Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ralph Vaughn Williams

It's the 50th anniversary of his passing.

Here's something to get your primed:

"Williams was bossy, and thought the harpsichord sucked ("never a pleasant sound"). He was also pretty stern about orchestras - or rather he imagined the orchestras that Bach faced were "ramshackle", the voices in the choir "not good", and the performances themselves "not witty". Williams was all for modern interpretations. To plonk away on a virginal through "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" was his idea of hell. He preferred the wind machine."


Read the rest of here.

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