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Ralph Vaughan Williams OM
Order of Merit

The Order of Merit is a United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations Order bestowed by the Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. It was established in 1902 by King Edward VII of the United Kingdom as a reward for distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture....
 (12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958) was an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 of symphonies
Symphony

A symphony is a musical composition, often extended and usually for orchestra. "Symphony" does not imply a specific form. Many symphonies are tonality works in four movement with the first in sonata form, and this is often described by music theorists as the structure of a "Classical period " symphony, although even some symphonies by the ac...
, chamber music
Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber....
, opera
Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
, choral music, and film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 scores
Film score

A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film, which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film. The term Soundtrack is often confused with film score, though a soundtrack may also include songs featured in the film as well as previously released music by other artists, while the score does...
. He was also a collector of English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 folk music
Folk music

Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:* Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the other definition...
 and song; this also influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal
English Hymnal

The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St Mary's Primrose Hill in north London, and the...
, which began in 1904, many folk song arrangements being set as hymn tunes, in addition to several original compositions.

h Vaughan Williams was born on 12 October 1872 in Down Ampney
Down Ampney

Down Ampney is a medium-sized village located in Cotswold in Gloucestershire, in England.It is off the A417 which runs between Cirencester and Faringdon on the A420, and about 5 km north of Cricklade,...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a Counties of England in South West England England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, where his father, the Rev. Arthur Vaughan Williams, was vicar.






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Ralph Vaughan Williams OM
Order of Merit

The Order of Merit is a United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations Order bestowed by the Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. It was established in 1902 by King Edward VII of the United Kingdom as a reward for distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture....
 (12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958) was an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 of symphonies
Symphony

A symphony is a musical composition, often extended and usually for orchestra. "Symphony" does not imply a specific form. Many symphonies are tonality works in four movement with the first in sonata form, and this is often described by music theorists as the structure of a "Classical period " symphony, although even some symphonies by the ac...
, chamber music
Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber....
, opera
Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
, choral music, and film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 scores
Film score

A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film, which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film. The term Soundtrack is often confused with film score, though a soundtrack may also include songs featured in the film as well as previously released music by other artists, while the score does...
. He was also a collector of English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 folk music
Folk music

Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:* Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the other definition...
 and song; this also influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal
English Hymnal

The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St Mary's Primrose Hill in north London, and the...
, which began in 1904, many folk song arrangements being set as hymn tunes, in addition to several original compositions.

Life


Early years

Ralph Vaughan Williams was born on 12 October 1872 in Down Ampney
Down Ampney

Down Ampney is a medium-sized village located in Cotswold in Gloucestershire, in England.It is off the A417 which runs between Cirencester and Faringdon on the A420, and about 5 km north of Cricklade,...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a Counties of England in South West England England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, where his father, the Rev. Arthur Vaughan Williams, was vicar. Following his father's death in 1875 he was taken by his mother, Margaret Susan Wedgwood (1843–1937), the great-granddaughter of the potter Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood was an England potter, credited with the industrial process of the manufacture of pottery. He was a member of the Darwin-Wedgwood family, most famously including his grandson, Charles Darwin....
, to live with her family at Leith Hill Place, the Wedgwood
Wedgwood

Wedgwood, strictly Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a British pottery firm, originally founded in 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood, which in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal, creating Waterford Wedgwood, the Ireland-based luxury brands group....
 family home in the North Downs. He was also related to the Darwins, Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
 being a great-uncle. Though born into the privileged intellectual upper middle class
Upper middle class

The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term lower middle class used for the group at the other end of the middle class scale and the regular middle class....
, Vaughan Williams never took it for granted and worked all his life for the democratic and egalitarian ideals in which he believed.

Darwin Wedgwood Galton Family Tree
As a student he had studied piano, "which I never could play, and the violin, which was my musical salvation." After Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School

Charterhouse, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in London Charterhouse, then Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse before Charterhouse School or more simply Charterhouse is a boys' independent school school between Hurtmore and Godalming in Surrey, England....
 he attended the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a college or university school of music located in the South Kensington district of London, England, and historically one of the most influential music institutions in Europe....
 (RCM) under Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer, resident in England for much of his life....
. He read history
HIStory

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
 and music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is one of the 31 Colleges of the University of Cambridge of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or University of Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduate students, and over 160 Fellows; however, counting only the student body it has somewhat fewer than Homert...
 where his friends and contemporaries included the philosophers G. E. Moore
George Edward Moore

George Edward Moore Order of Merit, usually known as G. E. Moore, was a distinguished and influential English philosopher. He was, with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Gottlob Frege, one of the founders of the analytic philosophy tradition in philosophy....
 and Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, Order of Merit , Fellow of the Royal Society , was a British people philosopher, mathematical logic, mathematician, historian, advocate for social reform, and pacifism....
. He then returned to the RCM and studied composition with Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, best known for the choral song And did those feet in ancient time, the coronation anthem I was glad and the hymn tune Repton, which sets the words Dear Lord and Father of Mankind....
, who became a friend. One of his fellow pupils at the RCM was Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski was a famous orchestral conducting, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted....
 and during 1896 they both studied organ under Sir Walter Parratt. Stokowski later went on to perform six of Vaughan Williams's symphonies for American audiences, making the first recording of the Sixth Symphony in 1949 with the New York Philharmonic, and giving the U.S. premiere of the Ninth Symphony in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue , occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street , two blocks south of Central Park....
 in 1958.

Vaughan Williams's composition developed slowly and it was not until he was 30 that the song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
 "Linden Lea" became his first publication. He mixed composition with conducting
Conducting

Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors....
, lecturing and editing other music, notably that of Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell...
 and the English Hymnal
English Hymnal

The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St Mary's Primrose Hill in north London, and the...
. He had further lessons with Max Bruch
Max Bruch

Max Christian Friedrich Bruch also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic music composer and Conducting who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, one of which is a staple of the violin repertoire....
 in Berlin in 1897 and later took a big step forward in his orchestral style when he studied in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 with Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel

Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer and pianist of Impressionist music known especially for the subtlety, richness, and poignancy of his melodies, orchestral and instrumental Texture and effects....
.

