Arranger’s note A work
Arranger’s note A work held in as much affection as The Lark Ascending deserves particular respect from any arranger. Nevertheless, Vaughan Williams’s pragmatic approach to music-making is well-known, with phrases often cued in to other parts to cover instruments that might not be available. A performance in some reasonable shape or form was more important to him than the ‘purity’ of the original concept. One may imagine Vaughan Williams, himself a regular arranger and a proponent of musical inclusiveness, sanctioning a choral backdrop to his lark. The first orchestral performance, in 1921, came at a time when the wordless chorus was much in vogue, and the composer himself often used the sound to create a spiritual or mystical effect. Flos Campi (1925) is an obvious example. Wordless vocal lines in this arrangement may use the vowel sounds shown or be adapted at the discretion of the conductor. The suggested half-open ‘uh’ appears in several of Vaughan Williams’s own choral pieces. This sound may be closed further to a hum or opened to a full ‘ah’, as the musical and poetic sense suggests. for online perusal only With a ‘romance’ overtly inspired by one specific poem it would seem appropriate to graft some of those same words onto the vocal lines—and more appropriate still with a composer so wedded to the English folk-song tradition. The accompaniment already features some very clear folk-song moments. Many pastoral poems might have served the purpose but the original George Meredith verses, known and loved by the composer, seem a fitting tribute. Only the extracts quoted at the head of Vaughan Williams’s score have been used, turning out to be a comfortable fit to the existing music without any painful dislocation of words or rhythms. I hope that this arrangement of a much-loved work might join a growing list of pieces (Barber’s Adagio, Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’, even various Mahler items) for which choral versions have helped spread their reach further, to new listeners and performers alike. Duration: 15 minutes This note may be reproduced as required for programme notes.
to Simon Phipps and The Swedish Chamber Choir The Lark Ascending George Meredith (1828–1909) VIOLIN Andante sostenuto & # ∑ ∑ 1 senza misura R. VAUGHAN WILLIAMS arr. Paul Drayton Cadenza Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 6 8 6 pp sur la touche SOPRANO SOLO & # 8 ∑ ∑ U ∑ 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 ALTO SOLO & # ∑ ∑ U ∑ TENOR SOLO & ‹ # ∑ ∑ U ∑ BARITONE SOLO ?# ∑ ∑ U ∑ SOPRANO ° & # ∑ ∑ U ∑ ALTO & # ppp œ œ j œ for online perusal only U œ œ œ j ˙ (stagger breathing) TENOR & ‹ # mm ppp œ œ j œ mm U œ œ œ j ˙ (stagger breathing) mm mm BASS ?# ¢ ppp œ # œ j œ œ ˙ œ U œ # œ j œ ˙ (stagger breathing) mm mm The original version of The Lark Ascending, for solo violin and orchestra, is available on sale (full score: ISBN 978–0–19–369203–9; reduction for violin and piano: ISBN 978–0–19–336009–9). The solo violin part in this arrangement for mixed voices is identical to the part for solo violin in the original version of The Lark Ascending. © Oxford University Press 1925. This arrangement © Oxford University Press 2019. Printed in Great Britain OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, MUSIC DEPARTMENT, GREAT CLARENDON STREET, OXFORD OX2 6DP The Moral Rights of the Composer have been asserted. Photocopying this copyright material is ILLEGAL.
