The Lark Ascending - Ralph Vaughan Williams 

I lost my wife suddenly in May this year. She went out for a walk one evening and never came back - her body was found on a beach nearby the next morning. We loved this music, and it evokes for us the beautiful Exmoor coastal and moorland scenery. I played it at her service in church and at her cremation service. It is so moving, and it comforts me to listen to it and remember our near 50 years together. May she rest in peace.

My dear Mother (died May 3, 2018) listening to The Lark Ascending over and over again during her last days, was very comforting for her, bless her dear soul.🌹

Reminds me of when I was a boy of 11 sitting in heather on a hillside on a perfect summers day in 1969 looking out to sea and seeing the larks arising upwards.

My husband of 60 years passed away on December 23rd, 2023. This has been a transcendant moment for me. Listening to the violin soar and sweep into heaven. 😢💔💖

Vaughn Williams has to be one of the most underrated composers and should be played more often…

I always loved Vaughan 's music. I recently loss my wife of 48 years and when I listened to this piece I broke down cried.

The Lark Ascending and Tales from Thomas Tallin are the most beautiful music I have ever heard.

I have lived in Australia for 60years. But for me to return to my beloved homeland, all I have to do,is listen to this beautiful music.

My country was/is beautiful...please no more glass concrete and tarmac covering the homes of small scampering creatures, trees and places of mystery. Alas Vaughan Williams land is shrinking but kept alive through this music...thank you.

This remains one of the most outstanding pieces of music ever in my opinion. It captures perfectly the tranquility of a warm summer's afternoon deep in the leafy English countryside. This peace you rarely find in life now which makes this so special.

My early life I guess was one of hardship. I now sit in my garden overlooking the green hills of Dartmoor in Devon and am reminded of where I was and where I am now. As I reflect on my dificult journey this music takes me back through those memories , so grateful that someone greater was looking out for me all along.

Even in times like this when the world is pretty messed up it is music like this that gives me hope for the future

I hear this, and despite everything that’s happening in the world, I just feel there is hope. This represents the best of humanity. It’s what we are really capable of. Utterly, utterly beautiful

I was being held in mother,s bosom and was listening to this song around a child . My mother was listening to this song with tears in her eyes . In memory of late my mother .

Sadly the England I grow old in, and my children mature has never needed a statement so profound; as ambiguous as this. I hope my children can understand my love for this, as much as I love them, and the country of my birth. I hope they see the beauty :)

Never in my life did ever think music would touch me deeply. But hearing this amazing masterpiece by accident, my heart bursts with emotions I have held onto for soo long, crying all out.

Ralph Vaughan Williams can touch my soul like no other - one of the greatest composers ever - This performance by Benedetti on her Strat is the best I've heard - a work of beauty - like her

My favorite piece of music ever. Someday I will be blind, but that is ok because beauty such as this exists to hear.

Such an emotional piece. Me and my brother Jim moved into a flat in our early 20's in 2000..this was on classic fm when we switched on our Technics....we played it the day we left 2004...it felt fitting. I'll sometimes listen to it when im a bit flat..it reminds me of Jim!..then I smile..perfect.

One of the most transcendent pieces of music ever written. Nicola Benedetti is a gift from heaven! Ralph Vaughan Williams would have more than approved!

To my mind one of the most beautiful and touching pieces of music ever written. And the wonderful images add immeasurably to my enjoyment.

This piece always brings me to tears. It’s so beautiful.

I too am an atheist but I think there is a deep spiritual need in all of us. This amazing piece of music reaches that spirit and makes me cry also. It is so beautiful. Life is truly amazing.

I thank my Father in Heaven for his great creation and for enabling this tune to confirm everything, every type of emotion that a human could possibly have. Thank you Mr Williams. You have blessed countless thousands with this work. RIP. Lest we forget

This piece sounds so English, it could only been written by an Englishman. It invokes summer days walking on the rolling hills in my county of Sussex. RVW never gets the recognition he truly deserves, he wrote some truly beautiful music. Thanks for sharing.

