Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis HQ 

This sublime piece of music is my go-to when my soul needs quietening. Yesterday, out of the blue, I was told I have incurable cancer. It is now before the dawn on the following day. My soul is being soothed once more when I need it most.

in 1959 I was 4 and I had a life changing experience because of this piece of music. I had been asleep in my bed but woke up suddenly. My parents were playing this album on their old record player. I had never heard anything like it before and it literally took my breath away. It's never been something I could put into words, but it was if it were so completely a part of every cell in my body it killed the old me. I lay there inbetween the old and the new and then it brought me back to life in a different way, as though all my cells were laced with bits of gold. thats overly dramatic but I was four and that is how I remember it, to this day. That I was simply never the same after. I lay in that bed and sobbed such a deep painful sob, as if the music had given me memory of a place I had come from, as if I had a foot in two worlds. It's just true. I'll never forget it.

This isn’t just music - it’s a ticket to somewhere else. Whatever you believe in there’s something magical in this that transcends us all.✨

RIP Andrew Davis {1944-2024} great champion of english music. You will be sorely missed

Can you be homesick for a place you've never been? This, to me, is what England sounds like.

RIP Sir Andrew Davis, who died today. A great loss to conducting, to music and to the world.

Down in the American South, we have ourselves a little saying for things like this: It don't get any better than this. Amen.

When Vaughan Williams composed this he surpassed all standards of musical brilliance. To call it composing is an understatement. Here, he actually touched God!

Our beloved Son, 1987 - 2015. I come to this masterpiece for comfort, for a sense of profound other purpose than my day to day loss.

I am a historian. One of the hazards of my craft is the slide into cynicism and despair over the state of human affairs. The dreary record of human cruelty, avarice, warfare, and violence is all too abundant. As the Roman statesman Plautus said, "Man is a wolf to man." But then I hear something as sublime as William's Fantasia and hope in my species is rekindled and I think, maybe just maybe we aren't all bad and that perhaps there is hope for us after all.

I’m a LONG way from home right now but when I hear this I’m in Britain. In the fields I played in as a kid. God, I can FEEL it. That light in late evening in summer. This isn’t just music - it’s a ticket to somewhere else. Whatever you believe in there’s something magical in this that transcends us all.

Personally, i think Vaughan Williams is probably the most underrated composer in the last 150 years.

The magic of that melody is all about the switch between major and minor, but of the same key. For the first few notes, it is a root minor chord against the dominant note. But while the note doesnt change, there is a subtle switch to the root major chord underneath. Its unusual because that chord is not in the current key - its a key change of total subtlety. The key change is only pronounced in those very high violins at first. It gives it that ethereal, other-worldly quality. It also comes directly from Thomas Thallis, because changing keys like that is something done in the old Renaissance days, but much less so after the modern tonal system was fully established during the early baroque. Thomas Tallis would not have seen it as a key change, because he was writing before the modern tonal system was solid. Just thought I'd bore someone with that.

I am old now, but use to be a professional violist and have played this, even the solo viola part. I grew up singing in an Anglican cathedral men and boys choir, became a choirmaster and organist. If only others could know all that I experienced, felt, saw, witnessed in my poor life when I sang and played music like this. I lived on both earth and in heaven. If only people knew what was in store, there would be love, eternal love all over the earth! Look up all the different hymn lyrics set to this tune. Think upon them as you listen to this piece. In your wildest imagination you can't even know how sitting in an orchestra and playing this piece AND knowing these texts AND knowing about Tallis and Ralph Vaughan Williams can effect a person. I have known several people who had a genuine soul / life changing revelation upon hearing this work. "I heard the voice of Jesus say . . . " Can you hear his voice too within this music?

RIP Albert and Molly Bowers. I first heard this wonderful piece in their house in Longford Ireland. I miss those days, but long to sit beside you in heaven sipping Earl Grey tea and listening to Albert’s classical record collection. Along with my parents I miss you all so much.

