On British Composers and the English Landscape

An excellent article by Philip Clark in the Financial Times today.

An interesting observation on The Lark Ascending:

"Vaughan Williams knew all about how idyllic landscapes could be turned on their dark side. By 1920, when he came to complete The Lark Ascending, a “pastoral romance for violin and orchestra”, he had endured the traumas of the trenches as a member of the field ambulance corps. Did The Lark Ascending, begun in all innocence, now stand as their memorial – the image of the lark symbolising a flight from horror?"