Ralph Vaughan Williams (English composer)

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Ralph Vaughan Williams ( RAYF vawn WIL-yəmz; 12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over sixty years. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, his output marked a decisive break in British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century.

Vaughan Williams was born to a well-to-do family with strong moral views and a progressive social outlook. Throughout his life he sought to be of service to his fellow citizens, and believed in making music as available as possible to everybody. He wrote many works for amateur and student performance. He was musically a late developer, not finding his true voice until his late thirties; his studies in 1907–1908 with the French composer Maurice Ravel helped him clarify the textures of his music and free it from Teutonic influences.

Vaughan Williams is among the best-known British symphonists, noted for his very wide range of moods, from stormy and impassioned to tranquil, from mysterious to exuberant. Among the most familiar of his other concert works are Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910) and The Lark Ascending (1914). His vocal works include hymns, folk-song arrangements and large-scale choral pieces. He wrote eight works for stage performance between 1919 and 1951. Although none of his operas became popular repertoire pieces, his ballet Job: A Masque for Dancing (1930) was successful and has been frequently staged.

Two episodes made notably deep impressions in Vaughan Williams's personal life. The First World War, in which he served in the army, had a lasting emotional effect. Twenty years later, though in his sixties and devotedly married, he was reinvigorated by a love affair with a much younger woman, who later became his second wife. He went on composing through his seventies and eighties, producing his last symphony months before his death at the age of eighty-five. His works have continued to be a staple of the British concert repertoire, and all his major compositions and many of the minor ones have been recorded.

