Mysterious Barricades

Vaughn-Williams’s “Whither Must I Wander” from Songs of Travel sung by Sir John Tomlinson.

Explaining why I love British art music is kind of like trying to explain why laughing feels good. I think I have the same experience with Japanese art. Growing up as a typical suburban boy, I thought that both cultures were a bit reserved, to say the least, and therefore, according to my adolescent brain, devoid of emotion. Turns out I was wrong. Who knew? Kurosawa and Takemitsu convinced me much later that the Japanese are a people who feel deeply. Luckily, Ralph Vaughn-Williams was introduced to me much earlier. We played a piece of his in the High School Orchestra. If I remember correctly, it was well loved by the cello and viola section and would be a group favorite were it not for Psalm and Fugue by Hovanness. Indeed, the music of Vaughn Williams and some other British composers may be interpreted as a bit stale sometimes, but it speaks for itself. Unabashedly folky, the music, to my ear, suggest that one can sense both loneliness and joy behind the lyrics, and that any emotional element could be interpreted as secondary and still be prevalent. I like this music because it bypasses my brain, though you’d never be able to tell by my verbosity.