A London Symphony

A London Symphony is the second symphony composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The work is sometimes referred to as the Symphony No. 2, though not so designated by the composer.

First performed in 1914, the four-movement symphony has an interesting history, as it was lost, reconstructed and later modified by Vaughan Williams.

Structure

Vaughan Williams said that while the title may suggest a programmatic piece (and the work includes sounds to be heard in London such as the Westminster Quarters), it was intended to be heard as absolute music. In a programme note in 1920, he suggested that "Symphony by a Londoner" might be a better title.^[1] However, he allowed the conductor Albert Coates to provide elaborate descriptions for the 1920 performance.

The symphony is in four movements.

1. Lento – Allegro risoluto

The symphony opens quietly, and after a few nocturnal bars, the Westminster chimes are heard, played on the harp. After a silent pause, the allegro risoluto section, much of it triple forte, is vigorous and brisk, and the ensuing second subject, dominated by the wind and brass, is no less so (evoking "Hampstead Heath on an August Bank Holiday")^[2]. After a contrasting gentle interlude scored for string sextet and harp the vigorous themes return and bring the movement to a lively close.

2. Lento

Vaughan Williams said that the slow movement is intended to evoke "Bloomsbury Square on a November afternoon".^[2] Quiet themes led in turn by cor anglais, flute, trumpet and viola eventually give way to a grave, impassioned forte section, after which the movement gradually subsides into its original quiet dynamic.

3. Scherzo (Nocturne)

In the composer’s words, "If the listener will imagine himself standing on Westminster Embankment at night, surrounded by the distant sounds of The Strand, with its great hotels on one side and the 'New Cut' on the other, with its crowded streets and flaring lights, it may serve as a mood in which to listen to this movement."^[2] In the definitive score, the movement revolves around two scherzo themes, the first marked fugato and the second straightforward and lively.

4. Finale – Andante con moto – Maestoso alla marcia – Allegro – Lento – Epilogue

The finale opens on a grave march theme, punctuated with a lighter allegro section. After the reappearance of the march, the main allegro theme of the first movement returns, the Westminster chimes strike again, and there is a quiet Epilogue, inspired by the last chapter of H.G. Wells's novel Tono-Bungay:^[2]

"The last great movement in the London Symphony in which the true scheme of the old order is altogether dwarfed and swallowed up.... Light after light goes down. England and the Kingdom, Britain and the Empire, the old prides and the old devotions, glide abeam, astern, sink down upon the horizon, pass – pass. The river passes – London passes, England passes...."^[3]

History and versions

The symphony was composed from 1912 to 1913. It is dedicated to Vaughan Williams's friend and fellow composer George Butterworth (1885-1916) who was killed by a sniper on the Somme during World War I. It was Butterworth who had first encouraged Vaughan Williams to write a purely orchestral symphony.^[4]

The work was first performed on 27 March 1914 at Queen's Hall, conducted by Geoffrey Toye. The performance was a success, but shortly thereafter the score was lost after being sent to the conductor Fritz Busch in Germany at almost the same time as the outbreak of World War I. The composer, aided by Toye, Butterworth and the critic E. J. Dent, reconstructed the score from the orchestral parts, and the reconstruction was performed on 11 February 1915 under Dan Godfrey.^[4]

The symphony went through several revisions before reaching its final form. Vaughan Williams revised it for a performance in March 1918, and again in 1919–20. This second revision became the first published version and was recorded for the gramophone in 1941 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Eugène Goossens.^[5]

While he was working on his fourth symphony in 1933, Vaughan Williams made time to revise A London Symphony yet again.^[5] He regarded this version, which was published in 1936,^[4] as the definitive one, and it is this version that entered the repertoire, being played in concert and on record by many conductors.^[5] However, in 2001, when the composer's widow, Ursula, gave permission for a recording (and later a concert performance) of the original 1914 score, there was a widely-expressed view among music critics that although the definitive edition was more concise and tautly constructed than the first version, the composer had cut many bars of interesting music.^[5][6][7] One writer commented: "The 1913 score is more meditative, dark-shaded and tragic in tone, almost Mahleresque in its inclusiveness. By 1933 Vaughan Williams's concept of symphonic architecture was becoming more aligned with a Sibelian logic and severity."^[5]

The main differences between the first and last versions may be summarised as follows:

• First movement: None: the 1914 version remained unchanged in all revisions.
• Slow movement: 52 bars of the 1914 score were cut in 1933/36, chiefly from the quiet coda.
• Scherzo: At the end of the original is a dark andantino passage, of which no trace survives in the definitive version.
• Finale: In the 1914 score, the central E minor section, familiar in the definitive text, is interrupted by an orchestral "cry of anguish" based on the opening theme, after which the allegro resumes. After the conclusion of the allegro section, the 1914 score has a long andantino section for strings and woodwinds later dismissed by Vaughan Williams as "a bad hymn tune". Finally, the original Epilogue extends to 105 bars.^[5]

The final version is more than twenty minutes shorter than the original, as some indicative timings show:

1914 version:

• London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox: 61:19 (I: 15:04; II: 16:16; III: 11:04; IV: 18:50)^[8]

1933/36 revision:

• Queen's Hall Orchestra/Sir Henry Wood (rec 1936): 37:09 (I:11:40: II:8:39; III: 5:21; IV: 10:49)^[9]
• London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult (rec 1971): 43:03 (I: 14:24; II: 9:32; III:7:07; IV:12:00)^[10]

Notes