Ralph Vaughan Williams

 

Ralph Vaughan Williams
1872-1958

Vaughan Williams will forever be associated with the Pastoral School of British composition, yet there is so much more to his music than picturesque landscapes filled with cow pats. Indeed, if you venture into his later symphonies, for example, you could find darkness and modernity to boot. To say he forged ahead from previous masters, such as Stanford and Parry, would be an understatement.

Looking for Vaughan Williams to stretch his compositional wings, however, is not to take away from the composer's important role in collecting, composing, and integrating British folk songs, carols, and hymns. Many of these are evergreen favorites for a good reason, and certainly at church services and Christmas Lessons & Carols, his music is ingrained into the public conciousness and cultural mass.

There are a wealth of genres Vaughan Williams composed for, including film music. Whether one is looking for a song cycle or an organ solo contrasted with a large-scale opera or concerto, there is much to explore from the composer.

From this listener and his set of ears, Vaughan Williams' masterpieces are Dona Nobis Pacem, a war cantata which shows a distinct difference between Britten and VW, and in general I lean towards the composer's choral music. Otherwise, many of his orchestral miniatures and symphonies rank amongst the best works.

From everything I have read, the composer had a quick wit and was a lover of cats. His personal friends were a veritable who's who of famous names with musical, artistic, and political backgrounds.

I have listened to a lot of Vaughan Williams, so it will take a while to get my thoughts posted on certain recordings. At the very least, I have added my list of most recent listenings below.

 

 

 

 

Recordings and reviews currently on hand (Click below to visit):

 

By Recording Date

1989: Dona Nobis Pacem (Thomson)
1989: An Oxford Elegy
1989: Sancta Civitas
1989: String Quartets
1991: The Pilgrim's Progress
1992: Symphonies (Box Set) (Thomson)
            1989: Symphony 1
1993: Dona Nobis Pacem (Hickox)
1993: Five Tudor Portraits (Willcocks)
1993: Orchestral Songs
1993: Riders to the Sea
1994: Concertos
1995: Bushes and Briars
1996: Choral Music (Spicer)
1996: On Wenlock Edge
1998: Dona Nobis Pacem (Shaw)
1998: Five Tudor Portraits (Hickox)
1999: Fantasias
2000: Hickox Conducts VW
2000: Hodie
2002: Job
2002: Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains
2002: Symphonies (Box Set) (Handley)
            1988: Symphony 1
            1993: Symphony 2 & 8
            1992: Symphony 3 & 4
            1987: Symphony 5
            1994: Symphony 6 & 9
            1990: Symphony 7
2005: Willow-Wood
2006: On Christmas Night
2006: The Wasps
2007: Mass in G
2007: Sons of Light
2008: Choral Music (Brewer)
2008: Symphony 1 (Spano)
2009: Film Music (Box Set)
            2002: Film Music, Vol. 1
            2004: Film Music, Vol. 2
            2006: Film Music, Vol. 3
2010: The First Nowell
2010: Folk Songs of the Four Seasons
2010: Where Hope is Shining
2011: Garden of Proserpine
2012: A Cotswold Romance
2012: Early & Late Works (Dutton)
2013: The Solent
2014: A Cambridge Mass
2016: English Visionaries
2016: Fair Child of Beauty
2016: Fat Knight & Henry V
2017: Scott of the Antarctic
2018: Beyond My Dream: Greek Plays
2018: Earth & Sky
2018: The Blue Bird & Rhapsodies
2018: A Vaughan Williams Christmas
2019: Richard II & Sussex Fantasia
2021: An Oxford Christmas
2022: Earth's Wide Bounds
2022: Pan's Anniversary
2022: VW On Brass
2023: 49th Parallel