Makes me think of a old way of life,a very pastoral theme,green fields,meadows and pastures,very English,this music just moves me to tears ❤❤

I live in Hong Kong. Amidst all of the craziness, I needed the solace of a hike in the forest near my house, and put a classical mix on my headphones. This piece came on while climbing through some rocks to a peak overlooking the ocean. I wept the whole way up, and my heart filled to bursting when I crested that peak, with all of this power and beauty in my ears. In my whole soul. Thank you for posting this incredible rendition.

Rest well, Sir Andrew Davis. Thank you for everything- specially this definitive performance. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Fills me full of sadness knowing our beautiful England which this masterpiece epitomises is only lent to us for a relatively short time and we have to say goodbye to the beauty of it all

RIP Sir Andrew. Thank you for helping to give us this magical performance of the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, conducting many BBC Proms and so much more. Your legacy will live on.

Two composers - Thomas Tallis & Ralph Vaughan Williams, working 400 years apart - "came together" to create this most fantastic and utterly sublime Fantasia. Vaughan Williams - fresh from a trip to France to study orchestration with his younger colleague, Maurice Ravel - singled out the Tallis tune "Why Fum'th in Fight?" while editing the English Hymnal... and proceeded to craft a piece far beyond the intentions of the original composer, lifting the "Tallis Theme" into the stratosphere... and beyond! Three string ensembles, a full string section, a smaller group of nine players, and a string quartet create a lush, shimmering soundscape all awash with yearning harmonies and haunting, ghostly echos. The underlying melody is all Tallis... but EVERYTHING ELSE is the pure mystical magical musical GENIUS of Vaughan Williams... with the magisterial addition of a little "French polish." Vaughan Williams' great homage to Tallis was premiered in 1910 at the Three Choirs Festival: an annual concert dating from 1709, rotating among Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford Cathedrals. I can't help feeling that there's a special place reserved in Heaven for all the many and myriad string players who have performed this otherworldly piece since its inaugural performance; I may be mistaken, but I prefer to believe otherwise. Mike D.

This is THE version!

Am I the only one who gets a PHYSICAL reaction to this-chills down the spine, tingling of the scalp?

I just recently got sober from opiates. I was numbed to a lull of depression and misery. Detox was hell, but somewhere in my 7th day clean, this song popped up in my feed and moved me to utter tears when I heard it. Brought back so many emotion. Specifically watching Master and Commander with my Dad

About 20 years ago, whilst on a family day out in Lincoln and quite by chance, my wife, sons & I visited the Cathedral, where the BBC Orchestra were rehearsing for their evening performance. They played this piece and we were mesmerised. The most beautiful piece of music in the most beautiful Cathedral in England. One of the most memorable events of my life.

It's almost as if Ralph Vaughan Williams were able to stretch his arm up to heaven and pull down a little of its glory for us all to see.

After a lifetime of love for Classical music, this is my all-time favorite piece.

I moved away from England, the country of my birth, nearly 25 years ago. Watching its seemingly unstoppable decline since then I feel blessed with this sublime music that transports me back to an England now lost forever.

There are hundreds of really magical pieces in the music world, however, just a few can transcend, and speak directly to the soul.. There are no words to describe this miraculous work of art.

Lucky enough to have played in this, one of the last things I did before leaving the orchestra. Hugely difficult to get the recording together in such lively acoustics. Seems we managed. RIP friend and colleague Rusen Gunes Viola player extraordinaire

While on business in Cheltenham (Eng UK) about four years ago, I took a cab to Gloucester Cathedral on a Saturday. This piece so captures its atmosphere, that I think in the darkness of night there, one might hear this melody drifting though the corridors.

I was saddened to learn of Andrew Davis’s passing in April 2024. An extraordinary career and legacy. This remains one of the finest performances of any piece of classical music.