I watched this women last night on the BBC Proms for the first ever I felt classical music, I've never really cared, but this had my jaw dropping and tears streaming right down my neck, such a journey to be taken on.

I am a Lancashire lad born and bred, I've been living in Australia for some time now, but my heart will alway call England home, I have just spent the last 16:09 minutes with tears in eyes and an ache in my heart. Damn you HOMESICKNESS !!!!..Thanks anyway Colin for posting....Now where are those tissues ?

I loved this, it made me cry the music is so captivating and imagery stunning. England is the best place on earth isn't it.

Amazing, she really makes the violin sing, like a lark! There were parts of the performance where she made the violin sound unmistakably bird-song like. Wonderful performance.

Lovely, isn't it wonderful that we have artists who create beauty to restore the human spirit during troubling times? Thank you Ralph and Nicola.

This is the most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard-it always reduces me (or elevates me!) to tears.

Stupendous achievement for a spirit to triumph over the insanity of war with a composition depicting infinite peace and beauty.

It is a truly beautiful piece that I feel Williams not only captured nature and a bird in flight, but all of the grief that must have seeped into him after carting all those broken bodies and souls of the men in his ambulance who endured the western front. A piece of despair and hope and I agree with the para, it is something to stir the soul and make one weep if you have a soul.

Such a very beautiful piece of music deserves to be number one in a classical history. It pulls at your heart in such a physical way.I love it and lament, oh beautiful land of England my lion hearted home.

This and Albatross are so wonderfully light and airy. The sensation of flying is mental freedom. Joyous.

I met Nicola Benedetti when I was five and just starting violin, and she played this piece. It had a massive effect on me and I think shaped the player I am today; the first time I played the opening bars of this wonderful music I broke down in years because it was just that emotional for me.

So very beautiful. Words aren't enough. This wondrous piece brings me to tears every time, but at the same time is uplifting.

So very sorry for posting twice but this is physically making me weep with emotion, and I'm a 15 stone paratrooper.

As a music teacher and student, one of my greatest pleasures is experiencing RVW. This is one of my absolute favorites!

RVW lived in Dorking ,the town where I was born in 1947. The Dorking Halls were built for this man and my mother and father saw him conduct there I would think during the war. I have a letter that was left to me which my mother held dear. She was a secretary during WW2 at a school in Dorking and RVW came to see a school concert and she kept the letter he wrote saying how he was looking forward to the visit. Any wonder his music is so touching.

I remember hearing this piece for the very first time around 2005 or so on my father’s sound system. It was playing during a classical block on a radio station. Blew my mind and introduced me to the beautiful, different world that classical music could be outside of Bach, Beethoven and the other usual suspects. This was the first classical music piece that made me truly feel something as I listened to it on some nights (even brought a tear to my eye once). The version I listened to was the perfect (to me) 16 plus minute version. The soloist and orchestra were so on point that no other version would do. If it was one minute less or sped up In anyway, I could spot the difference and just stop it. I’m a bit older now. My father who loved all kinds of music is no longer with us. But I still love this piece. This particular rendition is beautifully done and makes me feel like I just discovered it like all those years ago when my Pop had that radio station on. Thanks for uploading this beautiful rendition.

This piece encapsulates England and all that she means and how precious she is. England is still out there, beyond the stews of the cities and towns and she still calls us...

This is what the violin was made for

He rises and begins to round, He drops the silver chain of sound, Of many links without a break, In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake. For singing 'til his heaven fills, 'Tis love of earth that he instils, And ever winging up and up, Our valley is his golden cup, And he the wine which overflows To lift us with him as he goes 'Til lost on his aerial rings In light, and then the fancy sings. Lines from Meredith's poem inscribed by Vaughan Williams on the flyleaf of his original score.

I'm an ex-New Yorker who lives in AZ (about as far removed from the English countryside as you can get.) But it is the genius of this man that he can move anyone deeply. Please, folks, spare us the hidden (and not so hidden) agendas and just enjoy the beauty.

The piece is amazing but her playing brings me to tears.

Sunday morning, sat in my garden beneath a milky sun with a cup of tea, listening to this enchanting piece. I wish I could have shaken RVM's hand and thanked him.

