Ralph Vaughan Williams - Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus

- Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams (12 October 1872 -- 26 August 1958) - Orchestra: Jacques Orchestra - Conductor: Sir David Willcocks - Year of recording: 1970 “Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus“ for harp(s) and string orchestra, written in 1939. 00:00 - Introduction and Theme: Adagio, B modal minor 03:40 - Variant I: B modal minor 04:52 - Variant II: Allegro moderato, B modal minor 06:38 - Variant III: D modal minor 08:05 - Variant IV: L’istesso tempo 09:08 - Variant V: Adagio, B modal minor Vaughan Williams composed the work on commission from the British Council to be played at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. The first performance was by the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on 10 June 1939, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Boult remembered that on this first performance New York was hit by a heat wave, while there was no air conditioning in the Carnegie Hall. The temperature in the room was 89 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 32