Brabbins Vaughan Williams Symphonies
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Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony
Recommended& other works
Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Mary Bevan (soprano), Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal College of Music Brass Band, Martyn Brabbins
Brabbins conducts the [Symphony] with a sense of purposeful directness, likeably enhanced by the expressive warmth of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s response. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2017, Editor's Choice
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Building A Library, March 2026, Top Choice
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This is a really good performance [of the Pastoral]. On one level Martyn Brabbins is superbly alert to the intricacies of the musical texture. After on hearing I got the score and listened again... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2020, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recording of the Week, 10th January 2020
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BBC Music Magazine, March 2020, Orchestral Choice
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Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 5 & Scenes adapted from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress
Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano), Christopher Bowen (tenor), Tom Raskin (tenor), Andrew Rupp (bass), Jamie W Hall (bass), Marcus Farnsworth (baritone), Georgina Wheatley (soprano), BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Martyn Brabbins
Brabbins and his musicians generally give a glowing and contemplative account of the Fifth Symphony (1943), its colours well captured in producer Andrew Keener’s fine recording. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
Marcus Farnsworth (baritone), Elizabeth Llewellyn (soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra & BBC Symphony Chorus, Martyn Brabbins
The BBC Symphony Orchestra makes its own vividly virtuosic contribution, not least in the scherzo movement, ‘The waves’; credit is due also to Martyn Brabbins, in expert control of the work’s... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2018, Editor's Choice
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Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia antartica & Symphony No 9
Elizabeth Watts (soprano), BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
This could be just the recording both these symphonies need. —
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Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos 6 & 8
Roderick Williams (baritone), BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Martyn Brabbins
Even against formidable competition [in No. 6], Martyn Brabbins impresses handsomely. Nothing is forced – the fury and the anguish, the grandeur and the desolation seem almost to speak for themselves. —
