Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was a close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and he considered "Job" to be RVW's masterpiece.
Any music student or aspiring composer would profit by studying the score of Job. Not only is it a fine piece of music, but it contains every possible orchestral effect. (Just don't go nuts with the tuba part like Ralph did.) Unfortunately it's an extremely difficult piece requiring a huge ensemble, and thus it's seldom performed.
I own 4 different recordings of Job, and this one is as good as any of them. I also own a copy of the score (can you tell that I admire the piece?), and if you purchase this CD, drop me a line and I'll send you a PDF copy of the stage directions from the score with the corresponding timings of the CD, so you can see what the music is supposed to represent.
The deep bass of the organ pedals called for in one of the scenes also make this an ideal test record if you're shopping for audio equipment. And if the world does come to an end soon, this'd be the ideal music to play.
