sir john barbirolli and the halle orchestra: sinfonia antarctica

i particularly love the recurring theme in gustav holst’s “neptune” taken from his larger work “the planets”. i most especially love the choral ending which is echoed in elements of vaughan william’s soundtrack for the film “scott of the antarctic” which was written into a larger piece of music later released as symphony no. 7 or sinfonia antarctica. this piece of music was first performed by the halle orchestra under sir john barbirolli.

when i was a very little boy growing up in england i actually got to see barbirolli conduct the halle orchestra in manchester free trade hall.

here is a scratchy but listenable and lovely version of the halle playing sinfonia antarctica! part one:
part two:
part three:
part four: