Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / Oundjian · Toronto Symphony Orchestra

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"The Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis has always been one of my favourite pieces. I first discovered it as a young teen at school - incidentally the same school attended by Vaughan Williams himself. My education there coincided with the 100th anniversary of Vaughan Williams’ birth and also the 100th anniversary of our school. We performed a great deal of his music that year, and I played the violin solos in the Tallis Fantasy. I had the opportunity to perform as concertmaster for this piece many times after that celebration, and have fond memories of all of those performances.
The juxtaposition of purity and intensity of the Thomas Tallis melody with the rich harmonies of Vaughan Williams are overwhelmingly beautiful. I hope you enjoy our performance!"
- Peter Oundjian
This performance was recorded live at Koerner Hall in Toronto on Aug. 12, as a part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival. Stay tuned for more performances from this concert.

[@janadkins-pont3465]

Utter Gorgeousness. Imagine - it took two composers, 400 years apart to create this. Thomas Tallis' composition and Williams' treatment, as if in the hands of a gifted surgeon. Incomparable.

[@carolring6321]

A truly exalted piece. I'm always crying by 10:20, if not earlier. What would life be without music, the antidote to despair?

[@RedBird77]

Exactly right, music like this is no accident.

[@mcclendonreport]

"..the antidote to despair.." Hear, hear!

[@hopebgood]

I love music like this. It moves my soul from one place to another. But so does shit like Oasis or Kasabian. I've got the best of both worlds. An open mind.

[@DMor1arty]

cmon don't give god the credit a human composed it and multiple humans played it so well that you were moved, credit where it's due. Beautiful it is, evidence for a creator it is not.

[@jennifermorrison9923]

Me too Carol Oundjian doe-s some thing extra I have heard this piece many times mostly live but this surpasses them all those people were very lucky to be there

[@jasbaklinski]

I first heard this music while watching Master and Commander in 2003 and it has stayed with me ever since.

[@spinback72]

One of the greatest pieces ever written. The English countryside weareth a Crown indeed!!

[@louis117]

can listen to this a 1000 times..it never gets boring. What an uplifting piece of music.

[@fauredaniel57]

Juan Luis, a friend of mine, was driving on the highway when this music started to sound on the radio. He told me that he stopped aside, he could not go on driving and crying at the same time.

[@Ben-nl7sc]

My favourite piece. Beautifully played here. I was lucky enough to be at the 100th anniversary performance at Gloucester cathedral and it was quite simply mind blowing. Apparently the piece was specifically written for the acoustics of this extraordinary medieval building which adds to the deep resonating bass in the piece. Two of the original audience, organ scholars who went on to become famous composers were so moved on first hearing it that they couldn't sleep and one spent the night wandering the streets Gloucester haunted by this sublime, strange yet somehow familiar piece that for me stirs memories and emotions like no other.

[@johnries5593]

Some applause for the principal violist who deserved ever last second of the camera time she got.

[@gv100_blitz]

nice shoulder cloth

[@waltertaljaard1488]

This music is allowing us a revealing mirror image into the English soul. And that's coming from a Dutchman.

[@peterpalermo2542]

Master and Commander - now one of my favorite pieces of music.

[@jennifermorrison9923]

The finest music ever written to think Vaughan was 41 and in the first world war picking up dead and dying men what he must have seen would change him greatly if this piece doe-s not move you there must be something missing from your life

[@CaskillsElliptic]

Master and Commander brought me, but awe and rapture kept me. Lovely performance and terrific sonic space.

[@vinnievector]

It’s privilege to be called Vaughan with welsh ancestry . Beautiful music

[@34lugnuts]

Amazing that sound that mere mortals can create.

[@bacchusaurelius]

This piece pulls me apart every time I hear it.

[@Lee-70ish]

if you've never been to England this tunes paints as good a picture of it as is possible I want to be planted to this when my time comes

[@worldofameiso5491]

I live only ten miles from where Vaughan Williams was born and have cycled through the village often. His music fits the ambiance of the Cotswolds perfectly

[@titanium9000]

Insanely beautiful..💖

[@patmelton43]

Oh, my. I'll have to listen to this again. This kind of music causes chills for people like me.