And on the eighth...God created Ralph Vaughan Williams

How magical it is that a theme created 450 years ago by Thomas Tallis, then transformed over 100 years ago by Vaughan Williams has endured so that this glorious, breath-taking, uplifting performance is available for us to enjoy. I have loved this piece of music for 50 years, it is and always shall be, my favourite.

Apart from being one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever, and performances....the comments on RU-vid are so refreshing, kind and insightful. Every time I listen, I read through again and get the same warm feeling.

Me - "This is what I want at my funeral." Friend - "Yeah, sure mate. Hope it doesn't happen soon but we can definitely play this." Me - "No. You misunderstand. I want THIS at my funeral. The full works. Midnight. Cathedral. Full string orchestra one side, desk the other, quartet to the side, my coffin in the middle. No guests, they'll just interfere with the acoustics."

I can't listen to this without crying.

IN MY HUMBLE OPPINION, THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIESES OF MUSIC EVER WRITTEN.

This is the most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard in my life. Nothing else I've heard compares.

So beautiful, so British, so inspiring, so amazing. Vaughan Williams was the greatest composer ever. My heart leaps through my chest and I want to cry with the absolute purity and beauty of this.

This piece saved my life in the spring of 1977, just before my first journey to the UK. It was a difficult time, and I needed to be sprung from my ordinary life. I listened to this over and over on my parents' stereo in California. And then suddenly I was in London, and then Cliveden. . .

I am playing this beautiful piece in my orchestra and I enjoy the listening to the deep sound. Vaughan Willams is a verrrrrrry talented composer😊

I first heard this music in 1965 when I was a Freshman at the University of MaIne in Orono, Maine. The only radio I had was a portable AM radio. But at night, I was able to listen to a classical music station from NYC. The station was WQXR. Maybe some of the other commentators are familiar with it. I was totally spellbound by this piece of music. After having read several of the other comments, I was amazed by how so many others actually had "other world" or "next life" experiences. I can't say that I did, but I can say I immediately fell in love with this and have never forgotten the first time I heard it. Now I have upgraded my sound system to surround sound, and I have my desktop computer connected to Bose speakers. When I listen to this piece and many, many others, it's like the orchestra is in my living room!!! Thanks so much for uploading this beautiful music!

Whilst getting my self back into the groove this year, I was driving a 26 tonne lorry and thankfully I had the notion to listen to Classical Radio rather than the usual claptrap. I thank God that I heard this peace of masterful musical motion for the first time, it has never left me since. Each time I hear it, I feel a surge of emotion. It is truly a masterpiece and deserves it's place amongst the great classical composers.

When I leave this world I want this magic music playing, thank you god for letting me hear this.

The music, the cathedral, the cinematography. Just an amazingly gorgeous presentation.

Some very interesting and informed comment on here. Thomas Tallis wrote his original score for Psalm 2 "Why doth the heathen rage? So as an Englishman, I relish the Tallis sacred foundation and the Vaughan Williams Fantasia which he built upon it. It's pure England, villages with ancient stone churches wrapped in rolling hills topped with stands of swaying oak and beech and elm all bathed in late afternoon sunshine. However, as a Christian all this Englishness is trumped by Psalm 2 "the Lord shall have them in derision". Even so come Lord Jesus. allis foundation

My David loved this music and he died listening to it in November 2019, wonderful, peaceful, magnificent.

Ralph Vaughan Williams made it part of his life's work to travel the British Isles to record for posterity as many of the old folk tunes as he could find before they were lost to history. The original theme here goes back to medi-evil times and if it hadn't been for him this beautiful music would have been lost to us. We owe him so much.

How little we are, how large we can be

Went to a mates funeral a few days ago, played this when the coffin came down the isle - found it difficult not to break down with sadness.

If you are in the mood to be transported, then this beautiful piece of VW work will do it!

Try listening to this while looking up at the stars. Incredible....

This music is from beyond this Earth.

Never heard this piece until today and it knocked me down entirely. Can't stop listening to it again and again.

