Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958); ENG

Vaughan Williams, Ralph (b Down Ampney, Glos., 1872; d London, 1958). Eng. composer, conductor, and organist. Studied at Cambridge Univ. 1892-5 and RCM 1890-2, 1895, teachers incl. Parry, Charles Wood, Alan Gray, and Stanford; later in Ger. with Bruch and in Paris 1908 with Ravel. Org., St Barnabas, S. Lambeth, 1897. Began collecting Eng. folk-songs 1902. Mus. ed., English Hymnal, 1906. Cond. Leith Hill (Dorking) Fest., 1905-53. Prof. of comp. RCM 1919-39. Cond., Bach Choir, London, 1920-7. OM 1935.

One of leaders, with Holst and others, of 20th-cent. revival of Eng. mus. in wake of Elgar. Early works mainly songs, such as the famous Linden Lea and Silent Noon, and chamber mus. Deeply influenced by revival of interest in Eng. 16th-cent. composers and by his own folk-song collecting. Studied for 3 months with Ravel when 36 and thereafter produced series of major works, incl. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for str., On Wenlock Edge, song-cycle on Housman's ‘Shropshire Lad’ poems, and A London Symphony (1913). Served in 1914-18 war although over military age and after war was active in every phase of Eng. mus. life as cond. of amateur choral fests., teacher, writer, and of course composer. Lived at Dorking, Surrey, 1929-53, then returned to London. Gave constant encouragement to young musicians; had strong prejudices, about which he wrote entertainingly in various essays.

Vaughan Williams's mus. is strongly individual, with the modal harmonies characteristic of folk-song composers, yet owing something to Fr. influence of Ravel and Debussy. He wrote works in almost every genre, from operas and syms. to choral works for amateurs as well as for highly professional choirs, concs. for neglected instrs. such as harmonica and tuba, a suite for pipes, etc. He believed that a composer should ‘make his art an expression of the whole life of the community’, but he was paradoxically a very personal composer rather than a state laureate. His operas have not so far held the stage, except for Riders to the Sea, but all are spasmodically revived, for they contain fine mus. His 9 syms. range from the choral Sea Symphony (Whitman text) and the picturesque London to the programmatic Antartica and the sternly ‘absolute’ Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 9. A wide range of orch. colour is deployed in these works and in his large-scale choral works such as Sancta Civitas. The basis of his work is melody, rhythm sometimes being unsubtle, but its visionary quality, as in the masque Job and the 5th and 9th syms., its broad humanity, and its appeal at several levels make it a remarkable expression of the nat. spirit in mus. just as the man himself personified all that was best in the liberal 19th-cent. tradition of which he was a scion. Prin. works:

OPERAS: Hugh the Drover (1910-14, rev. 1924 and 1956); The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains (1921-2); Sir John in Love (1924-8); Riders to the Sea (1925-32); The Poisoned Kiss (1927-9, rev. 1934-7, 1956-7); The Pilgrim's Progress (1925-36, 1944-51, 1951-2).

BALLETS, etc: Old King Cole, with optional ch. (1923, also suite); On Christmas Night, masque (1925-6); Job, a Masque for Dancing (1927-30); The Bridal Day, masque (1938-9, rev. 1952-3); The First Nowell, nativity play for soloists, ch., orch. (1958).

ORCH.: syms.: A Sea Symphony, sop., bar., ch., orch. (1903-9, rev. 1910, 1918, 1924), A London Symphony (1911-13, rev. 1918, 1920, 1933), A Pastoral Symphony (1916-21, rev. 1950-1), No.4 in F minor (1931-4), No.5 in D (1938-43), No.6 in E minor (1944-7), Sinfonia Antartica (1949-52), No.8 in D minor (1953-5), No.9 in E minor (1956-7, rev. 1958); In the Fen Country (1904, rev. 1905, 1907, 1908, 1935); Norfolk Rhapsody (1906, rev. c.1921); Aristophanic Suite, The Wasps (1909, orig. incidental mus.); Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, str. qt., double str. orch. (1910, rev. 1913, 1919); Charterhouse Suite (1923, orch. of 6 pf. pieces); English Folk Songs, suite, military band (1923, arr. full orch. Jacob 1942, brass band Jacob 1956); Sea Songs (1942, version of march for bands 1923); The Running Set (1933); Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’ (arr. from Sir John in Love by Greaves, 1934); 2 Hymn-Tune Preludes (1936); Serenade to Music (1940, orch. version of ch. work); Partita, double str. orch. (1946-8); 5 Variants of Dives and Lazarus, str., hps. (1939); Suite, Story of a Flemish Farm (1945; see Film Music); Concerto grosso, str. (1950); Prelude on an Old Carol Tune (1953); Prelude on 3 Welsh Hymn Tunes, brass band (1954); Variations, brass band (1957; arr. for orch. Jacob 1959); Flourish for Glorious John (1957, ‘Glorious John’ being affectionate name for Barbirolli).

