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Vaughan Williams - Scott of the Antarctic (complete)

£14.67

Usually available for despatch within 3-5 working days

Label: Dutton - Epoch

Cat No: CDLX7340

Barcode: 0765387734022

Format: Hybrid SACD

Number of Discs: 1

Release Date: 5th May 2017

Works

Vaughan Williams, Ralph

Scott of the Antarctic

Artists

Ilona Domnich (soprano)
Christopher Nickol (organ)
Women of the RSNO Chorus
Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Conductor

Martin Yates

Works

Vaughan Williams, Ralph

Scott of the Antarctic

Artists

Ilona Domnich (soprano)
Christopher Nickol (organ)
Women of the RSNO Chorus
Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Conductor

Martin Yates

About

It is a revelation to hear every note that Vaughan Williams wrote, late in 1947, for the then unmade film Scott of the Antarctic. There have been previous attempts to revisit some of the unused music he sketched for the film, but now conductor Martin Yates, with the support of the composer’s estate, has transcribed from the original manuscripts all the music, comprising some 41 beautifully rounded numbers. Vaughan Williams subsequently reworked some of this material in the Sinfonia Antartica, but on this recording we are able to hear for the first time his vivid reaction to the story, before the film was even shot. Standing independently beside the Sinfonia Antartica, this is a gripping symphonic experience in its own right.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Main Title [“Heroism”] (Andante Maestoso)
2

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Antarctic Prologue (Lento)
3

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Oriana [Wilson’s Wife] (Lento Movimento – Andante)
4

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Doom [Oriana’s First Meeting With Scott] (Lento)
5

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Sculpture Scene Part 1 [Kathleen Scott And Her Husband] Kathleen 1 (Andante Sostenuto – Lento – Adagio)
6

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Sculpture Scene Part 2 [Kathleen 2] (Andante – Lento)
7

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Nansen (Andante Misterioso – Allegretto)
8

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Scott And Oates In The Rain (Lento)
9

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Office (Allegro)
10

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Queen’s Birthday March (Tempo Di Marcia)
11

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Ship’s Departure From Cardiff (Lento Ma Non Troppo – Pochiss. Meno Mosso)
12

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Amundsen (Lento)
13

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Ice Floes (Allegretto – Moderato)
14

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Iceberg (Lento)
15

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Penguin Dance (Molto Moderato)
16

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Ross Island (Lento)
17

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - The Ship’s Departure From Ross Island (Allegro Con Marcia)
18

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Base Camp (Moderato)
19

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Aurora 1 (Molto Lento)
20

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Pony March [Baltic Fleet] (Allegretto Alla Marcia)
21

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Pony March 2 (Andante Con Marcia – Allegro)
22

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Pony March And Aphelion (Moderato Alla Marcia)
23

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Blizzard (Andante Con Moto – Poco Piu Lento)
24

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Distant Glacier (Andante Misterioso)
25

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Climbing The Glacier (Lento)
26

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Scott On The Glacier 1 [Version 1] (Risoluto – Andante)
27

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Scott On The Glacier 2 [Version 2] (Andante Maestoso)
28

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Snow Plain [Scott’s Decision] (Lento)
29

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Kathleen 3 (Andante Sostenuto)
30

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Polar Party Departs 1 (Moderato Alla Marcia E Pesante)
31

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Polar Party Departs 2 (Moderato Alla Marcia E Pesante)
32

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - No. 101 March (Alla Marcia)
33

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Black Flag (Andante Moderato)
34

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - The Return (Andante Alla Marcia – Allegro)
35

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Descending The Glacier (Lento)
36

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - The Death Of Evans [Extended Version] (Lento – Lamentoso)
37

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - The Death Of Oates (Lento – Maestoso)
38

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Aurora 2 (Maestoso)
39

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - Only Eleven Miles (Lento)
40

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - The Discovery Of The Tent And The Bodies (Lento Moderato)
41

Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic - End Music (Andante Sostenuto – Maestoso)

Europadisc Review

Vaughan Williams’s music for Charles Frend’s 1948 movie Scott of the Antarctic is not only his most substantial film score but also, thanks to its redeployment in the Sinfonia antartica (1949-52), by far his best known. The music plays a central role in the movie, capturing the vastness of the Antarctic landscape, its austere beauty and menace, but also the scale of the human endeavour and tragedy. The film’s recent splendid restoration (2016) is worth revisiting not only for the quality of the cinematography, but also inter alia for Reginald Beckwith’s marvellous portrayal of the unsung hero of Scott’s ill-fated expedition, Lt ‘Birdie’ Bowers. Yet it has to be said that the quality of the soundtrack itself is now poor, doing little justice to its rendition by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Ealing Studios’ music director Ernest Irving.