In 1904, Vaughan Williams discovered English folk songs, which were fast becoming extinct owing to the increase of literacy and printed music
Sheet music

Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of musical notation; like its analogs?books, pamphlets, etc.?the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens....
 in rural areas. He travelled the countryside, transcribing and preserving many himself. Later he incorporated some songs and melodies into his own music, being fascinated by the beauty of the music and its anonymous history in the working lives of ordinary people. His efforts did much to raise appreciation of traditional English folk song and melody. Later in his life he served as president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society
English Folk Dance and Song Society

The English Folk Dance and Song Society formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society formed by Cecil Sharp in 1911....
 (EFDSS), which, in recognition of his early and important work in this field, named its Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library

The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society , located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House....
 after him.

In 1905, Vaughan Williams conducted the first concert of the newly founded Leith Hill Music Festival at Dorking
Dorking

Dorking is an historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England....
 which he was to conduct until 1953, when he passed the baton to his successor, William Cole
William Cole (Musician)

William C. Cole was a conductor, composer and organist. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won the Stewart MacPherson Prize in 1933....
.

In 1909, he composed incidental music for the Cambridge Greek Play
Cambridge Greek Play

The Cambridge Greek Play is a play performed in Ancient Greek by students of the University of Cambridge. The event is held once every three years and is a tradition started in 1882 with the Ajax of Sophocles....
, a stage production at Cambridge University of Aristophanes'
Aristophanes

Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comedy playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete....
 The Wasps
The Wasps

The Wasps is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient genre of drama called 'Aristophanes#Aristophanes and Old Comedy'....
. The next year, he had his first big public successes conducting the premieres of the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, also known as the Tallis Fantasia, is a piece of orchestral music by the United Kingdom composer Ralph Vaughan Williams....
 (at The Three Choirs Festival
Three Choirs Festival

The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival, held each August alternately at the cathedrals of the Three Counties, and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme....
 in Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Undivided Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river....
) and his choral symphony
Choral symphony

A choral symphony is a large musical composition, generally including an orchestra, a choir and solo ists, which adheres to some extent to the tenets of musical form for a symphony in its internal workings and overall musical architecture....
 A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1). He enjoyed a still greater success with A London Symphony
A London Symphony

A London Symphony is the second symphony composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The work is sometimes referred to as the Symphony No. 2, though not so designated by the composer....
 (Symphony No. 2) in 1914, conducted by Geoffrey Toye
Geoffrey Toye

Edward Geoffrey Toye was an English people Conductor , composer and opera producer.He is best remembered as a music director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and for his association with Sadler's Wells Theatre....
.

Two World Wars

Vaughan Williams was 41 when World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 erupted. Though he could either have avoided war service entirely, or have tried for a commission he chose to enlist as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps

The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace....
. After a gruelling time as a stretcher bearer he was commissioned in the Royal Garrison Artillery
Royal Garrison Artillery

The Royal Garrison Artillery was the arm of the Royal Artillery that was tasked with manning the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including the Empire's coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division, and the guns of the siege artillery....
. On one occasion, though too ill to stand, he continued to direct his battery
Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortar s, or rockets, so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems....
 while lying on the ground. Prolonged exposure to gunfire began a process of hearing loss which eventually caused severe deafness in old age. In 1918, he was appointed Director of Music, First Army and this helped him adjust back into musical life.

After the war, he adopted for a while a somewhat mystical style in A Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 3), which draws on his experiences as an ambulance volunteer in that war; and Flos Campi
Flos Campi

Flos Campi: suite for solo viola, small chorus and small orchestra is a composition by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, completed in 1925....
, a work for viola
Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position....
 solo, small orchestra, and wordless chorus. From 1924 a new phase in his music began, characterized by lively cross-rhythms and clashing harmonies. Key works from this period are Toccata marziale, the ballet
Ballet (music)

Ballet as a musical form is a musical composition intended for Ballet. The same music can be used for several different ballet Choreography....
 Old King Cole, the Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto (Vaughan Williams)

The Piano Concerto in C is a concertante work by Ralph Vaughan Williams written in 1926 and 1930-31 . During the intervening years, the composer completed Job: A Masque for Dancing and began work on his Symphony No....
, the oratorio
Oratorio

An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and solo ists. The oratorio was somewhat modeled after the opera. Their similarities include the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable Fictional character, and arias....
 Sancta Civitas
Sancta Civitas

Sancta Civitas is an oratorio by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Written between 1923 and 1925, it received its first performance in Oxford in May 1926, during the UK General Strike of 1926....
 (his favourite of his choral works) and the ballet
Ballet

Ballet is a formalized type of performative dance, the origins of which date lay in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France courts, and which was further developed in England, Italy, and Russia as a concert dance form....
 Job: A Masque for Dancing, which is drawn not from the Bible but from William Blake
William Blake

William Blake was an English people English poetry, Painting, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both poetry and the visual arts of the Romanticism....
's Illustrations of the Book of Job
William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job

William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job primarily refers to a series of twenty-two engraving prints by Blake illustrating the biblical Book of Job....
. He also composed a Te Deum in G for the enthronement of Cosmo Lang
Cosmo Lang

Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth , was a bishop in the Church of England. He was the Archbishop of York and, later, Archbishop of Canterbury ....
 as Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the Episcopal see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion....
. This period in his music culminated in the Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 4 (Vaughan Williams)

The Symphony No. 4 in F minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams was dedicated by the composer to Arnold Bax.Unlike Vaughan Williams's first three symphonies it was not given a title, the composer stating that it was to be understood as pure music, without any incidental or external inspiration....
 in F minor, first played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in United Kingdom....
 in 1935. This symphony contrasts dramatically with the "pastoral" orchestral works with which he is associated; indeed, its almost unrelieved tension, drama, and dissonance have startled listeners since it was premiered. Acknowledging that the fourth symphony was different, the composer said, "I don't know if I like it, but it's what I mean." Two years later, Vaughan Williams made a historic recording of the work with the same orchestra for HMV (His Master's Voice), his only commercial recording. During this period, he lectured in America and England, and conducted The Bach Choir
The Bach Choir

The Bach Choir is one of the world?s leading large choruses. Based in London, UK, it has around 220 active members. The Choir's Musical Director is David Hill and previous musical directors have included Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams, Reginald Jacques and Sir David Willcocks....
. He was appointed to the Order of Merit
Order of Merit

The Order of Merit is a United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations Order bestowed by the Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. It was established in 1902 by King Edward VII of the United Kingdom as a reward for distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture....
 in the King's Birthday Honours of 1935, having previously declined a knight
Knight

File:Gothic armor 2.jpgKnight is the term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentry....
hood.

