Read complete books and articles on: Ralph Vaughan Williams

Vaughan Williams, Ralph - 1872–1958, English composer, considered the outstanding composer of his generation in England. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1894 and studied composition with Parry and Stanford at the Royal College of Music, London, as well as organ and piano with several teachers. Although he also studied abroad with Max Bruch (1897–98) and Ravel (1909), his style remained individual and English. Receiving a Doctorate in Music from Cambridge in 1901, he was appointed organist at Lambeth and his interest in English folk music dates from his stay there. He used the folk idiom first in the orchestral piece The Fen Country (1904), continuing the same style in the three orchestral Norfolk Rhapsodies (1905–7). Elements of English music of the Tudor period interested him and are apparent in his Fantasia for Double Stringed Orchestra on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910) and in his Mass in G Minor (1923). His full orchestral works include A London Symphony (1914; revised 1920), A Pastoral Symphony (1921), and the Sixth Symphony (1947). Among his many vocal compositions are the song cycles On Wenlock Edge (1909, texts by A. E. Housman) and Five Mystical Songs (1911, texts by George Herbert). In his opera Sir John in Love (1929; based on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor), he incorporated the traditional song "Greensleeves," which he also transformed into various instrumental arrangements. Other operas include Hugh the Drover (1924), Riders to the Sea (1937; from the play by J. M. Synge), and The Pilgrim's Progress (1951; libretto after John Bunyan).

See his National Music (1934) and The Making of Music (1955); biographies by J. Day (1961, rev. ed. 1966), U. V. Williams (1964), and pictorial biography by J. E. Lunn and U. V. Williams (1971); studies by E. S. Schwartz (1964), M. Kennedy (1964, repr. 1971), and H. Ottaway (1972).

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Ralph Vaughan Williams

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1.

National Music and Other Essays » Read Now
by Ralph Vaughan Williams. 320 pgs.

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Ralph Vaughan Williams held strong views on many musical subjects. He never hesitated to express his views in plain, vigorous prose, and he became well-known for his essays, which combine typical common sense with a true composer's sensitivity. This collection contains all his writings that he...
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Ralph Vaughan Williams held strong views on many musical subjects. He never hesitated to express his views in plain, vigorous prose, and he became well-known for his essays, which combine typical common sense with a true composer's sensitivity. This collection contains all his writings that he thought worth preserving in book form. Topics include nationalism in music, the evolution of folk-song, and the origins of music, as well individual composers like Beethoven, Gustav Holst, Bach, Sibelius, Arnold Bax, and Elgar. Also included are more general reflections on the making of music, its purpose and effects, and the social foundations of music.
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2.

The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams » Read Now
by Frank Howes. 376 pgs.

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...RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, O.M. The portrait by Sir Gerald...College of Music THE MUSIC OF Ralph Vaughan Williams BY FRANK HOWES Geoffrey...from the two recent studies of...
3.

The Symphony: A Listener's Guide ("Ralph Vaughan Williams" begins on p. 654) » Read Now
by Michael Steinberg. 686 pgs.

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Enriched by biographical detail, historical background, musical examples, and many finely nuanced observations, this volume is a treasury of insight and information. Readers will find illuminating discussion of the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Sibelius, and Mahler, as well as...
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Enriched by biographical detail, historical background, musical examples, and many finely nuanced observations, this volume is a treasury of insight and information. Readers will find illuminating discussion of the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Sibelius, and Mahler, as well as of the most loved symphonic works of Schubert, Bruckner, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and others. We learn how to listen more sharply for Haydn's humor, to Mozart's singular combination of pathos with grace, and to the evolution of Beethoven's musical ideas in his nine symphonies. This remarkable range and variety of composers are illuminated by Steinberg's deft, inviting, and intensely personal essays, which give such a vivid portrait of each composer's personality that the reader gets an immediate sense of how the work is a direct expression of the person from whose soul and brain it has sprung. Tracing the ways in which composers have dealt with the musical challenges that have engaged them throughout the centuries, Steinberg takes us through the revolutions of expression, sound, and form that have shaped the symphony's remarkable history. Whether beginners or veterans, music lovers will listen to the symphony with enlivened interest and deeper understanding with Steinberg's masterful guide in hand.
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4.

Some Thoughts on Beethoven's Choral Symphony: With Writings on Other Musical Subjects » Read Now
by Ralph Vaughan Williams. 172 pgs.

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5.

The Modern Age, 1890-1960 ("Ralph Vaughan Williams" begins on p. 507) » Read Now
by Martin Cooper. 766 pgs.

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...J. Curwen Sons Ltd : Ralph Vaughan Williams, Pastoral Symphony...Walton, Symphony No. 1; Ralph Vaughan Williams, Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5...German tradition. These were...
6.

An Introduction to Twentieth Century Music ("Ralph Vaughan Williams" begins on p. 289) » Read Now
by Peter S. Hansen. 380 pgs.

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7.

Twenty-Four Portraits ("Ralph Vaughan Williams" begins on p. 93) » Read Now
by William Rothenstein. 100 pgs.

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...Scott, Evelyn Strachey, W.J. Turner, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sir Lawrence Weaver. December 1922...whose career it is most worth watching. RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH...
8.

The Choral Tradition: An Historical and Analytical Survey from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day (Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) 'Mass in G Minor' and'Sancta Civitas' begins on p. 292) » Read Now
by Percy M. Young. 376 pgs.

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9.

The Best Years of British Film Music, 1936-1958 (Discussion of Ralph Vaughan Williams in multiple chapters) » Read Now
by Jan G. Swynnoe. 243 pgs.

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10.

The Music Lover's Handbook ("The Nature and Evolution of Folk Song" and "The Folk Song and the Composer" by Ralph Vaughan Williams) » Read Now
by Elie Siegmeister. 820 pgs.

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11.

Musical Trends in the 20th Century (Chap.Twelve "Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872)") » Read Now
by Norman Demuth. 364 pgs.

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12.

'Millions like us'? : British culture in the Second World War ("Safe and Sound: New Music in Wartime Britain" begins on p. 179) » Read Now
by Nick Hayes, Jeff Hill. 342 pgs.

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This collection of essays brings together the latest historical research on cultural production and reception during the Second World War. Its starting point is how this war was presented to, and understood by, contemporaries and how they differentiated it from earlier conflicts. Although this was...
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This collection of essays brings together the latest historical research on cultural production and reception during the Second World War. Its starting point is how this war was presented to, and understood by, contemporaries and how they differentiated it from earlier conflicts. Although this was particularly noticeable in the construction of ideas of inclusiveness and commonality where "the people" pulled together to secure victory and a socially equitable peace, the essays also seek to explore the diversity of institutional and personal experiences. Essays look at major institutions and industries such as the recently formed BBC, the culturally diverse and rapidly expanding commercial press, and the British film industry. The collection explores the role of the individual agent, with studies on established writers and composers, and how each related to the collective rationales of wartime.
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13.

Man and His Music: The Story of Musical Experience in the West ("Elgar and Vaughan Williams" begins on p. 966) » Read Now
by Alec Harman, Anthony Milner, Wilfrid Mellers. 1174 pgs.

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14.

Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America ("Vaughan Williams" begins on p. 130) » Read Now
by Robert P. Morgan. 554 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This series presents the music of the Western world to the nonspecialist in six original, strikingly illustrated volumes. In each one, an outstanding musicologist surveys the music of a specific period, discusses its major composers, and examines the forces that influenced and helped shape their oeuvre.