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RVW150: From LSO St Luke's, the Nash Ensemble play Bruch's String Quintet in A minor and, with tenor Ben Johnson, Altes lied and Russisch, plus Vaughan Williams's On Wenlock Edge.

As part of Radio 3's season Vaughan Williams Today, celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth, another chance to hear an archive series from the Nash Ensemble performing at LSO St Luke's in London in 2017.

The UK's leading chamber group, the Nash Ensemble, celebrate two of the most tuneful of chamber music composers, Bruch and Vaughan Williams - and their little-known connection.

Bruch: Altes Lied, Op 7 No 1; Russisch, Op 7 No 3
Bruch: String Quintet in A minor
Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge
Ben Johnson (tenor)
Nash Ensemble

In 1897 the young Englishman Ralph Vaughan Williams spent an enjoyable few months in Berlin studying with the renowned German composer Max Bruch. "Bruch encouraged me," Vaughan Williams recalled, "and I had never had much encouragement before." Bruch's official testimonial for Vaughan Williams calls him "a very good musician and a talented composer"; Vaughan Williams also remembered Bruch appreciating his "ve-ry o-riginaal ideeas" - though not his harmonies, which were "rather too originell". Hearing their music together, the delightful surprise is discovering how much they had in common.

57 minutes

Last on

Fri 20 May 2022 13:00

Music Played

  • Max Bruch

    Altes lied; Russisch (Nos 1 and 3 of Six Songs, Op 7)

    Performer: Ian Brown. Singer: Ben Johnson.
  • Max Bruch

    String Quintet in A minor

    Ensemble: Nash Ensemble.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    On Wenlock Edge

    Singer: Ben Johnson. Ensemble: Nash Ensemble.

Broadcasts

  • Fri 7 Jul 2017 13:00
  • Fri 26 Apr 2019 13:00
  • Fri 20 May 2022 13:00