[@Ancientimer]

Never fails. It sums up emotions in an instant. The futility of mankind, deep sorrow, a lament - this is the language of mankind ever hopeful - some in despair. Then a glimmer of sun splattering jewels of sparkling colour at the end of a very long dark tunnel. KC

[@TimeWarpLady]

Just this evening I had the privilege of attending Maestro Oundjian's conducting the Yale Philharmonia Orchestra performing this emotionally gripping masterpiece in Woolsey Hall, Yale University, New Haven, CT. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

[@jennifermorrison9923]

Still the finest piece of music ever written Vaughan if you want to know what England is all about this is it with works like this no wonder we are a proud Nation born under an English Heaven blessed by suns of home KOR F

[@tonyevans9311]

Listening to this has pulled me apart and re arranged every cell in my body !!! Av been a bit of a wildcard in my life and here I am laid in bed listening to this for the first time ever and tears rolling down my face "WTF" it is like warm honey rolling over me .

[@hopebgood]

lol :)

[@jennifermorrison9923]

when Vaughan wrote this piece he could not have imagined it-s impact as you listen you are touched by the hand of god there is no other piece that can stop an audience in it-s tracks every time I have heard it live many times and it rips your soul apart this version is the best of them all thank you oundjian

[@unseelie63]

That's the power of music.Some music is particularly powerful,and this is one of those pieces.

[@Fordham1969]

This is in my opinion the best sounding concert performance of this piece I've heard.Reading the comments I see much accolades for the conductor/musicians,and they deserve every bit of it,but I think one must also praise those responsible for the recording.I suspect they had quite a bit to do with why this version outshines so many others in terms of quality of sound.

[@iansutton9631]

Truly magnificent. The Toronto Symphony is a superb orchestra...I attended their concerts as long ago as the 1950....In dear old Massey Hall, naturally.

[@neilsailing]

Hopefully, they pick this up in the planets far away, just to let them know, we are not all violent greedy psychopaths.

[@hughjarreolee7821]

I live in Gloucester, at the edge of the Cotswolds. This music is the essence of those hills.

[@JustSomeBloke1]

Fantastic! Bravo to the musicians and kudos to the sound engineer for such a wonderful recording. Also, I've never heard such a beautiful viola sound than the soloist gave us here. Congratulations.

[@konstantinos6112]

The piece,the musician are so so so so MAGIC!!!!!!BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Rx-mn5fv]

Beautiful to the ear; incandescent to the soul. Marvelous rendition. Thank you ; thank you for the revelation.

[@shariys1]

How can anyone possibly thumb this down?? Cold-blooded ...

[@EliezerPennywhistler]

Maybe they don't like the pitifully slow tempo ..........

[@samuelsnowdon344]

A beautiful performance of such a beautiful composition by Vaughan Williams.

[@smijification]

I have already made a comment on this piece. RVW is my favourite composer, maybe because he so strongly evokes my childhood spent wandering in the Surrey Hills - quite near Leith Hill Place (where he lived for many years). I might be biased, but that part of the world is very beautiful. I live in Suffolk now - on the coast, but I miss the high hills. Perhaps it's just me, but I associate a handful of composers with instruments. Richard Strauss with the French horn, and Vaughan Williams with the viola. Does anyone else have similar feelings? At 6.00 we arrive at the point where the solo violist starts to play those sublime phrases. The lady in this performance makes a wonderful sound - rich and moving! I have the recording by Barbirolli directing the Sinfonia of London etc. A legendary rendering. I think this magnificent reading is one of the best live versions.

[@timmann8347]

Absolutely brilliant. I could listen to this for ever!

[@CopperJenny]

This is one of my favorite pieces, and you've done a wonderful job performing it. Thank you Toronto Symphony Orchestra!

[@johndean4998]

Brilliant, simply brilliant.