My heart has ❤finally found❤ classical music ❤😉it only took me 66 years 😁

"Beauty will save the world"---Dostoevsky. THIS is beautiful. thank you Colin

Whenever I listen to this masterpiece she plays with splendid skill the sadness and nostalgia in me oozes out

This is such beautiful piece of music. It reminds me of beautiful countryside nature

Divine, just divine ... I know many performances of this piece of music but this performance outshines them all, both musically and visually ... It is as if heaven is opening up and shedding its light upon us, poor mortals as we are, yet letting us share in heaven´s grace, ascending as larks ...

The blend of mass strings and a beautiful solo rendition is unsurpassed. This has to be in the top 3 of any music genre!

Up until a few short days ago I was what you could call a classical virgin, but having listened to this I too was a blubbering mess and since then I can't stop listening to it. Right now I'm sat in a field in the Welsh countryside with my dog surrounded by birdsong and "A lark ascending"😂

Never realised the beauty of the violin until my daughter started playing it. The beauty of the high notes in this piece is exquisite.

13:30 - this chordal resolve is so simple and sublime. And it moves my heart everytime i hear it.

it is a truly emotional, descriptive and simply wonderful piece of music, Nicola is without doubt a amazing violinist her skill in playing and being able to communicate the emotions and message of any piece music is outstanding but when she plays this piece she is sublime . you can hear the lark flying high the pain of men in the trenches who are missing home and the hopes and dreams of Vaughan Williams.

Thank you for this. I listen to The Lark Ascending every morning before I start my day. There is no better piece of music to lift yet calm my spirits and prepare me for the stresses of the day ahead.

I felt myself soaring. I felt my breathing calm to almost stillness. I felt just the hint of tears around the edges. I've been listening to this piece all day and it makes me feel the same each time. So beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

This immeasurably beautiful piece never seize to amaze me. I cry often when I listen to it, but I leave from the experience - with a strong feeling of having been reinvigorated. I am forever humbly thankful for the works of such fine human beings. Faith in humanity momentarily restored.

This masterpiece will transcend time , race , nation and space This masterpiece is forever Since I listen to and compare many this work's performances , I can understand the talent , ability and skill of this violinist . From Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵

Music that touches the soul - a magical interlude filled with joy! Superb!!

This takes me back to my childhood out walking in the countryside in Scotland in summers past and trying to see the unique little larks flying high in the sky with them sounding so happy.

A composition by Ralph Vaughn Williams, like all of his compositions, that projects universal appeal and lasting relevance to the world of classical music. Few areas provide such profound access to the more sublime aspects of life that has the power to transcend everyday life and whisk the listener to another place of beauty and listening perfection. Ted R. Crim

For me the most sublime piece of music ever recorded. It brings tears to my eyes every times I hear. So evocative, so enlightening. It stirs the souls and heals the heart.

A beautiful piece played superbly! Thank you.

Vaughan Williams and strings are a gift to our planet.

My mother chose this as the entry music to her own funeral , beautiful uplifting music , God bless you Mum 🕊

There are certain pieces of music that just hit our inner emotions. The contemporary musicians can do it and this composer captured a particular period which hits an emotional spot for those of us luckily born in the early 1950,s.

Bonjour Amis britannique ! Un commentaire en français (je me sens très seul 😉) Magnifique musique, je ferme les yeux et m'imagine arpentant la campagne vallonnée du Sud de l'Angleterre. Mes pensées apaisées vagabondes... Merci

Watching and listening to this video was as if I were seeing the world through the eyes of the lark and singing its praises with my song.. Uplifting and inspiring. Thank you.

Closed my eyes while listening and could see the lark soaring higher and higher carried by the winds, rising higher and higher above the rocky Canyon and the river below.. what a beautiful piece

Can't believe as a grown man listening to this piece has actually brought me to tears.

The odd thing about this piece of music - which I adore - is that it has an 'oriental' feel to it - so much so, that a Japanese girl, commented recently on U tube about this. There's no doubt that VW captured a lark in flight and that English folk song runs through the whole piece, and yet...