One of the greatest pieces of music ever written I'm Irish and this always makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. A true masterpiece

Andrew Davis and the BBC got the sound just right in this performance. A mystical carpet of notes, with orchestral parts perfectly balanced. The cathedral's acoustics certaainly reinforce the unearthly sound, and the solo quartet blend right in. I'm glad I found this performance. I love it.

Absolutely without peer. R.V. Williams' blood runs with England. And such a great setting for one of the pre-eminent pieces in the English canon. Speechless...

Everyone is rightly focused on the amazing music, but I think props should also be given to the amazing editing, cinematography, and lighting that really add an incredible visual atmosphere to this piece! Bravo to the creative team behind this production. The way the orchestra is spread through the church is also really neat, imagine being there and hearing different parts of the music coming from all around you!! Also, fun note: this theme was the inspiration for James Horner's love theme in "Troy", where he elaborated on it and created a lovely piece of music in his own right. You can hear it in the track "Through The Fires, Achilles...And Immortality".

My Soul demands that I play this piece daily.

I was born in Gloucester. My mother helped build hurricane fighters there during the war, and saw friends bombed and died in the factory. My father was a fire watcher at the cathedral and helped protect the cathedral and St. Edward's chair. The music, the setting, the memories are part of me.

Thank you so much. I am 66 years old and raised on rock and roll. I am sitting here crying with joy an wonder at such a gorgeous, lavish piece of music. It makes me want to study music. Thank you so much.

This was one of my first introductions into classic music as a child. Thank you dad for introducing me to this amazing piece

Breathtaking piece of divine music ❤

So much has already been said about this piece - All I can do is thank my Father and my music teacher John Stowe for introducing me to the classics, Opera, Ballet and more - This isn't just beautiful music - It's a feeling, a time, a place, an emotion, a memory - For me who now lives in the USA, this sends me back to Britain, to a childhood filled with music and joy, this piece is the green fields of Britain and when I close my eyes, I am there again and when I open my eyes, they are filled with tears.

If this music is not divinely inspired, I don't know what is. This music is, to me, the profound voice and spirit of a deep and mysterious England of legend, faith and history.. The staging makes the cathedral itself almost breathe as part of the music, and knowing that on one side of my family my ancestors lived within sight of this cathedral adds to that feeling.

Just finished watching all of youtube and I'd say this is the best thing on it.

I once had the amazing opportunity to play this piece and there is something magical about it. There are so many lines of music within the score, my poor conductor often would struggle trying to follow the score with sometimes 15 or more lines. Each section (first and second violin viola and bass) is divided often so that each section will be playing 2 or 3 separate lines. Add on to this the second orchestra ( the smaller orchestra seen in the back in this video) which often has divided parts so each member of the second orchestra is essentially playing their own line free of everyone else. This song is truly a masterpiece. I will never forget how even though this song was one of the most difficult I have ever played (due both the complexity and concentration required and the duration) it felt magical to play it. This 15 or so minute song was never long enough. The best part of performing this song was the magic stillness that lingered after the final notes, even the audience held their breath for a good 30 seconds after the last notes had faded before clapping. Truly a magic piece.

Music beyond the edge of Time. Our universe and parallel universes.

Tallis with the help of Vaughan Williams created what is perhaps the most awe inspiring work of music in all history. Words cannot describe its incredible beauty and mysticism. Being performed in one of England`s most ancient buildings only increases the extraordinary experience for the listener.

This piece sends chills down my spine every time I hear it.

possibly the most beautiful of all English compositions,shut your eyes and it takes you to an English heaven and elevates the soul.

Beautiful

If humanity could only be remembered for one thing. THIS WOULD BE IT.

Thank God. So I'm not the only cry baby here!!!!!!

