Poster Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote pastoral music during profoundly turbulent times.
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Performance Today®

Ravel's student and friend

At the age of 35, English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams went to Paris to study with Maurice Ravel. They worked together intensely for several months, after which Ravel gave him a great compliment. He said Vaughan Williams was his only student who didn't try to write exactly like Ravel himself. On today's show, we'll take you to Charleston, South Carolina, to hear the Piano Quintet by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Concert Suite No. 6: La Poule (The Hen)
Musicians of the Louvre | Marc Minkowski, conductor
Album: Rameau: Une Symphonie Imaginaire
Archiv 4478

Samuel Dushkin: Sicilienne for Violin and Piano
Axel Strauss, violin | Michael Brown, piano
Music in the Vineyards, Silverado Vineyards, Napa, CA

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Pieces de Clavecin en Concert, No. 1 in C minor
Emi Ferguson, flute | William Short, bassoon | Paolo Bordignon, harpsichord
Camerata Pacifica, Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, CA

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Piano Quintet in C minor
Stephen Prutsman, piano | Owen Dalby, violin | Lesley Robertson, viola | Christopher Costanza, cello | Anthony Manzo, double bass
Spoleto Festival USA Chamber Music Series, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, SC

Hour 2

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4: 4. Allegro
Tokyo String Quartet
Album: Beethoven: The  Early String Quartets / Tokyo String Quartet
RCA 61284

Stephen Flaherty, arr. Robert W. Smith: Highlights from Ragtime
Aspen Music Festival Orchestral Ensemble | Lawrence Isaacson, conductor
Aspen Music Festival and School, Benedict Music Tent, Aspen, CO

Henri Tomasi: Cinq Danses Profanes et Sacrees
Lucy Song, flute | Peter Davies, oboe | Harrison Kim, clarinet | Jerver Hernandez, bassoon | Dana Reckard, horn
Round Top Music Festival, Festival Concert Hall, Round Top, TX

Ludwig van Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69
Thomas Mesa, cello | Ilya Yakushev, piano
Honest Brook Music Festival, Honest Brook Farm, Delhi, NY

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