碟片编号：B-0288

唱片名称：拉赫玛尼诺夫&沃恩.威廉斯-交响曲

名称：SERGEI RACHMANINOV & RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS—Symphony No.3 in A minor & Symphony No.8
出品：DECCA，德国制造
年份：2001年出版
录制方式：ADD (96kHz, 24Bit)
唱片编号：468 490-2

Rachmaninov: Symphony No.3 in A minor, op.44*
Track 1 I. Lento – Allegro moderato 11’32”
Track 2 II. Adagio ma non troppo 12’00”
Track 3 III. Allegro 12’42”

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.8 in D minor
Track 4 I. Fantasia (Variazioni senza tema) 11’04”
Track 5 II. Scherzo alla Marcia (per stromenti a fiato) 3’55”
Track 6 III. Cavatina (per stromenti ad arco) 8’03”
Track 7 IV. Toccata 5’07”

演奏：London Philharmonic Orchestra
指挥：Sir Adrian Boult
录制于：Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, in July 1956* 和Kingsway Hall, London, in September 1956。

总播放时间：64’25”

作曲家简介：
谢尔盖?拉赫玛尼诺夫（Sergei Rachmaninov，1873 – 1943）
俄罗斯作曲家拉赫玛尼诺夫1873年4月1日生于诺夫戈罗德的奥涅格庄园。童年时代是在一个音乐环境中度过的，他的全家都是音乐爱好者。当他出生时，父亲是退休的官吏，一个很有天才的业余钢琴家，还作过曲。母亲是拉赫玛尼诺夫的第一个音乐教师。九岁时，他已经是圣彼得堡音乐学院的学生了。从1885年起，他跟莫斯科著名的钢琴家和钢琴教师兹威列夫学习钢琴。1889年，拉赫玛尼诺夫进入莫斯科音乐学院，跟俄国大钢琴家亚历山大?济罗齐学钢琴，跟谢尔盖?塔涅叶夫学专业音乐理论，跟安东?阿连斯基学作曲。1891年毕业于音乐学院的钢琴系，次年又毕业于作曲系。他的毕业作品独幕歌剧《阿列科》（脚本由符?聂米洛维奇—丹钦科根据普希金的诗《茨冈人》编写）是花了十七天功夫写成的，由于成绩优异，获得了金质奖章（最高奖）。从此拉赫玛尼诺夫开始了作曲家的生涯。他也是一个出色的钢琴家和指挥家，经常在音乐会上露脸。

他的大部分作品是在十月革命以前写的，包括两部交响曲、三部钢琴协奏曲、三部歌剧、交响诗、康塔塔，以及大量的浪漫曲和钢琴曲。其中如升f小调第一钢琴协奏曲（作品1号）和作品第4号中的几首浪漫曲（包括著名的《在寂静的神秘夜晚》），都是学生时代的作品。作品第3号的五首钢琴曲，是和《阿列科》（Aleko）同一年作的，其中第二首就是举世闻名的《升c小调前奏曲》，十九世纪九十年代济罗齐在伦敦的一次音乐会上演奏这个作品，引起了轰动一时的热烈赞赏。伦敦爱乐协会因此向拉赫玛尼诺夫发出邀请，请他在1898年音乐季节的一次音乐会上指挥了他自己的作品。

拉赫玛尼诺夫这一时期的作品，是以柴科夫斯基为楷模的。他曾说过：“在我年青时候，完全被柴科夫斯基的作品迷住了。”1893年柴科夫斯基去世，拉赫玛尼诺夫写了《哀歌三重奏》（Trio Elégiaque），作品9号，表示悼念。

拉赫玛尼诺夫的《第一交响曲》（作品13号）完成于1895年。1897年在格拉祖诺夫指挥下演出于圣彼得堡时，遭到了失败，这使拉赫玛尼诺夫深感痛苦，一度陷于消沉。但不久又进入了创作的旺盛期，出现了《第二钢琴协奏曲》（作品18号，1901年）、大合唱《春天》（The Spring, 作品12号，1902年）。歌剧《吝啬的男爵》、《里米尼的弗朗切斯卡》（作品24和25号，1904 – 1905年）、《第二交响曲》（作品27号，1907年）、交响诗《死亡岛》（The Isle of the Dead，作品29号，1907年）、第三钢琴协奏曲（作品30号，1909年）、交响诗——大合唱《钟》（The Bells，作品35号，1913年）等在国内外享有声誉的优秀作品。

拉赫玛尼诺夫离国以前的作品，以抒情性为主，他用植根于俄罗斯民歌的宽广旋律和丰富的和声语言，抒发自己的生活感受，创造出诗意般的音乐形象，一方面反映了俄罗斯大地的自然风光，一方面也流露出了处于沙皇统治下的压抑情绪和窒息气氛。他属于脱离当时的政治生活，不理解革命意义的知识分子之列。十月革命后，他离开了祖国。这对于他的艺术创作是极为不利的。在离国后的头十年中，他专门投身于演奏活动，几乎没有写出什么新东西来。直到1926年，才完成了一部第四钢琴协奏曲（作品40号），实际上也是他在俄国的时候就开始构思的。

在拉赫玛尼诺夫晚年的生活中，祖国始终是他的创作主题；而且远离祖国的痛苦，达到了一个悲剧性的高潮。在这一时期的作品中，常常出现象征死亡的主题《愤怒的日子》（“Dies Irae”）。这一时期的作品包括《帕格尼尼主题狂想曲》（1934年）、第三交响曲（1936年）和交响舞曲（1940年）。

在苏联卫国战争期间，拉赫玛尼诺夫把举办多次音乐会募集到的钱，通过苏联驻纽约领事馆捐献给苏军战士们。1942年3月25日，他在写给苏联驻纽约领事的信中说：“这是一个俄国人所能做到的对俄国人民抗战事业的支援。我衷心希望，并相信俄国人民会取得全面胜利！”
拉赫玛尼诺夫于1943年初得病，3月28日死于洛杉矶。

拉尔夫?沃恩?威廉斯（Ralph Vaughan Williams，1872 – 1958）
拉尔夫?沃恩?威廉斯于1872年10月12日，生于英国格罗斯特郡（Gloucestershire）的下安普内（Down Ampney）。他是一位牧师的儿子，曾在伦敦的卡特豪斯（Carterhouse）和剑桥的三一学院读书（得硕士、音乐博士学位）。在学习中，有两年时间，再加上普通教育期间的最后一些时间，他在皇家音乐学院学习。当时他的作曲老师是休伯特?帕里（Hubert Parry）和查尔斯?斯坦福（Charles Stanford）。同时，他还在柏林，跟马克思?勃鲁赫（Max Bruch）学习。1909年在巴黎，几次讨教了拉威尔。

在九十年代早期，他加入了1898年创建的“民歌协会”（Folk-Song Society），他开始积极地搜集和钻研英国民歌。这一举动很显然能使他摆脱求学时代那种方言土语的影响，同时，不放弃任何积累起来的精湛技术，勇敢地采纳那些似乎肯定适合于他气质的表现方法。另外一种主要的影响，就是英国都铎王朝（Dudor）时代的宗教与世俗音乐。在他的g小调无伴奏弥撒中，他甚至超越了这个范畴，自由采用中世纪调性和对位的方法，不受表情处理方法的阻碍，甚至全然无视禁律。从十五世纪以来，这种禁律渐渐发展，使欧洲音乐的体系逐渐规范化了。

他的乐队音乐包括九部交响曲。其中有一部《伦敦》、一部《田园》，还有一部早期的合唱—乐队的《大海交响曲》。第一部是活泼而沉思的，第二部是如此的模糊与神秘，以致只有在布局与比例非常协调的情况下演出，才能判断它。但是，即使如此，它仍旧保持有某种迥然不同的气质，使别人对它产生兴趣。在结构上，他的音乐常常跟印象派保持紧密的联系。他的第四交响曲（1953）是由两个警句的主题为基础而写成的。他的第七交响曲（1953）是由他自己的电影《南极的苏格兰人》（Scott of the Antarctic）配音音乐中所产生的，因此这乐曲有《南极交响曲》（Sinfonia Antarctica）之称。他的第八交响曲（1956）以及第九交响曲（1958）都在他八十高龄以后才创作的，但是仍然极有个性。

他写了一大批篇幅宏大的合唱与乐队的作品，它们有广泛的群众性，而且是他最出色的成就：在它们中间有《神圣的公民》（Sancta Civitas, 1926），《祝福》（Benedicite, 1930）、《庄严》（Magnificat, 1926）、《五个都铎王朝人物的画像》（Five Tudor Portraits, 1936）和《赐给高贵的和平》（Dona Nobis Pacem, 1936）。

他的歌曲（其中有一首早期的《椴树边的草地》Linden Lea，已经成为一首普遍流行的歌曲）和他的室内乐表现出特别的精巧。他的歌剧：《牲畜商贩?休》（Hugh the Drover, 1901 – 04）、《恋爱中的约翰爵士》（Sir John in Love, 1929）、《毒吻》（The Poisoned Kiss, 1936）、《海上骑士》（Riders to the Sea, 1937）、《天路历程》（The Pilgrim’s Progress, 1949）以及他的舞剧《柯莱王》（Old King Cole, 1923）和《约伯》（Job, 1930, 一个假面舞），在表情上更为直接，而且在它们中间，表现了他本性的更加健全的一面，也就是通常认为典型“英国型”的一面。

在诸如《小提琴教学式协奏曲》（Concerto Accademico for Violin）、中提琴和小乐队的组曲、钢琴协奏曲以及其他一些作品中，他采用了“经络”的原则，这标志着二十世纪初期音乐的一种形态。
他对大众的音乐活动，诸如音乐比赛（Competition Festival）、民间舞蹈等等，表现出极大的言行一致的关怀。同时他还编辑了《英国赞美诗集》等。

1934年，他荣获荣誉勋章（Order of Merit），1937年，他接受了一个德国协会的第一个“莎士比亚奖金”。
1958年8月26日，沃恩?威廉斯死于伦敦。