I would play this piece for my mom for the last few months of her life she would have visions of heaven when she would close her eyes an what she shared with me was so beautiful. She made her transition on October 18th,2019 😢

Played tonight at the wonderful service at Westminster Abbey, 100 years tonight when the world changed forever. Glad to have found this version by Nicola, my favourite Scottish violinist. Thank You

This is the first time hearing The Lark Ascending...beautiful work.

It will never cease to amaze me how this beautiful music stirs up our passions,read the comments and see the joy, love and sorrow are all part of this brilliant piece.

The most stunning piece of music...reminds me when I'm walking the dog..with the larks above singing

Oh my! A genius piece of music that takes your soul and gives it relief.

This is the most beautiful recording of The Lark Ascending I have ever heard. Shamelessly I cried throughout. The pictures were just right and some had so much power in them. I had a glimpse of a better life. The violinist was impeccable. I just can’t believe I have seen and heard something so beautiful. Thank you fo sharing this. A brilliant recording and a truly wonderful experience.

It is for the main part associated with the loss of a loved one. I find it totally different I love walking and to here the larks climbing and falling its so intoxicating. God bless anyone who loves this piece of music ❤

So very beautiful...just touches the depths of the soul.

The perfect work for a much-needed late-day break away from everything -- a warm, sensitive performance and a wonderfully well-chosen series of beautiful images of the English countryside.

When searching for music for my dear Mum's recent funeral, I read an online article by Simple Minds' lead singer Jim Kerr, saying that this was his favourite piece of classical music. I listened to it here and realised that it would be perfect - and it was.

you can almost smell the English countryside when you listen to Vaughn Williams.

Thanks for the up Colin. I believe Mr Vaughan Williams would have been as delighted as me at Ms Benedetti's performance of his sublime masterpiece. I was with a Frenchman once who said, what is the greatest British music, Thomas Arne?. I said you must be joking, we have RVW, Holst Bax, Alwyn and many more who are the equal of Debussy and Ravel, your two finest composers.

Magical music places you in the countryside of the British isles, the soul of these lands, imagine times long gone, you standing there. These lands are magical, the music casts its spell & confirms.

Where words end, this begins.

Three treasures I found in England: your country is a garden: you have beautiful, plain, appropriate country houses for living in that garden (though they tend to be cold); and home-composed music that is vastly underrated everywhere else. I hope it is honored in England. Vaughan Williams will yet be recognized as one of the few truly great composers of the 20th century, I believe. A giant of a human being, as well as a composer of great variety and depth. Actually, I found more treasures there, but that's another story. Colin, this is superb. What does it mean to "subscribe"?

"What do we do with it?" "We leave it, for whoever passes through, so they can hear it."

Its a beautiful Sunday morning, I am enjoying my coffee listening to this beautiful piece of music which happens to be one of my favorites and I thank God, RVW and the amazing orchestra! So enchanting!

For me @2:33 when the strings come in, I get an overwhelming sense of it representing the moment when consciousness first came into being and saw the glory of life in existence.

Ive listend to this many times and still sounds as if it was composed yesterday , its timeless I like to cycle out in the country side here in the uk and this music reminds me and transports me back threre into the peace and tranquilty of the country side away from the rat race.

Great music. i will probably play it too when my days are numbered.

This level of beauty through creativity is proof that we have a soul.

I have loved this for ever. Probably my favourite piece of music.

This wonderful nearly piece of music .to know so many more people love this like I do and to have it playing as you come to your time on this would be wonderful .I hope does this for me when my time comes

A truly beautiful piece of music played an even more beautiful musician in Nicola Benedetti. Something about hearing this during the Lockdown Proms that gave hope for the future and made us realise that life should be taken by the hand and lived when normality resumed. I'm more into pop music if I'm honest but love listening to Classic FM too, one Saturday coming home from watching football somewhere i had my little radio on and this came on just as i got off the bus which was a short walk from home, i found myself walking around my estate purposely so i could listen to it all in full, one truly wonderful experience

My heart is melting. Can anyone deny that this piece encapsulates the beauty and majestic splendour of this green and bountiful land we call home?....... England!