Humor in Music

 

Ralph Vaughan Williams was no stranger.

Classical Music bears an unfair label as being too serious and dry. Dig just a little beneath the surface, though, and there are many examples of wit to be found.

Five Tudor Portraits, a cantata from Vaughan Williams, is one such example, mainly due to its rustic poetic sources. Personally, I also find the Lament for Philip Sparrow unintentionally funny, but that is a personal problem. Another great cantata from the British master, paired with a lush Dives and Lazarus.

 

 A review from 2005

Five Tudor Portraits, texts by medieval poet John Skelton, are five character pieces set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Some are rather ribald while others dwell on the sentimental side.

For example, the first portrait of Elinor Rumming, a bar mistress, tells of Elinor, her spirits, and all the characters which frequent her tavern (including drunken Alice, wonderfully portrayed by Jean Rigby). Quite the opposite, a song of unrequited love follows with John Shirley-Quirk singing of Pretty Bess. Third is John Jaybird of Diss, a grumpy man who passed away and nobody cares. Vaughan Williams does a quasi-Carmina Burana patter song in latin with mens chorus to give this portrait its medieval flair. The fourth and longest portrait is a lament for a pet sparrow. Here is where Vaughan Williams is at his best. It almost seems that the music and text have always been together. The singers' mood over the loss of her pet goes from disbelief, to blame, to eventual acceptance, all of which the music depicts. Add in chant from the Dies Irae and Libera Me sequence, and you have an intelligent, not tongue-in-cheek, but sincere protrayal of the death over a beloved pet. The fifth portrait ends the entire work as a scherzo, ending the work on an upbeat note. This work was hitherto unknown to me; it is plainly a lot of fun, along with a lush romantic scoring by Vaughan Williams.

As a bonus, Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus is included. Scored for multi-divisi strings and harps. The modal folk tune the work is based upon is haunting, and the thick orchestration evokes that character well. Vaughan Williams is obviously at home with setting folk music, and here it is done effectively and creatively.

This recording is a great success with only a quibble or two. The orchestra speaks well, although it overshadows the harps a bit in "Dives". The soloists in "Portraits" are outstanding, especially in creating sympathetic and believable characters. I wish the chorus were miked a little closer; in parts throughout, the 1st portrait especially, the chorus is recorded as an orchestral texture instead of an entity whose text needs to be transferred. The somewhat resonant hall adds a little to that problem. That put aside, this is a hidden gem in the rough. Great choral/orchestral music, not to mention a whole lot of fun.

 

 

 

Work
Five Tudor Portraits (44.48)
Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus (10.35)

Soloists
Jean Rigby, mezzo-soprano
John Shirley-Quirk, baritone

Performers
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox, conductor

Label: Chandos
Year: 1998
Total Timing: 55.32

 

 

 

While this Chandos recording was the first I was introduced to of RVW's Five Tudor Portraits, I have since found another from Sir David Willcocks. I enjoy that EMI performance marginally better, but either are worth investing in.

Especially to those who have a sense of humor.