On Wenlock Edge

Ralph Vaughan Williams has composed some of the 20th century's most beloved symphonic works (The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on a Theme of Tallis), yet most listeners are unaware of the diversity of style and influence that lies behind these quintessentially “English” masterpieces. Vaughan Williams had received a top musical education, and by the end of his teens had already produced a body of respectable—if somewhat derivative—works. A small crisis followed as the young composer felt he had come to a dead end. He sought instruction abroad, first with Max Bruch (1897), but more importantly with Maurice Ravel in early 1908. Contact with Ravel re-juvenated Vaughan Williams' creative energy, which burst forth in the remarkable song set, On Wenlock Edge, based on poems by A. E. Housman. It was premiered in late 1909 and signals the arrival of a mature, confident compositional voice.
Ravel's influence fills the opening page of On Wenlock Edge, with its glistening high string textures and tight parallel harmonies. The central image of a storm carries the music from rapture to straight narration; even when quiet, Vaughan Williams maintains a hushed agitation. The second song opens with rippling modal harmonies in imitation of Fauré, and Vaughan Williams alternates between piano and strings to reinforce divisions in Housman's brilliant, brief poem. The composer's interest in folksong impacts the opening stanza of the third song, which speaks powerfully from the grave. A rapid progression from serenity to extreme agitation aptly expresses both the bustle of farm life and the pain of loss. Vaughan Williams seems well-attuned to Housman's violent emotional contrasts. The fourth song is the shortest and most conventional of the six. If nothing else, it clears the air for the set's finest number, Bredon Hill. Here are hints of the Fantasias to come. The opening suggestion of bells becomes overt in the central section, but when death comes for the beloved, how differently do the bells speak then. Vaughan Williams wonderfully captures Housman's angry resistance to the divine, whose presence often means pain and sorrow. The poem's evolution toward resigned, almost hypnotic acceptance inspires a haunting and austere finish. The composer chose well to close the set with a more conventional work, the strophic song Clun, which probes the resting place of life's burdens. Chromatic lines and gently rocking piano chords help dissipate the hero's frustration, unlocking a gateway to a placid ending over muted strings. On Wenlock Edge marked a breakthrough for Vaughan Williams. Today it is noted for its novel instrumentation (tenor, string quartet and piano) and venerated among the best vocal collections in English.

(c) Jason Stell