Ralph Vaughan Williams Letter

I wrote this to the Editor of RVW Society Magazine in the first rush of enthusiasm for the DVD: "O Thou Transcendent" produced by Tony Palmer. I have since had more reservations.......I don't much care for his "Ken Russel" type superficial approach which seems more blantant on more viewings . But the contributions of those who knew RVW well are invaluable and moving, and the music is fine.

Dear Editor,

“O Thou Transcendent”

I ordered my copy of the Tony Palmer DVD as soon as it became available, and waited eagerly for it to arrive. When it finally came, I loaded it into my computer immediately. After a struggle to get out of the introductory loop which endlessly repeated the first few bars of the Sea Symphony ( I’m now very familiar with those bars), I was finally able, after much clicking of the mouse, to progress into the main film. I was not disappointed. It was everything I had hoped for. How marvelous to get all that splendid testimony from those who were closest to RVW! How wonderful to hear those consistently excellent performances of his music! Palmer is to be congratulated for assembling all these elements to produce such a rounded portrait of the composer. Perhaps he lingers a little on the dark side, but his expressed intention is to move beyond the image of cuddly old “Uncle Ralph” and he has certainly achieved that purpose. However, the grim images of war in the trenches, etc, are tempered by the light in other places and the obvious deep affection shown by all those who knew the composer. I found myself close to tears at several points, most notably at the noble image of Adrian Boult conducting the Romanza from the 5th Symphony. Absolutely no histrionics. Surely, of all conductors, Boult remains the one most perfectly suited to perform Vaughan Williams’ music.

I think Palmer also gets the disputed question of RVW’s religious views exactly right. He ses him as a lifelong pilgrim who had looked into the abyss and preserved some hope but also plenty of doubt. The Archbishop of Canterbury, surely an authority on the subject, appears in the film to say: “Vaughan Williams wouldn’t have thanked us for pretending he was an orthodox believer. He recognized that the English music tradition couldn’t be understood without the Christian Church in it, and also that religious music articulated things that couldn’t be understood anywhere else”. I hope this will finally silence those who persist in seeing the composer as some sort of closet Christian, but I doubt it.

Nothing’s perfect, and I have a few small gripes. Although the music is splendid, Palmer’s choice of it to illustrate certain actions seems to me to have an unwelcome touch of Ken Russell, particularly in the more intimate scenes. I would have liked to have had fewer repeats, making way for music that wasn’t included. Why wasn’t the Pastoral Symphony used to accompany some of the war scenes? Why not also include the Piano Concerto, a much underrated work? Biggest gripe of all: the person chosen to speak RVW’s own words had a rather smug intonation that is totally uncharacteristic.

But having got those off my chest, this is truly something to treasure; a penetrating portrait of RVW the human being, by those who knew and loved him, accompanied by
some of the music that we love, that never fails to take us beyond ourselves. The best Christmas present I’ve ever received. Thank you, Tony Palmer.

Michael Farman
Palestine, Texas.