Vaughan Williams was an intimate life long friend of the famous British pianist Harriet Cohen
Harriet Cohen

Harriet Cohen was a British piano.She was born in London and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay, having won the Ada Lewis scholarship at the age of 12....
. His letters to her reveal a flirtatious relationship, regularly reminding her of the thousands of kisses that she owed him. Before Cohen's first American tour in 1931 he wrote "I fear the Americans will love you so much that they won't let you come back." He was a regular visitor to her home and often attended parties there. Cohen premiered Vaughan Williams' "Hymn Tune Prelude" in 1930 which he dedicated to her. She later introduced the piece throughout Europe during her concert tours. In 1933 she premiered his Concerto in C major for pianoforte and orchestra, a work which was once again dedicated to her. Cohen was given the exclusive right to play the piece for a period of time. Cohen played and promoted Vaughan Williams's work throughout Europe, the USSR, and the United States.

His music now entered a mature lyrical phase, as in the Five Tudor Portraits; the Serenade to Music
Serenade to Music

The Serenade to Music is a setting by Ralph Vaughan Williams for 16 vocal soloists and orchestra. The composer drew the text from the discussion about music and the Musica universalis in Act V, scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare....
 (a setting of a scene from act five of The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Although classified as a Shakespearean comedies in the First Folio, and while it shares certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedy, the play is perhaps more remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for...
, for orchestra and sixteen vocal soloists and composed as a tribute to the conductor Sir Henry Wood
Henry Wood (conductor)

Sir Henry Joseph Wood, Order of the Companions of Honour was an English conductor, forever associated with the The Proms which he conducted for half a century....
); and the Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 5 (Vaughan Williams)

Symphony No. 5 by England composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was written between 1938 and 1943. In style it represents a shift away from the violent dissonance of the Symphony No....
 in D, which he conducted at the Proms in 1943. As he was now 70, many people considered it a swan song, but he renewed himself again and entered yet another period of exploratory harmony and instrumentation. His very successful Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 6 (Vaughan Williams)

Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony in E minor, published as Symphony No. 6, was composed in 1946-7, during and immediately after World War II. Dedicated to Michael Mullinar, it was first performed by Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in April 1948....
 of 1946 received a hundred performances in the first year. It surprised both admirers and critics, many of whom suggested that this symphony (especially its last movement) was a grim vision of the aftermath of an atomic war: typically, Vaughan Williams himself refused to recognise any program behind this work.

Late harvest

Before his death in 1958, he completed three more symphonies. His seventh, Sinfonia Antartica, which was based on his 1948 film score for Scott of the Antarctic
Scott of the Antarctic (1948 film)

Scott of the Antarctic is a 1948 in film film about Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to be the first to the South Pole in Antarctica in 1910-12....
, exhibits his renewed interest in instrumentation and sonority. The eighth
Symphony No. 8 (Vaughan Williams)

Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 8 in D minor was composed between 1953 and 1955. John Barbirolli conducted the premiere of the piece in 1956....
, first performed in 1956, was followed by the much weightier Symphony No. 9 in E minor
Symphony No. 9 (Vaughan Williams)

The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor was written by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams from 1956 to 1957 and given its premiere performance in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent on April 2, 1958, in the composer's eighty-sixth year....
 of 1956-57. This last symphony was initially given a luke-warm reception after its first performance in May 1958, just three months before the composer's death. But this dark and enigmatic work is now considered by many to be a fitting conclusion to his sequence of symphonic works.

He also completed a range of instrumental and choral works, including a tuba concerto
Tuba Concerto in F minor (Vaughan Williams)

The Tuba Concerto in F minor by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams dates from 1954. Vaughan Williams wrote the concerto for Philip Catelinet, principal tubist of the London Symphony Orchestra , and Catelinet was the soloist in the premiere on 13 June 1954, with Sir John Barbirolli conducting....
, An Oxford Elegy
An Oxford Elegy

An Oxford Elegy is a work for narrator, small mixed chorus and small orchestra, written by Ralph Vaughan Williams between 1947 and 1949. It uses portions of two poems by Matthew Arnold, The Scholar Gipsy and Thyrsis....
 on texts of Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold was an England poet, and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold , literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator....
, and the Christmas cantata
Cantata

A cantata is a vocal music music composition with an musical instrument accompaniment and often containing more than one movement ....
 Hodie. He also wrote an arrangement of The Old One Hundredth Psalm Tune
Old 100th

"Old 100th" or "Old Hundredth" is a hymn tune from Pseaumes Octante Trois de David , and is one of the best known melodies in all Christian musical traditions....
 for the Coronation Service
Coronation of the British monarch

The Coronation of the British Monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom and of the other Commonwealth realms is formally Crown and invested with regalia....
 of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
. At his death he left an unfinished Cello Concerto, an opera
Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
 Thomas the Rhymer and music for a Christmas play, The First Nowell, which was completed by his amanuensis Roy Douglas
Roy Douglas

Roy Douglas is a British composer and arranger....
 (b. 1907).

Despite his substantial involvement in church music, and the religious subject-matter of many of his works, he was described by his second wife as "an atheist … [who] later drifted into a cheerful agnosticism." It is noteworthy that in his opera The Pilgrim's Progress he changed the name of the hero from Bunyan
Bunyan

Bunyan may refer to:*Paul Bunyan, a mythical lumberjack in American folklore**Paul Bunyan , an operetta by Benjamin Britten featuring the mythical lumberjack...
's Christian to Pilgrim. He also set Bunyan's hymn Who would true valour see
To be a Pilgrim

"To be a Pilgrim" is the only hymn John Bunyan is credited with writing but is indelibly associated with him. It first appeared in Part 2 of Pilgrim's Progress, written in 1684 while he was serving a twelve-year sentence in Bedford Gaol on a charge of preaching without a licence....
 to music using the traditional Sussex
Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Su?seaxe , is a Historic counties of England in South East England England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex....
 melody "Monk's Gate
Monk's Gate

Monk's Gate is a Hamlet in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A281 road 2.6 miles southeast of Horsham....
". For many church-goers, his most familiar composition may be the hymn tune
Hymn tune

A hymn tune is a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Some tunes consist of only the melody, sung in unison or parallel octaves, with or without accompaniment....
 Sine Nomine
Sine nomine

