Earth & Sky Vaughan Williams choral premiéres

"Earth and Sky" comprises fourteen choral works written by Ralph Vaughan Williams and a further eight arrangements made by him between 1896 and 1954 – very nearly the length of his working career. 21 of the 22 tracks are world premiere recordings and are performed by the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and William Van.

This varied collection includes salon music, folk song settings, hymns and anthems, patriotic songs and finally Gaelic songs in English translation. Vaughan Williams never repeated himself, and the variety on display here is quite astonishing.

The recording was made in February 2018 in St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead. William Vann directs the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and plays the piano for four tracks. Hugh Rowlands accompanies a further 9 tracks on the church's Willis organ.

An earlier release with William Vann as Director of Music, SOMMCD0161 Carols from Chelsea, earned critical press acclaim, Gramophone commenting on the "first-class personnel" and "tension and subtlety in the performances."

Track Listing:

1-3. Three Vocal Valses from The Songs of the Wrens
4. Sound Sleep
5. The Jolly Ploughboy
6. Old Folks at Home
7. A Farmer's Boy
8. The World it Went Well with Me Then
9. Tobacco's but an Indian Weed
10. The New Commonwealth
11. O Praise the Lord of Heaven
12. My Soul, Praise the Lord
13. Little Cloister
14. A Hymn of Freedom
15. England, My England
16. A Call to the Free Nations
17. The Airmen's Hymn
18. Land of Our Birth
19. Hymn for St. Margaret of Scotland
20-22. Three Gaelic Songs