Happily, there are other options for those wanting the music on disc. Until now, the most complete recording of the score has been the 41-minute suite recorded by Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos’s film music series. When, in 1947, Irving had approached Vaughan Williams to write music for the forthcoming film, the composer had gone away with just a draft script and a copy of Apsley Cherry Garrard’s first-hand account of Scott’s expedition, The Worst Journey in the World. Inspired by the setting but also appalled by what he saw as the amateurishness of the expedition, Vaughan Williams went to work quickly, and by early 1948 he had finished the score for a film that had yet to be shot! The music was duly recorded by Irving, and only later was it edited to the needs of the film. Gamba’s recording included many numbers either abridged or altogether unused altogether in the film, and was eagerly snapped up by aficionados of Vaughan Williams’s music.

Now Dutton Epoch, with support from the Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust, have gone even further, restoring not only some items from the autograph score left out by Chandos but also passages from Vaughan Williams’s original drafts. The result is a staggering 79 minutes of music, including a delightful portrait of Oriana (wife of the expedition’s scientist, Dr E.A. Wilson), vignettes of Scott’s wife, Kathleen, and a substantial expansion in the number of cues (or movements) for the outward and fateful return treks.

This has clearly been a labour of love on the part of conductor Martin Yates, who has transcribed and edited the music with the help of Emma Syrus, and the result is a score that not only dwarfs the Sinfonia antarctica in dimensions, but is almost as long as the original film itself. While many of the extra numbers are based on existing musical ideas, Yates’s careful ordering of the cues means that the entire narrative of the film now unfolds purely musically. Indeed, for some listeners the transparently episodic nature of the score may speak more powerfully than the Sinfonia antarctica, which is arguably less a symphony than a symphonic suite or synthesis. In any event, the music gathered here provides fascinating insights into the development of both the film and the later symphony. Taken as a whole, the complete score not only mirrors the structure of the film itself, but captures the same combination of optimism, good humour, trepidation, gritty determination and elemental struggle. In Yates’s words, ‘ its vastness somehow directly parallel[s] the wastes of the territory Scott was attempting to conquer…’

Although Gamba and the BBCPO on Chandos reveal more of the shorter score’s textural detail, the less analytical microphone placement of the Dutton disc creates a more natural sound-picture that lends greater cogency to the complete score, its massiveness and slow-moving harmonies. Moments like the sighting of the first ice floes (track 13) or the shimmering vision of the Beardmore Glacier (track 24) still send a tingle down the spine, and there’s even an entertaining pastiche of a military march as the Terra Nova prepares to leave New Zealand (or Cardiff, as the cues have it).

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra are on top form throughout, animating even the briefest of numbers, and bringing immense power to the big scenescapes, while soprano Ilona Domnich and the women of the RSNO Chorus lend an appropriate sense of primordial mystery to the wordless vocal passages. There’s no question that listeners wanting Vaughan Williams’s most famous film score should now go for this disc, not least for its completeness and generous playing time. With illuminating notes by Lewis Foreman and Yates himself, and fine engineering, it’s a tremendously handsome package.

Reviews

The spectacular set pieces are given full measure by Yates and the RSNO, with the Russian soprano Ilona Domnich adding her own icy tones to those bleak landscapes. As a performance it’s in line with the dignified approach to Scott’s adventure taken by the director of the film, Charles Frend. The recording has a weight and a transparency of detail which does full justice to the panoply of colours. Adrian Edwards

Gramophone September 2017

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Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Vaughan Williams - Scott of the Antarctic (complete)

Usually available for despatch within 3-5 working days

Despatch Information

Contents

Works

Artists

Conductor

Works

Artists

Conductor

About

Sound/Video

Paused

Europadisc Review

Reviews

Also Available

£9.15

£14.67

£14.67

£14.67

£9.15

Condition Information

Condition Information