"Sine nomine" is a Latin expression, meaning "without a name". It is most commonly used in the contexts of publishing and bibliography listings such as library catalogs, to signify that the publisher of a listed work is unknown, or not imprinted or specified on the work....
 written for the hymn
Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity/deities, a prominent figure or an epic tale....
 "For All the Saints
For all the Saints

"For All the Saints" was written as a processional hymn by the Anglican Bishop William Walsham How. The hymn was first printed in Hymns for Saint's Days, and Other Hymns, by Earl Nelson, 1864....
" by William Walsham How
William Walsham How

William Walsham How was an England bishop.The son of a Shrewsbury solicitor, How was educated at Shrewsbury School, Wadham College, Oxford and University College, Durham....
. The tune he composed for the mediaeval hymn "Come Down, O Love Divine" (Di­scen­di, Amor san­to by Bi­an­co of Si­e­na, ca.1434) is entitled "Down Ampney
Down Ampney

Down Ampney is a medium-sized village located in Cotswold in Gloucestershire, in England.It is off the A417 which runs between Cirencester and Faringdon on the A420, and about 5 km north of Cricklade,...
" in honour of his birthplace.

He also worked as a tutor for Birkbeck College
Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London, sometimes referred to by its former name Birkbeck College or by the abbreviation BBK, is a constituent college of the University of London....
.

In the 1950s, the composer supervised recordings of all but his ninth symphony by Sir Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult

Sir Adrian Cedric Boult Order of the Companions of Honour was an English Conducting....
 and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall....
 for Decca
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. At the end of the sessions for the mysterious sixth symphony, Vaughan Williams gave a short speech, thanking Boult and the orchestra for their performance, "most heartily," and Decca later included this on the LP. He was to supervise the first recording of the ninth symphony (for Everest Records
Everest Records

Everest Records was a stereophonic record label based in Bayside, Long Island started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958 in music. It was devoted mainly to classical music....
) with Boult; his death on 26 August 1958 the night before the recording sessions were to begin provoked Boult to announce to the musicians that their performance would be a memorial to the composer. These recordings, including the speeches by the composer and Boult, have all been reissued by Decca on CD.

He is buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic architecture Church , in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster....
.

Vaughan Williams is a central figure in British music because of his long career as teacher, lecturer and friend to so many younger composers and conductors. His writings on music remain thought-provoking, particularly his oft-repeated call for all persons to make their own music, however simple, as long as it is truly their own.

Marriages

He was married twice. His first marriage was in 1896 to Adeline Fisher (daughter of the historian Herbert William Fisher
Herbert William Fisher

Herbert William Fisher born at Poulshot, Wiltshire, England, was a British historian, best known for his book Considerations on the Origin of the American War ....
). She died in 1951 after many years of suffering from crippling arthritis
Arthritis

Arthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in people older than fifty-five years....
.

In 1953 he married the poet Ursula Wood (1911-2007). At this time they moved from Dorking, Surrey back to London and occupied a house at 10 Hanover Terrace, Regents Park. She had met Vaughan Williams in 1938 and they had begun an affair whilst still married to their respective spouses. After her husband's death, Wood continued her relationship with Vaughan Williams, apparently with the tacit approval of Adeline. Ursula became Ralph's literary advisor and personal assistant, writing the libretto
Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
 to his choral work The Sons of Light, and contributing to that of The Pilgrim's Progress and Hodie. There were no children by either marriage.

Popular References

Vaughan Williams appears as a character in Robert Holdstock
Robert Holdstock

Robert Paul Holdstock is an English novelist and author best known for his works of fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenres of mythic fiction....
's novel Lavondyss
Lavondyss

Lavondyss also titled Lavondyss: Journey to an Unknown Region is the second fantasy novel of the Mythago Wood series by award winning author Robert Holdstock originally published in 1988....
.

Style

Vaughan Williams's music has often been said to be characteristically English, in the same way as that of Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst

Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer and was a teacher for nearly 20 years. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
, Frederick Delius
Frederick Delius

Frederick Albert Theodore Delius Order of the Companions of Honour was an England composer....
, George Butterworth
George Butterworth

George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, MC was an England composer best known for his tone poem The Banks of Green Willow and his settings of A. E....
, and William Walton
William Walton

Sir William Turner Walton Order of Merit was a United Kingdom composer and Conductor .His style was influenced by the works of Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev as well as jazz music, and is characterized by rhythmic vitality, bittersweet harmony, sweeping Romantic music melody and brilliant orchestration....
. In Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination, Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd

Peter Ackroyd CBE is an England novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London. His works are comparable to Martin Amis, John Banville and Sebastian Barry....
 writes, "If that Englishness in music can be encapsulated in words at all, those words would probably be: ostensibly familiar and commonplace, yet deep and mystical as well as lyrical, melodic, melancholic, and nostalgic yet timeless." Ackroyd quotes music critic John Alexander Fuller Maitland
John Alexander Fuller Maitland

John Alexander Fuller Maitland was an influential British music critic and scholar....
, whose distinctions included editing the second edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians in the years just before 1911, as having observed that in Vaughan Williams's style "one is never quite sure whether one is listening to something very old or very new."

His style expresses a deep regard for and fascination with folk tunes, the variations upon which can convey the listener from the down-to-earth (which he always tried to remain in his daily life) to the ethereal. Simultaneously the music shows patriotism toward England in the subtlest form, engendered by a feeling for ancient landscapes and a person's small yet not entirely insignificant place within them. His earlier works sometimes show the influence of Ravel
Maurice Ravel

Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer and pianist of Impressionist music known especially for the subtlety, richness, and poignancy of his melodies, orchestral and instrumental Texture and effects....
, his teacher for three months in Paris in 1908. Ravel described Vaughan Williams as "the only one of my pupils who does not write my music."

Works

See also: :Category:Compositions by Ralph Vaughan Williams.


