Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872  -  1958)

Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire.  Like many classical composers before him, he began studying music at an early age.  He was never really good at playing the piano, but excelled with the violin.  He studied music at the Charterhouse School, the Royal College of Music and Trinity College, Cambridge. Vaughan Williams was a late developer and did not publish his first piece of music until he was thirty years old. He was a man of the people in thought and action, a visionary and idealist who was always ready to devote himself to a cause. His strong nationalist sympathies are reflected in two essays, Who Wants the English Composer ? and National Music. During his travels, he took great interest in English folk music, and later served as president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.  He lived through both World Wars and served as a stretcher bearer in World War 1. At the end of the First World War he became Director of Music for the 1st Army of the British Expeditionary Force. He took an active interest in this role, setting up creative music-making among the soldiers. During the Second World War he lobbied for the release of interned musicians.
(read more............)......(Biographical video)

 KEY DATES.

1872  Born 12 October, in Gloucester-
          shire; his mother was related to
          Charles Darwin and Josiah
          Wedgewood.
1875  His father, a clergyman, dies and
          the family moves to Leith Hill
          Place, Surrey.
1890  Begins music studies, first at
           the Royal College of Music,
          London and then at Trinity
          College, Cambridge.
1897  Marries Adeline Fisher.
1903  Publishes anthology of English
          folk songs; intensifies folk music
          research, with Gustav Holst and
          folk music collector Cecil Sharp.
1906  Edits The English Hymnal. 
1914   Following outbreak of First 
          World War, sees action as a 
          medical orderly and soldier.
1929  Settles in Dorking, Surrey.
1935  Awarded Order of Merit.
1953  Marries Ursula Woods, after
          death of Adeline.
1958  Dies 26 August; buried in 
          Westminster Abbey.

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HIS  PLACE  IN 
 HISTORY.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was part of the great new chapter in English music that began with Elgar at the beginning of the 20th century. Much of Vaughan William`s early work is strongly coloured by his researches into English folk song. and dance (including morris dancing). and English church music of the Tudor period. But his musical horizons spread much more widely than that. He went to France in 1908 to take lessons in orchestration from Ravel and he produced a major series of symphonies, which brought him into line with the much broader European tradition. He was also inspired by themes far removed from his homeland, as was amply demonstrated in his powerful score to the film Scott of the Antartic.

KEY WORKS

1909  Symphony No. 1 `A Sea
           Symphony`; song-cycle
           On Wenlock Edge; overture
           The Wasps.
1910  Fantasia on a Theme by
          Thomas Tallis, for strings.
1913  Symphony No. 2 `A London
          Symphony`
1914  The Lark Ascending, for
          violin and orchestra.
1921  Symphony No. 3 `Pastoral`
1928  Opera, Sir John in Love
          (including Greensleeves)
1930  Ballet, Job, a Masque for
           dancing.
1934  Symphony No. 4
1938  Serenade to Music, for 
          voices and orchestra.
1943  Symphony No. 5
1947  Symphony No. 6
1951   Opera, The Pilgrim`s 
          Progress.
1952  Symphony No. 7 `Sinfonia
          antartica (based on a film
          score, Scott of the
          Antartic. 

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HONOURS AND AWARDS

Vaughan Williams refused to receive awards unless they honoured his musical achievements. He said that this was because he did not want to feel obliged to anyone in authority. Many awards and appointments were turned down, including the offer of a knighthood. Even so, he did accept the Order of Merit in 1935, and other awards, including an honorary Doctorate of Music at Oxford, at least five other university doctorates, the prestigious Collard Life Fellowship, and, in 1955, the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts.

MOST  FAMOUS  WORK

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.
Tallis was one of the greatest English composers of the Tudor period. Here, Vaughan Williams transforms the tune to one of Tallis`s psalms into a deeply meditative piece for large string orchestra, plus string quartet.