There are many pieces of music I love, from classical to pop to trance. Above all of them is this. I first heard it about 50 years ago, it still sends chills through me. Many years ago, I heard it played in Salisbury Cathedral with the orchestra split as in this video. The cathedral was lit with hundreds of candles on the huge window sills. It was wonderful and magical. Play it loud so it washes over you and through you. Don't just listen with your ears, listen with your skin. It soars.

Beautiful 🤍

Beautiful is the one word I would use to describe this.

Id kill to just lay in the middle of that room with all of that going on around me.

Bliss. A live recording that isn't full of people coughing and dropping their glasses.

A magical piece that is transcending in its beauty and power to inspire.

Comfort spreads throughout my spirit and body Williams‘ music is the　closest to the Japanese state of mind

As it was meant to be played, where it was meant to be played. It just doesn't get any better.

Sometimes perfection just happens........

I have very recently stumbled across this, what i can only describe as an absolutely indescribable piece of music!! I am not in anyway religious but this makes me feel as close to being religious as possible!! Every human being on this planet needs exposing to this masterpiece and im confident good would come from it!!

Arguably the most beautiful, haunting and powerful piece ever written for strings. Never fails to bring me to tears.

There's no mistaking that this incredible piece of music comes from Divine inspiration. It seems to have the same effect on everyone who has commented. Like some cataclysmic World Event, everyone remembers where they were when they first heard this ethereal music. I was in my car heading home exhausted from the full day that extended into evening. Alone in my car I couldn't stop the tears the music brought up in me. I simply never heard any musical composition which seemed to come from Heaven itself. It's absolutely proper that this music debuted in a Cathedral, as it's mystical sounds bring your soul to the Gates of the Hereafter. Anyone who doubts GOD, need only listen to the music HE inspired in Ralph Vaughn Williams, and which none of us can ever forget.

Ralph Vaughan Williams captured the spirit of England the same way Satie captured the spirit of France, or Tchaikovsky captured the spirit of Russia. This is a hidden glade, a shadowed copse somewhere in England, where the sunlight melts and drips through the trees, dappling the woodland floor in gilded majesty. Nature is the true cathedral at which this song beckons us to kneel.

I loved this music. I loved all the music created by this composer. Vaughan Williams is the greatest artist to me.

149years since the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams his music is worshipped the world over. Rest Peacefully Mr Williams your music still astounds

I was lucky enough to be there and it was quite simply mind blowing. Sublime, haunting and deeply moving. The acoustics of this glorious medieval cathedral for which it was intended added a resonant deep bass you could actually feel, almost a juddering effect. It was also the LOUDEST non amplified live music I'd ever experienced. Thank you for uploading and thank you to Andrew Davis and the orchestra for doing justice to this masterpiece, which is at once strange yet so familiar when you hear it first. It needs to be played LOUD through decent speakers or headphones to fully appreciate IMHO.

I feel so sorry for those who miss out on music, either by choice or otherwise. This is beautiful.

Lark ascending is pure delight for the ears , heart and soul 😊

An astonishing piece of music, the Genesis of emotion - I first heard this as a youngster when my father played it on his Decca radiogram on Rememberance Day, as he did, I discovered every year. He would sit by himself, play this and quietly cry, remembering his friends who never came home.

They could not have chosen a better location for the piece. It's perfect. Dark and reflective, focusing on the stunning music, but with the one divine light shining down on them. It gives me chills. It's so perfectly English. Reflective and grand at the same time, a musical journey.

I have loved this piece for 35 years. As most commenters note, it’s haunting. It was used to great effect in the death scenes in Master and Commander. When the notes came up, you knew …

A sad passing of a great conductor rest now Mr Davis

do you ever feel a song snatch your soul and stroke it and caress it and overflow it with sweet scented flowers and golden sunsets. because i felt that

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Jesus Christ returned to earth while this music was playing. Divine!

This is is recording I always come back to when I want listen to this piece. I remember hearing it on the BBC when Andrew Davis recorded it, I promptly bought the CD, which I have played and played,it's wonderful, and still moves me every time I hear it.