CONCERTOS, etc: The Lark Ascending, Romance, vn., orch. (1914, rev. 1920); Flos Campi, suite for va., ch., orch. (1925); vn. conc. in D minor, with str. (1924-5); pf. conc. in C (1926-31, rev. 1946 for 2 pf. with some new material); Suite for va., small orch. (1934); ob. conc. in A minor, with str. (1943-4); Fantasia on Old 104th Psalm Tune, pf., ch., orch. (1949); Romance in Db, harmonica, str., pf. (1951); tuba conc. in F minor (1954).

CHORUS & ORCH.: Toward the Unknown Region (1905-7); A Sea Symphony; 5 Mystical Songs, bar., optional ch., orch. (1911); Fantasia on Christmas Carols, bar., ch., orch. (1912); Lord, Thou hast been our refuge (1921); Sancta Civitas, ten., bar., ch., orch. (1923-5); In Windsor Forest (cantata from Sir John in Love) (1931); Benedicite, sop., ch., orch. (1929); The 100th Psalm (1929); Magnificat, cont., fl., women's ch., orch. (1932); Five Tudor Portraits, choral suite, mez., bar., ch., orch. (1935); Dona nobis pacem, sop., bar., ch., orch. (1936); Festival Te Deum (1937); Serenade to Music (1938); Epithalamion, bar., ch., orch. (1957, based on Bridal Day); Thanksgiving for Victory, sop., spkr., ch., orch. (1944); An Oxford Elegy, spkr., ch., orch. (1949); Folk Songs of the 4 Seasons, women's ch., orch. (1949); The Sons of Light (1950); The Old 100th Psalm Tune (1953); Hodie (This Day), Christmas Cantata, sop., ten., bar., ch., orch. (1953-4).

VOCAL: 3 Elizabethan Songs (1890-1902); 5 English Folk Songs (1913); O clap your hands (1920); O vos omnes (1922); Mass in G minor, unacc. double ch. (1920-1); Services in D minor (1939); 6 Choral Songs in time of War (1940); Valiant for Truth (1940); The Souls of the Righteous (1947); Prayer to the Father of Heaven (1948); 3 Shakespeare Songs (1951); O taste and see (1952); Silence and Music (1953); Heart's Music (1954); A Vision of Aeroplanes (1956); and many folk-song arrs.

VOICE & ENS.: On Wenlock Edge, ten., str. qt., pf. (1908-9); 4 Hymns, ten., pf., va. (or str. and va.) (1914); Merciless Beauty, v., str. trio or pf. (1921).

SONGS (excluding above): Linden Lea (1901); Silent Noon (1903); Orpheus with his lute (1901 and new setting 1925); The House of Life, 6 Rossetti sonnets, v., pf. (1903); Songs of Travel, 9 Stevenson poems for v., pf. (1904, 3 orch. by composer 1905, rest by R. Douglas 1960); Dreamland (1905); Buonaparty (1908); 2 Poems by Seumas O'Sullivan (1925); 3 Songs from Shakespeare (1925); 4 Poems by Fredegond Shove (1925); 3 Poems by Whitman (1925); Along the Field, 8 Housman songs, v., vn. (1926); 7 Songs from ‘The Pilgrim's Progress’ (1952); In the Spring (1952); 10 Blake Songs, v., ob. (1957); 3 Vocalises, sop., cl. (1958); 4 Last Songs, v., pf. (1954-8); and many folk-song arrs.

CHAMBER MUSIC: str. qts.: No.1 in G minor (1908, rev. 1921), No.2 in A minor (‘For Jean on her Birthday’) (1942-4); Phantasy Quintet (1912); Suite de Ballet, fl., pf. (1920); 6 Studies in English Folk-Song, vc. (or vn., va., cl.), pf. (1926); Suite for Pipes (1938-9); Household Music, str. qt. or alternatives (1940-1); vn. sonata in A minor (1954).

PIANO: Suite of 6 short Pieces (1920, arr. for str. as Charterhouse Suite); Hymn-Tune Prelude on ‘Song 13’ by O. Gibbons (1928); 6 Teaching Pieces (1934); Introduction and Fugue (2 pf.) (1946); The lake in the mountains (1947).

ORGAN: 3 Preludes on Welsh Hymn-Tunes (1920); Prelude and Fugue in C minor (1930); Wedding Tune for Ann (1943); 2 Organ Preludes (1956).

FILM MUSIC: 49th Parallel (1940-1); Coastal Command (1942); The People's Land (1941-2); The Flemish Farm (1943); Stricken Peninsula (1944); The Loves of Joanna Godden (1946); Scott of the Antarctic (1947-8); Dim Little Island (1949); Bitter Springs (1950); The England of Elizabeth (1955); The Vision of William Blake (1957).

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