In Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra (“Concerto Accademico”), vibrant neoclassical counterpoint meets the sunny strains of an English country fiddler.
Completed in 1925, the Concerto was dedicated to the Hungarian violinist, Jelly d’Aranyi, who gave the premiere with Anthony Bernard and the London Chamber Orchestra on November 6, 1925. Initially, the work was called “Concerto Accademico,” but Vaughan Williams came to dislike the title and withdrew it prior to a performance with Yehudi Menuhin in September, 1954.
Composed in the wake of the First World War, Vaughan Williams’ Concerto takes on a dreamy emotional detachment. It escapes to a magical and timeless landscape, permeated with the sounds of English folk music. Unfolding as a vibrant contrapuntal dialogue, it is also Vaughan Williams’ homage to J.S. Bach. The first movement (Allegro peasante) begins with the same vigorous rhythm which opens Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor BWV 1041. The influence of Bach’s Double Concerto for two violins (BWV 1043), a piece which Vaughan Williams especially loved, can be heard throughout. In terms of atmosphere, the music remains rooted in the serene hedgerow-dotted pastures of England’s “green and pleasant land.” The lush majesty of the “string choir,” a sound embraced by numerous English composers, is on full display.
The second movement (Adagio) is filled with hazy nostalgia and lament. In the opening bars, the wandering, introspective theme, which emerges over a recurring descending bass line, is introduced by the solo cello. There are echoes of the ethereal pentatonic lines of Vaughan Williams’ 1914 romance, The Lark Ascending. In climactic moments, against a veiled backdrop of muted strings, the solo violin soars as a shimmering, angelic voice.
The final movement (Presto) is an exuberant jig. Its theme was taken from Act II, scene 2 of Vaughan William’s 1914 opera, Hugh the Drover. In the final moments, the music drifts away mysteriously into the shadows.
This recording features violinist Bradley Creswick with Richard Hickox and the Northern Sinfonia of England:
I. Allegro pesante:
II. Adagio:
III. Presto:
Recordings
- Vaughan Williams: Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra (Concerto Accademico), Bradley Creswick, Richard Hickox, Northern Sinfonia of England Amazon
Featured Image: “Morning in November” (1922), Sir George Clausen