Read our quick guide to Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending here
Tasmin Little
BBC Philharmonic/Andrew Davis Chandos CHAN10796 (2013)
The second of Little’s recordings of Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending captures the wistfully melancholic dimensions to the English composer's score in the most natural, unsentimental way.
Read our full review of this recording here
Hugh Bean
Philharmonia Orchestra/Adrian Boult Warner Classics 680 5262 (1967)
This classic performance of Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending remains a perennial favourite. Famously learned by Hugh Bean in a matter of hours to fill spare studio time, this is an unforced yet radiant recording of Vaughan Williams's great work for violin and orchestra.
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Iona Brown
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner Decca 478 5692 (1971)
The Lark Ascending was a work Iona Brown adored and spoke about with passion and eloquence. Her performance here fully reflects that affection without ever being over-indulgent.
Jennifer Pike
Martin Roscoe (piano) Chandos CHAN20156 (2020)
In The Lark Ascending’s early days, it was regularly heard in Vaughan Williams's violin-and-piano arrangement, yet this is barely available in recordings. Jennifer Pike’s performance is bewitchingly immaculate.
Read our full review of this recording here.
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