Audition: Vaughan Williams - Sym No 6, Thomson

 

Bryden Thomson, London Symphony Orchestra 1988.

Bryden Thompson (1928 1991) undertook a Vaughan Williams Symphony cycle in the late 1980s for the Chandos label.  The LSO hadn’t recorded  a cycle of these works  since the cycle under André Previn (for RCA) in the period (1968 - 1972)

This Sixth is quite unlike any performance on record I’ve heard so far.

Close examination reveals a number of problems but I say without hesitation it’s hard to warm to this reading.

The original Gramophone magazine reviewer made much of the fleetness and whilst it’s brisk that wasn’t a problem for me.

There are some thrilling moments where the LSO brass speak with a finesse and ferocity and in the main the woodwind principles were superb, especially the saxophone & bassoon.  There were two huge jarring aspects to the recording which reduce my appreciation of it:

First  there’s a palpable feeling that some sections were recorded on the fly- all the signs are there too: insecure on ensemble, cautious and unstable timpani plus that general scappiness which suggests more of rehearsal would have been nice.

The second problem was the recording presented an incomplete picture. Instruments went missing in the recording (a rare thing in a Chandos recording) Often the the instruments providing most colour were missing.

We have also to ask what the recording engineers were doing in the sessions and why Thomson approved this result.

All in all this is something of a missed opportunity from a source where I wouldn’t have expected. It is also shows what a tricky work.

As in most recordings, the final nail in the coffin is that last quite movement was not only too loud, but also too rich,

Interpretation 5 out of 10

Performance 6 out of 10

Recording 4 out of 10