Ian Foster asks:

>I possess at least one recording of every Vaughan Williams symphony, except
>No 8.  Could anyone suggest a suitable version of this work, which I've
>never heard - not even on the radio?

#8 is for me the runt of the litter, VW in quirky mood.  Boult is a safe
bet for most people in any of the symphonies.  His later version is coupled
with #9 on EMI, the mono 50s recordings are all on Belart.  I have several
Previns of other symphonies which lead me to think his 8th would be very
satisfying.  There are at least other versions by Handley, Andrew Davis,
Thomson and Slatkin but the couplings mean you'll probably finish up with
another #2, which is the symphony I like most.  My favourite is an old
Barbirolli/Halle.

>I've just ordered a new release of the mighty Sixth by Bernard Haitink,
>coupled with two pieces I don't possess at present, 'On Wenlock Edge' and
>a piece I've long desired, i.e.  'In the Fen Country'.  Has anyone else
>heard this yet? What do others think about the rest of Haitink's Vaughan
>Williams cycle? Has Haitink recorded No 8 yet? (I don't think so, but I
>may have missed it).

I've only heard Haitink's 1st and 7th.  They might sound a bit deliberate
and calculating for some tastes but I think they're excellent.  There's a
song from On Wenlock Edge (Ian Bostridge) on the Gramophone cover CD for
February which I thought very special - this appears to be the first
recording of the orchestral version.  Haitink hasn't done #8 yet and at the
rate he's doing them, it may be some years before it appears - I bought #7
in 1987.

A Vaughan Williams anecdote: At the rehearsal for the first performance
of, I think, the 4th, a musician queried a note in his part.  The great man
peered at the score and observed, "It looks wrong and it sounds wrong, but
it's right!"

Richard Pennycuick
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