Operas

  • Hugh the Drover
    Hugh the Drover

    Hugh the Drover is an opera in two acts by Ralph Vaughan Williams to an original English libretto by Harold Child. According to Michael Kennedy, the composer took first inspiration for the opera from this question to Bruce Richmond, editor of The Times Literary Supplement, around 1909-1910:...
     or Love in the Stocks     (1910-20). Romantic ballad opera. Libretto: Harold Child
  • Sir John in Love
    Sir John in Love

    Sir John in Love is an opera in four acts by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The libretto, by the composer himself, is based on William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor....
     (1924-28), from which comes an arrangement by Ralph Greaves of Fantasia on "Greensleeves
    Greensleeves

    "Greensleeves" is a traditional Folk Music of England and tune, a Ostinato#Ground bass of the form called a romanesca.A Broadside by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves"....
    "
  • The Poisoned Kiss
    The Poisoned Kiss

    The Poisoned Kiss, or The Empress and the Necromancer is an opera in three acts by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The libretto, by Evelyn Sharp, is based on Richard Garnett's The Poison Maid and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter....
     (1927-29; revisions 1936-37 and 1956-57). Libretto: Evelyn Sharp (later amended by Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams)
  • Riders to the Sea
    Riders to the Sea (opera)

    Riders to the Sea is a short one-act opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on the Riders to the Sea by the Irish author John Millington Synge....
     (1925-32), from the play
    Riders to the Sea

    Riders to the Sea is a play written by Ireland playwright John Millington Synge. It was first performed on February 25, 1904 at the Molesworth Hall, Dublin by the Irish National Theater Society....
     by John Millington Synge
    John Millington Synge

    Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre....
  • The Pilgrim's Progress
    The Pilgrim's Progress (opera)

    The Pilgrim's Progress is an opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. The composer himself described the work as a 'Morality' rather than an opera, while nonetheless he intended the work to be performed on stage, rather than in a church or cathedral....
     (1909-51), based on John Bunyan
    John Bunyan

    John Bunyan was an English Christianity writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress, arguably the most famous published Christian allegory....
    's allegory
  • The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains (1921). Libretto: Ralph Vaughan Williams (from John Bunyan
    John Bunyan

    John Bunyan was an English Christianity writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress, arguably the most famous published Christian allegory....
    ) (Later incorporated, save for the final section, into The Pilgrim's Progress)

Incidental music

  • The Wasps
    The Wasps (Vaughan Williams)

    The Wasps is incidental music composed by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1909. It was written for a production of Aristophanes' The Wasps at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was Vaughan Williams' first of only two forays into incidental music....
     (1909; to Aristophanes
    Aristophanes

    Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comedy playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete....
    's play The Wasps
    The Wasps

    The Wasps is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient genre of drama called 'Aristophanes#Aristophanes and Old Comedy'....
    ; best known as an orchestral suite)
  • The Death of Tintagiles (1913; to Maurice Maeterlinck
    Maurice Maeterlinck

    Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard, Count Maeterlinck was a Belgian playwright, poet and essayist who wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911 in literature....
    's 1894 play)


Ballets

  • Old King Cole (1923)
  • On Christmas Night (1926)
  • Job: A Masque for Dancing (1930)
  • The Running Set (1933)
  • The Bridal Day (1938-9)


Orchestral

  • Symphonies
    • A Sea Symphony (Symphony No. 1), a choral symphony
      Choral symphony

      A choral symphony is a large musical composition, generally including an orchestra, a choir and solo ists, which adheres to some extent to the tenets of musical form for a symphony in its internal workings and overall musical architecture....
       on texts by Whitman (1903-1909)
    • A London Symphony
      A London Symphony

      A London Symphony is the second symphony composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The work is sometimes referred to as the Symphony No. 2, though not so designated by the composer....
       (Symphony No. 2) (1913)
    • A Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 3) (1921)
    • Symphony No. 4
      Symphony No. 4 (Vaughan Williams)

      The Symphony No. 4 in F minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams was dedicated by the composer to Arnold Bax.Unlike Vaughan Williams's first three symphonies it was not given a title, the composer stating that it was to be understood as pure music, without any incidental or external inspiration....
       in F minor (1931-34)
    • Symphony No. 5
      Symphony No. 5 (Vaughan Williams)

      Symphony No. 5 by England composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was written between 1938 and 1943. In style it represents a shift away from the violent dissonance of the Symphony No....
       in D (1938-43)
    • Symphony No. 6
      Symphony No. 6 (Vaughan Williams)

      Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony in E minor, published as Symphony No. 6, was composed in 1946-7, during and immediately after World War II. Dedicated to Michael Mullinar, it was first performed by Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in April 1948....
       in E minor (1946-47)
    • Sinfonia Antartica (Symphony No. 7) (1949-52) (partly based on his music for the film Scott of the Antarctic
      Scott of the Antarctic (1948 film)

      Scott of the Antarctic is a 1948 in film film about Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to be the first to the South Pole in Antarctica in 1910-12....
      )
    • Symphony No. 8 in D minor
      Symphony No. 8 (Vaughan Williams)

      Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 8 in D minor was composed between 1953 and 1955. John Barbirolli conducted the premiere of the piece in 1956....
       (1953-55)
    • Symphony No. 9 in E minor
      Symphony No. 9 (Vaughan Williams)

      The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor was written by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams from 1956 to 1957 and given its premiere performance in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent on April 2, 1958, in the composer's eighty-sixth year....
       (1956-57)
  • In the Fen Country
    In the Fen Country

    In the Fen Country is an orchestral tone poem written by the England composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams had completed the first version of the work in April 1904....
    , for orchestra (1904)
  • Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 (1906, rev. 1914)
  • The Wasps
    The Wasps (Vaughan Williams)

    The Wasps is incidental music composed by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1909. It was written for a production of Aristophanes' The Wasps at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was Vaughan Williams' first of only two forays into incidental music....
    , an Aristophanic
    Aristophanes

    Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comedy playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete....
     suite (1909; see Incidental music above)
  • Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
    Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

    Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, also known as the Tallis Fantasia, is a piece of orchestral music by the United Kingdom composer Ralph Vaughan Williams....
     (1910, rev. 1913 and 1919)
  • Fantasia on "Greensleeves
    Greensleeves

    "Greensleeves" is a traditional Folk Music of England and tune, a Ostinato#Ground bass of the form called a romanesca.A Broadside by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves"....
    "     (1934)
  • Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus (1939)
  • Concerto Grosso
    Concerto Grosso (Vaughan Williams)

    Concerto Grosso is a work for string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Originally composed in 1950 for a performance by the Rural Schools Music Association conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, the piece is unique in that the orchestra is split into three sections based on skill: Concertino , Tutti , and Ad Lib which only plays open strings....
    , for three parts of strings requiring different levels of technical skill (1950)


Concerti

  • Piano
    • Piano Concerto in C
      Piano Concerto (Vaughan Williams)

