Ralph Vaughan Williams · 1914
The Lark Ascending
This is one of those pieces that seems to capture the English countryside in pure sound—imagine a skylark spiraling up into a summer sky, and you've basically got it. Vaughan Williams wrote it right before World War I, and there's something both joyful and bittersweet about that timing. It's short, intimate, and endlessly rewarding.
What to listen for
Pay close attention to how the solo violin floats above the orchestra in the opening, sometimes soaring so high it feels almost ethereal, then how it gradually spirals back down to earth—it's like watching a bird's entire flight path traced in music.
Recommended recording
Itzhak Perlman with André Previn and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded in 1997, because Perlman's violin sings with an almost conversational warmth that makes the lark feel real and present rather than distant.