Ralph Vaughan Williams - Linden Lea

A beautiful piece of choral music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, inspired by the beauty of nature. The lyrics are a pastoral poem by William Barnes, in this, a very rich and pleasing Dorset folk song.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Linden
• Lea

[Lydiard91]

I'm sorry, but your description is so inaccurate. Firstly, it was not written as a choral piece, only for a single voice, and secondly, it is not actually a folk song.

[TheClassicalCritic]

@Lydiard91 I'm sorry but you are wrong. The original version, Linden Lea by Vaughan Williams was indeed a piece for solo voice but as you can hear very clearly in the video he also arranged it for a choir, therefore it is a piece of "choral music" undisputedly. I, at no point in my description said it was originally choral music. And secondly, the full title of this piece is "Linden Lea, A Dorset Folk Song," as named by RVW himself, he was well known for his inspiration from English folk music.

[Lydiard91]

@TheClassicalCritic The first folk-song that inspired him directly was 'Bushes and Briars' in 1903 in Essex. Linden Lea was a poem by Barnes, it was not a folk-song.

[TheClassicalCritic]

@Lydiard91 I don't think you seem to have any understanding of Vaughan Williams' Work whatsoever. It is pratically all based on or inspired by folk music! There are so many folk features to be found here, pentatonicism, simple melody and harmony, a subject matter of rural landscape. By saying it isn't a folk song you are not only arguing against me but also the composer. I will repeat, the full title of this piece is "Linden Lea, A Dorset FOLK SONG," as named by RVW himself!

[MrDavidCrosbie]

@TheClassicalCritic Nobody can deny that Vaughn Williams drew a great deal from folk music. He collected folk songs, he arranged folk songs, he composed works that combined or incorporated folk songs. But this is not a folk song. It's a dialect poem translated into Standard English resulting in a text that is nothing like a folk song text. VW's setting is folk-like, and might have even have been absorbed into the folk tradition if the words had been more compatible. A lovely art song, though.

[jentlee1]

@xoeurowillowxo I don't know where you are but I agree with your remarks. It's all the rain that keeps it green. Sadly a diminishing countryside yearly with all the building to house the 65 million now living on these small islands. .

[silharima]

What an exquisite version, and the photo show accompanying it is the crown conferred on this gorgeous musical arrangement. This song and I are very old friends.

[disneylandman66]

@jej21155 You can find a CD called "Early One Morning" by Edward Higginbottom and the Choir of New College, Oxford

[jej21155]

The tempo, phrasing and expression are superb.... have to know who is singing!!

[jej21155]

If you please = which group is singing? Who recorded this version?

[kamadafuji]

Thanks for posting this - it is so very lovely