      The Piano Concerto in C is a concertante work by Ralph Vaughan Williams written in 1926 and 1930-31 . During the intervening years, the composer completed Job: A Masque for Dancing and began work on his Symphony No....
       (1926-31)
    • Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra
      Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (Vaughan Williams)

      Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra is a piano concerto by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. He wrote his solo Piano Concerto in the years between 1926 and 1930, which was first performed in 1933 under Adrian Boult....
       (c. 1946; a reworking of Piano Concerto in C)
  • Violin
    • The Lark Ascending
      The Lark Ascending

      The Lark Ascending is a popular piece for violin and orchestra, written in 1914 by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland composer Ralph Vaughan Williams....
       for violin and orchestra (1914)
    • Concerto Accademico for violin and orchestra (1924-25)
  • Viola
    • Flos Campi
      Flos Campi

      Flos Campi: suite for solo viola, small chorus and small orchestra is a composition by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, completed in 1925....
       for viola, wordless chorus and small orchestra (1925)
    • Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra (1936-38)
  • Oboe Concerto in A minor
    Oboe Concerto (Vaughan Williams)

    Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote his Concerto in A Minor for Oboe and Strings for soloist L?on Goossens in 1944. This pastoral piece is divided into three movements:...
    , for oboe and strings (1944)
  • Fantasia (quasi variazione) on the Old 104th Psalm Tune for piano, chorus, and orchestra (1949)
  • Romance in D flat for harmonica and orchestra (1951) (written for Larry Adler
    Larry Adler

    Lawrence "Larry" Cecil Adler, , was an United States musician, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players. Composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin composed works for him....
    )
  • Tuba Concerto in F minor
    Tuba Concerto in F minor (Vaughan Williams)

    The Tuba Concerto in F minor by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams dates from 1954. Vaughan Williams wrote the concerto for Philip Catelinet, principal tubist of the London Symphony Orchestra , and Catelinet was the soloist in the premiere on 13 June 1954, with Sir John Barbirolli conducting....
     (1954)


Choral

  • Toward the Unknown Region, song for chorus and orchestra, setting of Walt Whitman
    Walt Whitman

    Walter Whitman was an United States Poetry of the United States, essayist, journalism, and humanism. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and literary realism, incorporating both views in his works....
     (1906)
  • Five Mystical Songs
    Five Mystical Songs

    The Five Mystical Songs are a composition by Ralph Vaughan Williams, written between 1906 and 1911. The work sets four poems by George Herbert, from his 1633 collection The Temple: Sacred Poems....
     for baritone, chorus and orchestra, settings of George Herbert
    George Herbert

    George Herbert was a Welsh poet, orator and priest. Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education which led to his holding prominent positions at University of Cambridge and Parliament of the United Kingdom....
     (1911)
  • Fantasia on Christmas Carols for baritone, chorus, and orchestra (1912; arranged also for reduced orchestra of organ, strings, percussion)
  • Mass in G Minor
    Mass in G Minor (Vaughan Williams)

    The Mass in G Minor is a choral work by Ralph Vaughan Williams written in 1921. It is perhaps notable as the first mass written in a distinctly English manner since the sixteenth century....
     for unaccompanied choir (1922)
  • Sancta Civitas
    Sancta Civitas

    Sancta Civitas is an oratorio by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Written between 1923 and 1925, it received its first performance in Oxford in May 1926, during the UK General Strike of 1926....
     (The Holy City) oratorio, text mainly from the Book of Revelation
    Book of Revelation

    The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John , and Revelation of Jesus Christ is the last Biblical canon of the New Testament in the Christian Bible....
      (1923–25)
  • Te Deum in G (1928)
  • Benedicite for soprano, chorus, and orchestra (1929)
  • In Windsor Forest, adapted from the opera Sir John in Love
    Sir John in Love

    Sir John in Love is an opera in four acts by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The libretto, by the composer himself, is based on William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor....
     (1929)
  • Three Choral Hymns (1929)
  • Magnificat for contralto, women's chorus, and orchestra (1932)
  • Five Tudor Portraits for contralto, baritone, chorus, and orchestra (1935)
  • Dona nobis pacem
    Dona nobis pacem (Vaughan Williams)

    Dona nobis pacem is a cantata written by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1936 and first performed on 2 October 1936. The work was commissioned to mark the centenary of the Huddersfield Choral Society....
    , text by Walt Whitman
    Walt Whitman

    Walter Whitman was an United States Poetry of the United States, essayist, journalism, and humanism. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and literary realism, incorporating both views in his works....
     and other sources (1936)
  • Festival Te Deum for chorus and orchestra or organ (1937)
  • Serenade to Music
    Serenade to Music

    The Serenade to Music is a setting by Ralph Vaughan Williams for 16 vocal soloists and orchestra. The composer drew the text from the discussion about music and the Musica universalis in Act V, scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare....
     for sixteen solo voices and orchestra, a setting of Shakespeare, dedicated to Sir Henry Joseph Wood on the occasion of his Jubilee (1938)
  • A Song of Thanksgiving (originally Thanksgiving for Victory) for narrator, soprano solo, children's chorus, mixed chorus, and orchestra (1944)
  • An Oxford Elegy
    An Oxford Elegy

    An Oxford Elegy is a work for narrator, small mixed chorus and small orchestra, written by Ralph Vaughan Williams between 1947 and 1949. It uses portions of two poems by Matthew Arnold, The Scholar Gipsy and Thyrsis....
     for narrator, mixed chorus and small orchestra (1949)
  • Three Shakespeare Songs
    Three Shakespeare Songs

    Three Shakespeare Songs is a piece of classical music choir written for an a cappella SATB choir. It was written in 1951 by the Classical music of the United Kingdom composer Ralph Vaughan Williams....
     for SATB unaccompanied, composed for The British Federation of Music Festivals National Competitive Festival (1951)
  • Oh Taste and See The motet setting of Psalm 34:8. The original SATB version was composed for the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. (1953)
  • Hodie
    Hodie

    Hodie is a cantata by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Composed between 1953 and 1954, it is the composer's last major choral-orchestral composition, and was premiered under his Baton at Worcester Cathedral, as part of the Three Choirs Festival, on September 8, 1954....
    , a Christmas oratorio (1954)
  • Folk songs of the Four Seasons for unaccompanied SSA chorus.
  • Epithalamion for baritone solo, chorus, flute, piano, and strings (1957)
  • A Choral Flourish for unaccompanied SATB chorus, composed for a large choral event in the Royal Albert Hall at the invitation of (and dedicated to) Alan Kirby (c. 1952)


