On this new album from LSO Live, Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a pair of evocative British works-Ralph Vaughan Williams's expansive Symphony No.1, A Sea Symphony and Elizabeth Maconchy's dream-like Nocturne for Orchestra. Premiered in 1910, Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.1 was the first choral symphony of it's kind by a British composer. This blazing celebration of the sea transforms text from Walt Whitman's visionary poetry into an epic orchestral voyage. Brought to life by star soloists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Will Liverman and the London Symphony Chorus, alongside the LSO, this epic performance is another magnificent addition to Pappano's ongoing Vaughan Williams symphony cycle. Composed in 1950, Maconchy's Nocturne for Orchestra depicts a meditative yet unsettling night under a journeying moon. Despite the pastoral influence of her formative teacher Vaughan Williams, this atmospheric miniature more closely reflects the composer's interest in central European modernism. While not often performed, the shimmering melodies and mysterious harmonies of Nocturne for Orchestra create a thought-provoking and memorable work.