[@20bluelilies]

This piece is sublime - and the talent of the musicians, just wonderful!

[@peterfeltham5612]

From three thousand miles away that sounded pretty good to me Toronto Symphony.

[@kenharrington2204]

truly one of the most beautiful performances of this work! every time i listen....cant describe what it does to me. so incredibly beautiful!

[@josepalacios6313]

I use this wonderful performance to meditate. Thank you guys.

[@andrewmccloud8581]

For England, for home; and for the prize!

[@karlmchugh695]

Love is the prize

[@unseelie63]

This ship is our home.This ship is England. I love Master And Commander

[@ricardoscoton6755]

Wonderful melody! So intense and complex.

[@debbiemail1]

A truely wonderful performance and the solos were so heart wrenching. The more I hear it the sadder I feel and yet the fact that it make me sad is....beautiful. If only Thomas Tallis could have heard it I'm sure he would have loved it too.

[@FranciscoFerrerGaliana1930]

MARAVILLOSA FANTASIA SOBRE UN TEMA DE THOMAS TALLIS.

[@markbrandus]

Major string piece. Wish the applause was held at bay for a minute more.

[@SNP-1999]

Hauntingly beautiful !

[@rickydonutrm3165]

Wonderful audio technicians, and a lovely performance. Well done TSO.

[@robertconvery1839]

absolutely amazing. Remember watching master and commander.

[@EricH_1983]

It made the film for me, so powerful esp when they where reading out the names of the dead..

[@unseelie63]

That's where I heard it,and it never fails to get me teary-eyed.It's so beautiful and deeply emotional,and of course I can envision the funeral scene as well.I love that film.The music that accompanied it has been a gift that truly keeps on giving.

[@fastwanabe]

Beautiful, just beautiful to the ears, Thank you.

[@MariaRamos-ck6pv]

I have no words to ...stunning I must say...💙💙💙

[@darkoanton5]

I always enjoy the performances. Special props to the fantastic camera work on this beautiful piece. I will miss Maestro Peter Oundjian. He has done a fantastic job with our city's orchestra.

[@ephjaymusic]

This is pure magic!

[@kukulis100]

This is something wonderful!

[@phixi0n]

Goosebumps.

[@miuzefreak]

gorgeous piece! (melody starts at 1:15)

[@MackinOz]

Thanks TSO for giving us this fantastic performance. This is the best video I've seen of the piece. Great to see the orchestra filmed with a thoughtfulness and professionalism matching their own. I wonder what it must be like to live the life where you get paid to play music like this. Off to check out what else is in the channel. Much more inspiring that the Berliner Philharmoniker selling their concerts online. But I'd be willing to pay for this performance of a defining work.

[@Hypnobunny1]

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT brilliant performance

[@carts2]

Amazing performance! Such heart, energy and skill. For me it's up there with Sir Adrian Boult's 1976 version and Andrew Davis' recording in Gloucester Cathedral

[@gv100_blitz]

the TSO has a better recording setup

[@Danieldetarb]

A remarkable interpretation

[@n0tyham]

Excellent performance! Bravo! ..... Listen the the St. Louis Symphony version on the Telarc CD some time. Awesome, but I think this version has more definition in the instruments. As an Audiophile, I'm simply stunned.

[@ReadeSnair]

Fantastic performance! I really hope that the performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with James Ehnes will be released with these videos! The world needs to see more of that amazing violinist!

[@TorontoSymphony]

Thanks Reade! There are more videos from this performance to come, but unfortunately James Ehnes wasn't on that program. Stay tuned!

[@smijification]

cfm brought me here - vw lived in surrey 4 much of his life, in an area where i grew up

[@timmann8347]

Fabulous music!

[@violonvirus]

A very beautiful piece played beautifully.

[@robnorth7638]

This must rank very highly on the best ever performances of this piece. In my view it is definitely in the top three but I can't decide further! Thank you TSO.

[@tomf4153]

An expertly crafted piece of music, fabulously performed. So moving.