Arrangements of Christian Hymns

Vaughan Williams was the musical editor of the English Hymnal
English Hymnal

The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St Mary's Primrose Hill in north London, and the...
 of 1906, and the co-editor with Martin Shaw
Martin Shaw (composer)

Martin Edward Fallas Shaw OBE was a prolific England composer of music for plays, songs, hymns and children in the first half of the 20th Century....
 of Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise (hymnal)

Songs of Praise is a 1925 hymnal. Compiled by Percy Dearmer, Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The popular English Hymnal of 1911 was considered too 'High church' by many people, and a new book, on broader lines was indicated....
 of 1925 and the Oxford Book of Carols
Oxford Book of Carols

The Oxford Book of Carols is an influential carol anthology first published in 1928, edited by Percy Dearmer, Martin Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams....
 of 1928, all in collaboration with Percy Dearmer
Percy Dearmer

The Reverend Percy Dearmer Master of Arts , DD, was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of The Parson's Handbook, an Anglo-Catholicism liturgical manual....
.
  • A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing
  • All Creatures of Our God and King
  • Alleluia, Sing to Jesus
  • Amid the Thronging Worshippers
  • At the Name of Jesus
  • "Come Down, O Love Divine" original hymnody by Bi­an­co of Si­e­na (1434)"Di­scen­di, Amor san­to"and entitled "Down Ampney
    Down Ampney

    Down Ampney is a medium-sized village located in Cotswold in Gloucestershire, in England.It is off the A417 which runs between Cirencester and Faringdon on the A420, and about 5 km north of Cricklade,...
    " in honour of Vaughan Williams birthplace
  • Come, Let Us with Our Lord Arise an Easter
    Easter

    Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christianity liturgical year.Christians believe that Jesus was Resurrection of Jesus from the dead three days after his Crucifixion of Jesus, and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday , two days after Good Friday....
     anthem
  • Come Thou Long Expected Jesus a carol for the season of Advent
    Advent

    Advent is a Liturgical year of the Christianity, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus; in other words, the period immediately before Christmas....
  • For All the Saints harmonized from "Sine Nomine"
  • God Be With You Till We Meet Again
  • I Love You Lord, My Strength, My Rock
  • I Sing the Mighty Power of God
  • Jesus, Lord, Redeemer
  • "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
    Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

    An ancient chant of Eucharistic devotion based on the verses taken from Habakkuk 2:20 "Let all the earth keep silence before Him"...
    ",     text of the Cherubic hymn of Liturgy of St James
    Liturgy of St James

    The Liturgy of Saint James is the oldest complete form of the Divine Liturgy still in use among the Christian churches.It is based on the traditions of the ancient rite of the Early Christian Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem#Bishops of Jerusalem, as the Mystagogic Catecheses of St Cyril of Jerusalem imply....
    , harmonized to the French folk tune Picardy
    Picardy (hymn)

    "Picardy" is a hymn tune used in Christian churches, based on a France Carol ; it is in a minor key and its meter is 8.7.8.7.8.7. Its name comes from the Picardy from where it is thought to originate....
     (1906)
  • Make Room Within My Heart, O God
  • My God, My God, O Why Have You Forsaken Me? a lament for Good Friday
    Good Friday

    Good Friday, also called Holy Friday, Great Friday or Black Friday, is the Friday preceding Easter Sunday . It commemorates the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Golgotha....
     services during Passiontide
    Passiontide

    Passiontide is a name for the last two weeks of Lent, beginning on Passion Sunday and ending on Holy Saturday.In the Roman Catholic Church, all crucifixes and images may be covered in veils starting on Passion Sunday: "The practice of covering crosses and images in the church may be observed, if the episcopal conference decides....
  • O Come to Me, the Master Said
  • "O Little Town of Bethlehem
    O Little Town of Bethlehem

    "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a popular Christmas carol....
    "     a popular Christmas Carol penned by the American Phillips Brooks
    Phillips Brooks

    Phillips Brooks , was a noted United States clergyman and author, who briefly served as Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America during the early 1890s....
     adapted to the English tune "Forest Green"
  • O Sing a Song of Bethlehem
  • On Christmas Night All Christians Sing
  • When the Church of Jesus


Vocal

  • "Linden Lea", song (1901)
  • The House of Life, six sonnets by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, set to music (1904)
  • Songs of Travel
    Songs of Travel

    Songs of Travel is a song cycle of nine songs originally written for baritone voice composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with poems selected from the Robert Louis Stevenson Songs of Travel and Other Verses....
     (1904)
  • "The Sky Above The Roof" (1908)
  • On Wenlock Edge, song cycle for tenor, piano and string quartet (1909)
  • Along the Field, for tenor and violin
  • Three Poems by Walt Whitman for baritone and piano (1920)
  • Four Poems by Fredegond Shove
    Fredegond Shove

    Fredegond Shove was an England poet.Fredegond was the daughter of the historian Frederic William Maitland and his wife Florence Henrietta Fisher....
    :     for baritone and piano (1922)
  • Four Hymns for Tenor, Viola and Strings
    Four Hymns for Tenor, Viola and Strings

    Four Hymns for Tenor, Viola and Strings, is a liturgical song cycle composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams....
     (1914)
  • Merciless Beauty for tenor, two violins, and cello
  • Four Last Songs
    Four Last Songs (Vaughan Williams)

    Ralph Vaughan Williams? Four Last Songs song cycle is made up of four songs: "Procris," "Tired," "Hands, Eyes, and Heart," and "Menelaus." All of the songs were composed between 1954 and 1958....
     to poems of Ursula Vaughan Williams
  • Ten Blake
    William Blake

    William Blake was an English people English poetry, Painting, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both poetry and the visual arts of the Romanticism....
     songs    , song cycle for high voice and oboe (1957)


Chamber and Instrumental

  • String Quintet in C minor for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano (1903)
  • String Quartet No. 1 in G minor (1908)
  • Phantasy Quintet for 2 violins, 2 violas and cello (1912)
  • Six Studies in English Folk-Song, for violoncello and piano (1926)
  • String Quartet No. 2 in A minor ("For Jean, on her birthday," 1942-44)
  • Sonata in A minor for violin and piano (1952)
  • Romance for Viola and Piano (undated)


Organ

  • Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes (Bryn Calfaria
    Bryn Calfaria

