Ralph Vaughan Williams was one of the most important English composers of the 20th century. His orchestral interpretations of his country's traditional Tudor and folk music are famous and beloved around the world. His work encompassed a broad emotional pallette, the full range of human feeling. One of my favorite musical explorations ever is Vaughan William's FANTASIA ON A THEME BY THOMAS TALLIS, which gently probes a work by another famed English composer of the 16th century. It comes as close as anything I have ever heard to a pure aural distillation of the human spirit melding with the divine. One can never hear it and ever feel the same again.
This recording is a great personal acquisition, a thoughtful gift to a well loved friend or family member. It is joy for the heart and balm for the soul. It doesn't matter what your musical tastes are, about an hour plus spent with the orchestras, conductors and soloist on this album will change you...for the better...for the rest of your life.