The film is about a doomed expedition to the South Pole, and the musical score by Ralph Vaughan Williams reflects the stoic heroism of men facing fearsome odds—and who bravely accept defeat in their struggle against brute Nature.

As with his other film scores, the composer might have simply moved on to his next project. But something deeper had been stirred in him, and he resolved to turn the score into a major orchestral work.

In this hour, how Vaughan Williams transformed his score for Scott of the Antarctic into his seventh symphony, the Sinfonia Antartica—a process that tells us a lot about the nature of both film and symphonic music—the similarities and key differences.

RECORDINGS USED