指挥鲍尔特（Sir Adrian Boult，1889 – 1983）简介：
Sir Adrian Boult’s association with the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams began when he was an undergraduate at Oxford University in 1909 and heard Sir Hugh Allen conduct Toward the Unknown Region. In March 1911 he sang in the choir in the second performance of A Sea Symphony, also conducted by Allen. The first Vaughan Williams work he conducted was A London Symphony, only its fourth performance, in 1918. This prompted a letter from the composer, who was still in the army, in which he wrote: “You had got the score right into you and through you into the orch.”. Boult’s reward was to be asked to conduct the first performance of A Pastoral Symphony in 1922. He conducted the premieres of three of Vaughan Williams’s nine symphonies, more than any other conductor (the other two were the Fourth in 1953 and the Sixth in 1948). He was also the first conductor to record the complete cycle of the symphonies (all but the Ninth for Decca) and he re-recorded them later. The first cycle was made under the supervision of he composer, again excepting the Ninth, which was recorded on the day of Vaughan Williams’s death, 26 August 1958.

The Eighth Symphony was first performed in Manchester in May 1956 conducted by its dedicatee, Sir John Barbirolli. It was not long before Boult added it to his repertory and he made the recording here in September 1956, soon after the Hallé and Barbirolli had made their recording. Boult’s interpretation differs markedly from Barbirolli’s, being more measured and a trifle less flamboyant though no less exuberant, especially in the final Toccata. In this respect, it is useful to draw attention to the illuminating essay on the symphony by Oliver Neighbour in Vaughan Williams Studies (edited by Alan Frogley, Cambridge 1996). He presents a view of it that differs from the original “received pinion” that this was a lighter symphony than its companions, not so much in its orchestration – slow movement for strings only, Scherzo for wind – but in its thematic content and underlying emotional mood. While conceding that the work lacks – deliberately – the largeness of vision that characterizes the other symphonies, Neighbour insists that “its tone is on balance decidedly serious”. He supports this by pointing out that the , American critic Paul Henry Lang had noticed that the opening phrase of the Cavatina (the slow movement) is an exact copy, though rhythmically disguised, of the chorale melody which Bach used for “O sacred head sore wounded” in the St Matthew Passion. Vaughan Williams admitted to lang that it had suddenly occurred to him “how lovely that chorale would sound on the cellos, so, as far as I can remember, without deliberately adopting it, the two themes got mixed up in my mind … I am quite unrepentant!” Neighbour also identifies features in the first movement which recall passages in the preceding Sinfonia antartica, essentially a serious work expressing near despair at the human condition, notwithstanding the capacity for heroism, and also shows that the opening theme of the Eighth Symphony coincides with Gustav Holst’s tune for the hymn O valiant hearts which is so closely associated with Remembrance Day.

One would not wish to try to present this remarkable symphony as a tragic work, which it plainly is not, but it would be right to listen for darker and weightier undertones than a first hearing might suggest. This is the particular value of Boult’s interpretation. He seems to have detected this musical subtext right away and this becomes an essential element in a performance which also clearly delineates the subtleties of the use of variation form in the first movement, one of the most sophisticated movements in any Vaughan Williams symphony, and revels in the percussive ebullience of the finale and the pawky humour of the Scherzo.

Boult’s connection with Rachmaninov’s music went back almot as far as with Vaughan Williams’s. He heard both the Second Symphony and the Second Piano Concerto at the 1910 Leeds Festival and thought them “very good indeed” and that Rachmaninov was “by far the best conductor who appeared at Leeds”. It is often forgotten that in the early part of his career Boult was an enthusiastic champion of the music of Strauss, Mahler, Wagner, Rachmaninov and the romantics far more than of the British composers with whom he was later to be so closely linked. A love of their music remained with him and his performances and recordings of Rachmaninov were more numerous than is perhaps generally realized.

His recording of Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony dates from July 1956, only a few weeks before that of Vaughan Williams’s Eighth. Completed in 1935, eight years before Rachmaninov’s death, the symphony was coldly received at its first performance under Stokowski in Philadelphia in November of that year. Although Vaughan Williams was eighty-three when he finished the Eighth and Rachmaninov only sixty-two in 1935, both works are masterpieces from late in their creators’ careers and share a positively youthful enthusiasm for experimenting with symphonic form (within the framework of the classic tradition) which perhaps at first misled listeners into under-estimating their worth. Rachmaninov’s is in three movements, bound together by a motto theme, the second movement being a ltlescoping of slow movement and scherzo. The finale, like Vaughan Williams’s Toccata, is an expression of vitality and exuberance but, like the Vaughan Williams again, it contains a darker streak in the quotation of the Dies irae theme. This became almost an idée fixe for Rachmaninov – it appears in the Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and in his last masterpiece, the Symphonic Dances, a work very obviously anticipated in the symphony’s Waltonian rhythmic vitality and sometimesunusual scoring.

In Boult’s performance we hear the scrupulous regard for the letter of the score allied to interpretative subtlety and an almost instinctive feel for the work’s architecture. The long melodic lines also have a warmth and an indulgence which will perhaps come as a surprise to some. Above all, in both these performances we hear a conductor wise in experience and mature in years interpreting the music of two Old Masters with the sympathy born of respect and devotion.