Fantasia

I fell in love again with this symphony. It's not like me. So I had to write.

Ralph Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia surrounds the soul. The chord changes melt you like butter on toast. And just when you've latched on to a moment of fullness -- started to settle in -- the depth of strings dissolves into a single thread. Almost silence.

It's a feast, presented, served - then coaxed away. Offered again carefully to be tasted delicately, and finally craved "...as if increase of appetite had grown with what if fed on." The best is last: the peace is as precious as the harmony.

I'm not a musical person. I don't own an mp3. My radio pre-sets are on talk stations. But I love this symphony. It is dark days and quiet snowfalls, with bright gatherings and rich feasts.

This is a two-part version of the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis recorded in Gloucester Cathedral. Turn it up loud.
Part 1
Part 2


Here is an 18 minute version with Christiaan Crans and the Iu Ad Hoc Orchestra.