Looks, as everyone knows, can be deceiving. Consider Ralph Vaughan Williams - well-fed and rather rumpled in his favored thick, three-piece suits; hair usually a bit mussed. One wag thought that the eminent English composer suggested a farmer "on his way to judge the shorthorns at an agricultural fair."
He was actually an urbane fellow, fond of partying in the big city. And his private life had the complicated stuff that, in different times, would have galvanized the tabloids (invalid wife, decades-long affair with a much younger woman he eventually married when he was 81, etc.).
Sounds can be deceiving, too. Some people hear nothing but the equivalent of pretty postcards in the works of Vaughan Williams, just a lot of souped-up folk songs. Another English composer, Elisabeth Lutyens, went so far as to dismiss her colleague's efforts as "cowpat" music. Ouch.
Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of Vaughan Williams' death, which provides as good an excuse as any to get reacquainted with the reality about his music, its extraordinary richness and breadth.
On these shores, only a small amount of that output is routinely performed, little beyond a few luscious, string-filled gems - Fantasia on 'Greensleeves,' The Lark Ascending and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. There's a lot more where that came from.
Almost all of it can be found in a 30-CD, bargain box (about $60) recently released from EMI Classics, Vaughan Williams: The Collector's Edition. It's an ideal source for those who have yet to discover his work, or for anyone just interested in a refresher. No need to watch your step plowing through this huge field of marvelous music - not a cowpat to be had.
For an absorbing look into the composer's life and art, don't miss O Thou Transcendent, a documentary (available on DVD) by Tony Palmer that attempts, in his words, "to explode forever the image of a cuddly old Uncle" and reveal the complex Vaughan Williams underneath. Interviews, historic footage and lots of music animate the film.
In the new season, a few groups will acknowledge the Vaughan Williams anniversary, including the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Handel Choir, Annapolis Chorale and Peabody Opera Theatre.
Too bad the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra didn't get in on this commemoration. How cool it would have been had the BSO decided to follow up on last season's survey of Beethoven's nine symphonies with the nine of Vaughan Williams - like Dvorak, Bruckner and Mahler, the British composer didn't get past that peculiarly ominous number. (The BSO has never performed four of the nine.)
