Earlier in the month we were lucky enough to welcome baritone Roderick Williams and pianist William Vann to Presto Music for a recital to launch their new album Rise, Heart on Albion Classics - a little ironic, as they performed versions for just voice and piano of the Vaughan Williams songs which, on the album, are mostly fleshed out with additional chamber strings!
But even in the absence of the Sacconi Quartet and double bassist Levi Andreassen, the uniquely folk-infused melodic and harmonic language of the great English composer was fully present; and afterwards, Roderick and William shared some of their thoughts on Vaughan Williams's ever-popular Five Mystical Songs, which appear on the album in a format never recorded before, as well as on Roderick's own adaptation of selected Vaughan Williams folk-song arrangements for voice and string quartet.
(The mystery off-screen voice interjecting with words of Vaughan Williams-related wisdom at times in the discussion is the voice of Albion Records' John Francis, who was seated just off to the side!)
Roderick Williams (baritone) with Sacconi Quartet, Levi Andreassen (double bass), William Vann (piano)
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
