150 years of Ralph Vaughan Williams
His music has been enjoyed for more than a century
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. Across 6 decades, he wrote operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions, including nine symphonies. With a strong influence of Tudor Music and folk-song, his output revived British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century.
What are Vaughan Williams’ famous works?
In Vaughan Williams’ instrumental works, he’s noted for having a wide range of varying moods, from stormy and impassioned to tranquil, from mysterious to exuberant.
Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Written in 1910, this one-movement work for string orchestra has been performed countless times.
Inspired by Renaissance music, Vaughan Williams draws on one of Thomas Tallis’ nine themes written for the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1567.
The piece was first recorded in 1936 by the Boyd Neel Orchestra and has been performed by such orchestras as London Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and New York Symphony Orchestra.
The Lark Ascending
Inspired by an 1881 George Meredith poem of the same name, The Lark Ascending is a short one-movement work for solo violin and orchestra. The piece was initially written in 1914 for violin and piano, but was reworked in 1920, and first performed in 1921 as the piece we know and love today.
Vaughan Williams subtitled the work ‘A Romance’, a term he favoured for slow, contemplative music. The violin represents a bird’s song as well as it’s flight, whilst the orchestral accompaniment, evokes the beautiful English countryside.
English Folk Song Suite
One of Vaughan Williams’ most famous works, the English Folk Song Suite consists of three movements, all based on old English folk melodies.
The three movements are: The rousing Seventeen Come Sunday march, the reflective intermezzo section, My Bonny Boy and the jolly Folk Songs of Somerset (march).
Celebrate Vaughan Williams' music on Scala Radio
Sunday Night Scala: A Vaughan Williams Special
On Sunday 9th October, Darren celebrated the 150th anniversary of Vaughan Williams' birth (12th October 1872) with a special programme featuring this Symphony No.5 in full along with music by the composer's good friends and musical inspirations such as Gustav Holst and George Butterworth.
Darren also played Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand because Vaughan Williams went to study with Ravel in Paris for a few months which turned out to be a very fruitful creative period in his life.
Jack Pepper's Culture Bunker: A Vaughan Williams Special
On Saturday 15th October, join Jack as he celebrates the anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams's birth with a special show, celebrating stories behind favourite and lesser-known pieces, and exploring the work of his contemporaries. Along the way, we get a guided tour around his childhood home at Leith Hill Place, Surrey, now in the hands of the National Trust; Jack visits and gets to play Vaughan Williams's piano, the instrument he used to compose The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, his nine symphonies and many more.