[@valkiefalkmann2617]

Each time i get goosebumps...wonderful piece thnx

[@Garabella]

Wonderful! thank you for sharing

[@AncientOfDays]

Phenomenal!

[@clareatkin8602]

Sublime.Beautifully performed.Thankyou.

[@mikeoconnor805]

Beautiful!

[@francarita706]

Magnifica! Grazie

[@GlennWilder]

sublime

[@benleow6891]

So powerful.

[@thomasdonaghy5107]

England

[@donaldbarrett4454]

Sensational piece, the moving triads inspired John Williams in Star Wars

[@ragnhildbakkenberg6567]

❤️wonderful

[@spookyidcri3290]

my high school orchestra is playing this....

[@youngahbarnes320]

Very well conducted.

[@trevorthomas3394]

Beautiful performance !

[@williampage3952]

Richard Gere can really conduct

[@stefanabalasei5014]

Thanks for your kindness...

[@davidjames9626]

This piece of music ....what is it ? ....no don't say ... just something .... strike me with this when I am dying or when I am born ....

[@jacquelineverbraak4080]

subliem. Dankjewel

[@demetriograndinetti]

Magnifica

[@LADISLASDEPUYSEGUR]

Perfection.

[@hobie1dog]

Is this available on a DVD? One of the best renditions I've heard so far. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@TorontoSymphony]

Unfortunately it's not available as a recording either on CD or DVD. We wish it were! Thanks so much for listening and the lovely compliment.

[@RedBird77]

Amazing.

[@launanewman3479]

Beautiful absolutely breathtaking Have you any tours in north England on the agenda?

[@jazevi433]

amazing writen to god or to human; greatest peas ever

[@gv100_blitz]

lol speling

[@sergio7248]

splendid!

[@sezzifying]

Yes, it sounds almost as great as when I did it with my orchestra ;)

[@gv100_blitz]

are you a conductor

[@andytheobliviator]

2:30 made every hair on my body stand up

[@shariys1]

10:20 - 10:30 makes my hair stand up. Really, the whole thing does!

[@vinnievector]

Toronto how did they capture the music so well , the bleak Moore land dry stone walls style s farms walks with my father over the Carnheads ,

[@dbn52]

this is my favorite piece of music. After I watched this earlier today I had a moment where I thought that the gentleman playing the from the second chair (violin) looked familiar but I couldn't figure out why. Then a few minutes ago I figured it out. I went to another version of this conducted by Andrew Davis with the BBC symphony from Gloucester Cathedral. Boom their he is I think? Can anyone tell me if it is the same gentlemen in both versions????

[@TorontoSymphony]

dbn52 Hi there, thanks for your comments :) It is not the same violinist.

[@dbn52]

Thank You so much for your reply. Please tell the Orchestra members they are wonderful. My husband and I are coming to visit Toronto and will make sure to come hear them. We are from Chicago and enjoy Toronto.

[@BenNCM]

dbn52 I was in Toronto and caught one of the orchestra's free shows. It was great! They played Peter and the Wolf.

[@dbn52]

To bad the Leafs aren't as good.

[@emmceeee]

dbn52 This also is my favourite piece; I wonder if you are right? I will look closely. To quote the organist, ""A queer, mad work by an odd fellow from Chelsea!" At any rate, Vaughan Williams rocks the Phrygian Mode, does he not? ♫

[@petergarcia3373]

that soloist is metal af

[@ciaran6171]

A beautiful rendition, but the expression at 15:33 doesn't sound as 'pained' as I have come to expect.

[@richardharrity9913]

Music is in all Of us Humankind, we need no god , we have Vaughan , Beethoven ,Bach Anne hundreds more . Long live music.

[@paulybarr]

Beautiful performance, though I find the double basses are often a bit too heavy, both the large ensemble and the solo bas in the smaller chamber group at the back of the stage- but what a terrific, committed performance from everyone.

[@TorontoSymphony]

Friday treat! Watch us perform the Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Watch the complete performance on TSO Discover the Music: bit.ly/1zci2A6