Hyperion Records

Substantial is the four-movement Suite de Ballet for flute and piano. This was found among the composer’s manuscripts after his death, complete except for some tempo and expression marks which were supplied by Roy Douglas. Although first performed at a London soirée in March 1920 by the great French flautist Louis Fleury, I believe it was composed in 1913, the year in which Vaughan Williams met Fleury at Stratford-upon-Avon and in Paris. Lasting about seven minutes, the suite points towards the bi-tonality of another pre-1914 work, the Four Hymns.

from notes by Michael Kennedy © 2002