Vaughan Williams: Riders To the Sea, Op. 1, Household Music

Alternating between long-breathed lyricism and moments of obvious pain, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Flos Campi has never really found itself in the mainstream concert repertoire, maybe because its title misleadingly suggests jolly music. + Household Music has equally suffered; its title rather an off-hand one for pieces that at their best show the composer’s brilliance as an arranger. + Riders to the Sea is a masterpiece, the finest as well as the most concentrated of his stage works. + Recorded in 1995, this Chandos re-release honors the legacy of the late English conductor Sir Richard Hickox.