Audition: Vaughan Williams, Symphony No. 8 - Rozdestvensky

Rozhdestvensky — USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra

(Complete cycle recorded 1988–89 on Melodiya)

This symphony is often linked with wedding bells, as Vaughan Williams remarried around the time it was written. It’s generally seen as serene, playful and comic, but it also has real beauty and sophistication—and it can be easily ruined.There are echoes of RVWs earlier string writing and in the scherzo echoes of earlier sprightliness of Ravel's works.

Although Rozhdestvensky was a long-time advocate of Vaughan Williams and recorded a full symphony cycle in Moscow, this is clearly not a work that spent much time on the orchestra’s stands. Several issues stand out, especially in the crucial percussion lines. Overall, the percussion is poor, and the badly played gongs—so important to the texture—only highlight the weaknesses.

The strings lack the needed richness, though not for lack of the usual full-throated Russian sound. The brass often plays well, but the internal balance seems off, and Rozhdestvensky seems intent on pushing through the score without exploring its deeper moments. This is a glorious work for strings, and here they are not well served.

The recording doesn’t help: it’s close, harsh, and tends to spotlight the brass, which frequently overwhelms other instruments in a symphony that relies on a very delicate balance.

In the end, it’s an interesting and, as far as I know, unique perspective on the symphony—but the positives can’t outweigh the many rough edges.

Interpretation: 4/10

Performance: 4/10

Recording: 4/10