    Bryn Calfaria is a Wales hymn tune written in 87. 87. 12 77. meter. The melody, written by William Owen , is used as a setting for several hymns, most notably "Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor."...
    , Rhosymedre, Hyfrydol
    Hyfrydol

    Hyfrydol is a Wales hymn tune which appears in a number of Christian hymnals in various arrangements. Composed by Rowland Prichard in 1844, it was originally published in the composer's handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal Cyfaill y Cantorion ....
    ) (1920)
  • Prelude and Fugue in C minor (1921)
  • A Wedding Tune for Ann (1943)
  • The Old One Hundredth Psalm Tune, harmonization and arrangement (1953)
  • Two Organ Preludes (The White Rock, St. David's Day) (1956)


Film, radio, and TV scores

  • 49th Parallel
    49th parallel

    49th parallel may refer to:* 49th parallel north, a line of latitude*49th parallel south, a line of latitude*49th Parallel, the 1941 British film...
    , 1940, his first, talked into it by Muir Mathieson
    Muir Mathieson

    James Muir Mathieson was a British conducting. Mathieson was almost always described as a "Musical Director" because he worked in films.After attending Stirling High School, Mathieson went to the Royal College of Music in London....
     to assuage his guilt at being able to do nothing for the war effort
  • Coastal Command
    Coastal Command (film)

    Coastal Command is a 1942 in film British film made by the Crown Film Unit for the Ministry of Information . The movie, distributed by RKO, dramatised the work of RAF Coastal Command....
    , 1942
  • BBC adaptation of The Pilgrim's Progress
    The Pilgrim's Progress

    The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan is a Christian allegory. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print....
    , 1942
  • The People's Land, 1943
  • The Story of a Flemish Farm, 1943
  • Stricken Peninsula, 1945
  • The Loves of Joanna Godden
    The Loves of Joanna Godden

    The Loves of Joanna Godden is a 1947 in film British historical drama film directed by Charles Frend and starring Googie Withers, Jean Kent, John McCallum and Derek Bond....
    , 1946
  • Scott of the Antarctic
    Scott of the Antarctic (1948 film)

    Scott of the Antarctic is a 1948 in film film about Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to be the first to the South Pole in Antarctica in 1910-12....
    , 1948, partially reused for his Symphony No. 7
  • The England of Elizabeth
    The England of Elizabeth

    The England of Elizabeth was a 1957 documentary by the British Transport Commission, with a score composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams....
    , 1957


Band

  • English Folk Song Suite
    English Folk Song Suite

    Written in 1923, the English Folk Song Suite is one of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams's most famous works for military band. The piece has also been arranged for full orchestra and brass band by Vaughan Williams' student Gordon Jacob....
     for military band (1923)
  • Toccata Marziale for military band (1924)
  • Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
  • Sea Songs
    Sea Songs

    Sea Songs is an arrangement of three British sea-songs by the England composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It is based on the songs "Princess Royal", "John Benbow#'Brave Benbow'" and "Portsmouth "....
  • Overture: Henry V for brass band
  • Variations for brass band (1957)
  • Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes' arranged from the organ piece for brass band and published by Salvationist Publishing and Supplies


A note on recordings

Vaughan Williams enjoys an extensive recorded legacy. Early recordings of individual symphonies made by Henry Wood
Henry Wood

Henry Wood is the name of:* Evelyn Wood , British Field Marshal and Victoria Cross recipient* Henry Wood * Henry Wise Wood , Alberta politician...
 (London), John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli

Sir John Giovanni Battista Barbirolli, Order of the Companions of Honour , was a United Kingdom conducting and cello. Barbirolli was particularly associated with The Hall?, Manchester, which he conducted for nearly three decades....
 (Fifth), Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult

Sir Adrian Cedric Boult Order of the Companions of Honour was an English Conducting....
 and Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski was a famous orchestral conducting, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted....
 (Sixth), and the composer's own recording of the Fourth, preceded several complete cycles. Boult's cycle (twice in all) was the first, recording for Decca
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 in the 1950s. Others have followed from André Previn
André Previn

Andr? Previn Order of the British Empire is a German-born American Academy Award and Grammy Award winning pianist, conducting, and composer. He first came to prominence by arranging and composing Hollywood film scores in 1948....
, Bernard Haitink
Bernard Haitink

Bernard Johan Herman Haitink Order of the Companions of Honour Order of the British Empire is a Netherlands conducting and violinist....
, Bryden Thomson
Bryden Thomson

Bryden Thomson was a Scotland conducting.Bryden Thomson was born in Ayr, Scotland, Thomson led several British orchestras, including the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Ulster Orchestra from 1977 to 1985....
, Vernon Handley
Vernon Handley

Vernon George "Tod" Handley CBE was a United Kingdom conductor . He was born of Wales parents into a musical family in London Borough of Enfield, London....
 and Richard Hickox
Richard Hickox

Richard Sidney Hickox Order of the British Empire was an England conducting of choir, orchestral and operatic music....
. A first official release of the Fifth Symphony conducted by the composer in 1952 was recently issued in the U.K. by Somm Recordings.
David Willcocks recorded much of the choral output for EMI
EMI

The EMI Group is a United Kingdom music company comprising the major record label EMI Music ? which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in London, England, United Kingdom ? and EMI Music Publishing, based in New York City....
 in the 1960s and 1970s. Award-winning performances of the string quartets have followed on Naxos
Naxos

Naxos may refer to:...
, which along with the Hyperion
Hyperion Records

Hyperion Records is an independent United Kingdom classical music record label, named after Hyperion , one of the Titan of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980....
 and Chandos
Chandos Records

Chandos Records is an independent European classical music label based in the United Kingdom, founded by Brian Couzens. Their catalog contains a range of classical music - for example, much orchestral, choir and chamber music by such relatively lesser-known British composers as Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi, Charles Stanford and Arnold Bax co...
 labels have recorded much neglected material, including works for brass band and the rarely performed operas.

EMI Classics has issued a budget 30-CD set (34+ hours) with virtually all of RVW's works, including alternative settings.

External links

  • on his editing of the English Hymnal
    English Hymnal

    The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St Mary's Primrose Hill in north London, and the...
     (from the BBC)
  • listing at the IMDB.
  • 2008 British newspaper article in the Telegraph
    on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the composer's death
    "A stunning new film about composer Ralph Vaughan Williams challenges the myths
    that obscure his legacy - and exposes the darkness that permeates his work."