Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
[14][n 3] The term "fantasia", according to Frank Howes in his study of Vaughan Williams's works, referred to the 16th-century forerunner of the fugue "in that a thread of theme was enunciated and taken up by other parts, then dropped in favour of another akin to it which was similarly treated".
[15] Vaughan Williams's fantasia draws on but does not strictly follow this precept, containing sections in which the material is interrelated, although with little wholly imitative writing, and antiphony in preference to contrapuntal echoing of themes.
[16] The published score does not stipulate the number of players in Orchestra I; Orchestra II consists of two first violins, two seconds, two violas, two cellos and one double bass[17] The composer's metronome marking indicates a playing time of 11½ minutes,[18][n 4] but in recorded performances the duration has varied between 12m 40s (Dimitri Mitropoulos, 1958) and 18m 12s (Leonard Bernstein, 1976), with a more typical time of between 15 and 16½ minutes.
[24] The Introduction begins in B-flat major with all three groups playing together, ppp molto sostenuto for two bars of 44 time before moving to 34 and the low strings plucking hints of the first two phrases of the Tallis theme interspersed with the bowed sway motif.
[13] Howes comments that "a phrase of swaying chords" after the initial statement of the theme "acts as a kind of recurrent refrain" throughout the main body of the piece.
The solo viola leads off the Second Episode with a variation on the third Tallis phrase in E phrygian marked Poco più animato.
The themes return once again plucked on the low strings then taken up by solo violin and viola, while the reunited orchestras provide a “featherbed of sound”.
[29] The premiere of the Fantasia received a generally warm welcome, with a few exceptions: Herbert Brewer, the Gloucester cathedral organist, described it as "a queer, mad work by an odd fellow from Chelsea".
[30] The Musical Times reviewer said, "It is a grave work, exhibiting power and much charm of the contemplative kind, but it appears over long for the subject-matter".
The reviewer in The Daily Telegraph praised Vaughan Williams's mastery of string effect and added that although the work might not appeal to some because of its "seeming austerity", it was "extremely beautiful to such as have ears for the best music of all ages".
[32] In The Manchester Guardian, Samuel Langford wrote, "The melody is modal and antique in flavour, while the harmonies are as exotic as those of Debussy … The work marks out the composer as one who has got quite out of the ruts of the commonplace".
