year. Unfortunately, I’ve got scheduling conflicts for both performances by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which will take place this Thursday and Saturday. Sir Andrew Davis will conduct. If you’re in the Baltimore area, go!

https://my.bsomusic.org/overview/18271

Happily, there’s another performance this week, by the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and it will be held only about an hour from where I live. The concert will take place on Friday at 7 p.m. at St. Helen’s Church, 1600 Rahway Ave., in Westfield, NJ. Also on the program will be Beethoven’s Fifth. David Wroe will conduct.

https://www.njfestivalorchestra.org/concerts

Then on November 4 at 7:30 p.m., the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra will perform the Fifth at Calvary Baptist Church, 1380 S. Valley Forge Road, in Lansdale, PA – again, for me about an hour away. Also on the program will be Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” Allan R. Scott will conduct.

https://www.spso.info/concert-ii-elgars-enigma/

Not to be outdone, the Main Line Symphony Orchestra will perform the Fifth on November 17 at 8 p.m., again about an hour away, at Valley Forge Middle School in Wayne, PA. The latter concert is especially attractive in that the Symphony No. 2 by Vaughan Williams pupil Ruth Gipps will also be performed. Ernest Bloch’s “Schelomo” will feature as soloist Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Yumi Kendall. The conductor will be Don Liuzzi, also of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

https://www.mlso.org/concerts.htm

That’s a lot of Fifths! With the exception of the Baltimore performances, which, as I say, I cannot make, I will do my best to attend the rest.

More astonishingly, the Symphony No. 8 will be undertaken by the New Conductors Orchestra at Good Shepherd-Faith Church, 152 W. 66th St., in New York City, on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. & Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. I say astonishingly, because the percussion section in this work is quite lavish, including tuned gongs, which makes me wonder if there will be substitutions. Also on the program will be works by Kabalevsky, Smetana, and Gershwin. The program’s conductors will include Eric R. Stewart, Hannah Nacheman, and Mark Powell.

https://www.newconductorsorchestra.org/concerts

Anyone know of any other Vaughan Williams concerts, between Boston and D.C.? If so, let me know!

A cursory glance at 2023-24 concert schedules across the U.S. reveals the Utah Symphony will perform the Symphony No. 5 with Donald Runnicles on January 12 & 13; the Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform the Symphony No. 8 with Simone Young on April 4, 6 & 7; the Seattle Symphony will perform the “Sinfonia Antartica” with Gemma New on April 25, 27 & 28; the Charlotte Symphony will perform “A Sea Symphony” with Christopher Warren-Green on April 26 & 27; and the Colorado Symphony will perform “A Sea Symphony” with Peter Oundjian on May 18 & 19.

Surely, there are others, especially among regional orchestras. The Oboe Concerto is being done with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on December 1, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra on April 12 & 13, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra on March 1-3. Perhaps elsewhere?

I probably won’t be able to make these farther-flung concerts, but perhaps you can?

EDIT: Sincere thanks to David Woodward for informing me that the Colorado Symphony Orchestra will also perform the “Serenade to Music,” with Duain Wolfe conducting, Nov. 17-19.

And thanks also to Byron Adams for pointing out that “Serenade to Music” is also on this season’s concerts of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. It was performed there this past weekend.

PHOTO: Harvesting a veritable bumper crop of Vaughan Williams

October 2, 2023
Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 5 in NJ!

What a lovely surprise! I just got an email yesterday from the New Jersey Festival Orchestra announcing its 2023-24 season, and what should be on the very first set of concerts, but Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5! My favorite Vaughan Williams symphony! (Also on the program, another Fifth Symphony by some guy named Beethoven.) Needless to say, I purchased my ticket immediately. There will be two performances, at St. Helen’s Church in Westfield (on Friday, October 6, at 7 pm) and Drew University Concert Hall in Madison (on Sunday, October 8, at 3 pm). David Wroe will conduct.

Vaughan Williams’ radiant Fifth Symphony was an unexpected beacon of hope composed during the darkest days of World War II (1938-1943). Some of the musical ideas were carried over from his work on the long-gestating opera “The Pilgrim’s Progress.”

The symphony is dedicated to another one of my all-time favorites, Jean Sibelius. When Sibelius heard the work in Stockholm, conducted by Malcolm Sargent, he wrote, “This symphony is a marvelous work… the dedication made me feel proud and grateful… I wonder if Dr. Williams has any idea of the pleasure he has given me?”

It’s interesting that Vaughan Williams, a self-professed agnostic (whose stance softened from a youthful atheism), often proved to be such a spiritual composer. Those in the audience at the symphony’s premiere, with the 70-year-old RVW conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, emerged from Royal Albert Hall fortified and prepared to face whatever challenges the future might throw their way.

I can’t wait to luxuriate in this masterpiece, which I have only heard in person twice over my decades of concert-going – with André Previn and the Curtis Orchestra in Philadelphia in 1995 and Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra at the Bard Music Festival in 2011. It was performed by the Chicago Symphony last season, but to fly to Chicago for a concert, for me, would have been an extravagance.

Interestingly, a couple of quick Google searches reveal performances of the Fifth this season with the Baltimore and Utah Symphonies. Perhaps others? As always, I ask that you keep your antennae up, and if you learn of any Vaughan Williams performances, especially within a three-hour radius of Princeton, please let me know!

Thank you, New Jersey Festival Orchestra!

For the complete NJFO season, look here:

https://www.njfestivalorchestra.org/concerts

September 2, 2023
Sibelius, Time, and Feeling Unstuck

I don’t know what’s going on with me. First of all, it doesn’t feel like Christmas. I could blame it on the early start for Advent or the weather being too warm. The grass keeps greening here, and there’s still new growth. And now, suddenly, it’s the birthday of Jean Sibelius. So much for “8 Days of Sibelius,” as I have been known in past years to celebrate the composer in a series of daily posts starting at the beginning of the month. Whatever it is that has gotten into me, I seem to have become unstuck in time. And not like Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim, mind you.

Be that as it may, so much of the wonder of music, especially long-form music, is how it plays with our perception of time. Symphonies are often narratives, even if there is no story. The internal logic of a piece creates the illusion of movement, a sense of connections being made, and even varying degrees of momentum.

Sibelius was a master at manipulating time in works like his Symphony No. 5. The piece begins with a musical sunrise, the merest suggestion of the grandeur to come, with perhaps a meditation of the natural world stirring to life; and then somehow, before we know it, the ground is shifting seismically beneath our feet, and we’re in the middle of a scherzo. The effect is thrilling, yet, when executed properly (always a challenge for conductors), seems totally organic.

And that ending! There is no other symphony like it in the repertoire. It’s as if the composer has mastered time itself, and brought everything to an abrupt halt, over six staggered, monolithic chords, leaving the listener suspended at the very peak of sublimity,.

Sibelius worked hard to achieve his effects. The Symphony No. 5 was given its world premiere on his 50th birthday, December 8, 1915. A second version, which only partly survives, was unveiled the next year. The final version, the version we all know and love, was given its performance on November 24, 1919. To contemplate the level of objectivity he managed to attain in reshaping the raw material of his first thoughts is staggering. Like Beethoven, Sibelius worked very hard to realize his genius.

Perhaps whenever I get to feeling unstuck, a healthy attitude would be to imagine myself, like someone listening to Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5, suspended between moments of sublimity.

Happy birthday, Jean Sibelius.

Symphony No. 5 (final version, 1919)

Original version (1915, with some very notable differences)

December 8, 2022

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