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Discography

Album

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1949The Isle of the Dead / Fantasia on a Theme by TallisRachmaninoff, Vaughan Williams; Dimitri Mitropoulos, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra1
1958Transfigured Night / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas TallisSchoenberg, Vaughan Williams; Strings of the New York Philharmonic, Dimitri Mitropoulos1
1963Twentieth Century Church MusicBairstow, Britten, Howells, Ireland, Orr, Tippett, Vaughan Williams, Walton; Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, George Guest1
1966Hely-Hutchinson: Carol Symphony / Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Christmas CarolsHely-Hutchinson, Vaughan Williams; Pro Arte Orchestra, Choir of Guildford Cathedral, Barry Rose2
1970A Sea SymphonyVaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn2
1970GreensleevesRalph Vaughan Williams, Eric Coates; Morton Gould1
1970Symphony no. 5 / Serenade to MusicVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult1
1971A London SymphonyVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult2
1973Sacred Music of Vaughan WilliamsVaughan Williams; The Choir of Worcester Cathedral, Christopher Robinson1
1977Music of EnglandDelius, Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams; Daniel Barenboim, Eugen Jochum, William Steinberg1
1978A London SymphonyRalph Vaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley1
1980Arnaud: Three Fanfares for Brass & Percussion / Vaughan Williams: Toccata Marziale, Folk Song Suite / Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy, Shepherd's HeyLeo Arnaud, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Percy Grainger; Frederick Fennell, The Cleveland Symphonic Winds1
1981Sinfonia AntarcticaVaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn1
1982Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / Barber: Adagio for Strings / Grainger: Irish Tune from County DerryVaughan Williams, Barber, Grainger; Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin2
1983Delius: Cello Concerto / Holst: Invocation / Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Sussex Folk TunesDelius, Holst, Vaughan Williams; Julian Lloyd Webber, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vernon Handley1
1983Pachelbel: Kanon / Tchaikovsky: Serenade in C majorPachelbel, Borodin, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky; Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin2
1983The English ConnectionVaughan Williams, Elgar, Tippett; Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner2
1984Job - A Masque for DancingRalph Vaughan Williams1
1984Vaughan Williams: The Wasps / Serenade to Music / Delius: Summer Night on the River / On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring / Summer Evening / Air and DanceVaughan Williams, Delius; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley2
1985Symphony no. 3 "A Pastoral Symphony" / Symphony no. 4Ralph Vaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn3
1985Symphony No. 5 / Three Portraits from "The England of Elizabeth"Vaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn1
1985Symphony no. 6 / Symphony no. 9Ralph Vaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn1
1985The Lark Ascending / Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" / The Wasps - Aristophanic SuiteVaughan Williams; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley, David Nolan2
1985Works for String OrchestraVaughan Williams; English String Orchestra, William Boughton, Maurice Bourgue1
1986Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / Fantasia on Greensleeves / The Lark Ascending / Five Variants on Dives and LazurusVaughan Williams; Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner32
1986Sinfonia AntarticaVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir, Bernard Haitink1
1986Job, a Masque for Dancing / Partita for Double String OrchestraVaughan Williams; Sir Adrian Boult, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra1
1986String Orchestra PiecesElgar, Vaughan Williams; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra1
1987Norfolk Rhapsody / In the Fen Country / Fantasia on a Theme by Thoas Tallis / 5 Variants of “Dives and Lazarus”Vaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bryden Thomson1
1987Howells: Requiem / Vaughan Williams: Mass in G minorHerbert Howells, Ralph Vaughan Williams; Corydon Singers, Matthew Best2
1987A London SymphonyVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink2
1987A Serenade to MusicVaughan Williams, Elgar, Britten; The New York Virtuosi Chamber Symphony, Kenneth Klein1
1987Epithalamion / Merciless Beauty / Four HymnsVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir David Willcocks1
1987Symphony no. 5 in D / Flos CampiVaughan Williams; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley1
1987Symphony no. 2 "London" / The Lark AscendingRalph Vaughan Williams; Barry Griffiths, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, André Previn1
1987Sinfonia Antartica / The Wasps - Aristophanic SuiteRalph Vaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, Norma Burrowes2
1987Symphony no. 5 in D / The Lark AscendingVaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, Michael Davis1
1987Serenade to Music, etc.Vaughan Williams; Sir Adrian Boult, New Philharmonia Orchestra1
1987Songs of Travel / On Wenlock EdgeRalph Vaughan Williams; Sir Thomas Allen, Robert Tear, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle1
1988Five Tudor Portraits / Five Mystical SongsVaughan Williams; Sarah Walker, Henry Herford, Guildford Choral Society, Philharmonia Orchestra, Hilary Davan Wetton3
1988A Sea SymphonyVaughan Williams; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, Vernon Handley1
1988Bax: Clarinet Sonata / Bliss: Clarinet Quintet / Vaughan Williams: 6 Studies in English FolksongBax, Bliss, Vaughan Williams; Janet Hilton, Lindsay String Quartet, Keith Swallow1
1988Dona Nobis Pacem / Five Mystical SongsVaughan Williams; Edith Wiens, Brian Rayner Cook, The London Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Choir, Bryden Thomson1
1988Symphony no. 4 in F minor / Concerto AccademicoRalph Vaughan Williams; The London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, Kenneth Sillito1
1988Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams, Peter Warlock, Ian Partridge & Music Group of London1
1988Walton: Symphony no. 1 / Vaughan Williams: The Wasps OvertureWalton, Vaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn1
1989A Sea Symphony (No. 1)Ralph Vaughan Williams; Bryden Thomson, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus1
1989A Sea SymphonyVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink2
1989An Oxford Elegy / Flos Campi / Te DeumRalph Vaughan Williams; Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, English String Orchestra, Stephen Darlington2
1989A London Symphony (no. 2) / Concerto GrossoRalph Vaughan Williams; The London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson1
1989Dona nobis pacem / Mass in G minor / O Clap Your HandsRalph Vaughan Williams1
1989Husa / Copland / Vaughan Williams / HindemithHusa, Copland, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith; Eastman Wind Ensemble, Donald Hunsberger1
1989Orchestral WorksVaughan Williams, Elgar; Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner1
1989Sinfonia Antarctica / Toward the Unknown RegionRalph Vaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, Bryden Thomson, Catherine Bott1
1989Symphony no. 5 in D major / Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas TallisVaughan Williams; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, André Previn1
1989The Wasps / The Lark Ascending / Florida Suite / Summer EveningVaughan Williams, Delius; English Symphony Orchestra, William Boughton, Michael Bochmann2
1989The String Quartets / Phantasy QuintetVaughan Williams; The Medici String Quartet, Simon Rowland-Jones2
1990Serenade to Music / Flos Campi / Five Mystical Songs / Fantasia on Christmas CarolsRalph Vaughan Williams; Corydon Singers, Matthew Best, English Chamber Orchestra3
1990Symphony No. 2 "A London Symphony" / Concerto Accademico in D minor / The Wasps: OvertureVaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn2
1990Hodie / Fantasia on Christmas CarolsRalph Vaughan Williams; Elizabeth Gale, Robert Tear, Stephen Roberts, London Symphony Chorus, Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox1
1990Symphony no. 5 / Three Portraits from "The England of Elizabeth" / Concerto in F minor for Bass TubaVaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn1
1990Symphony no. 8 in D minor / Partita / Fantasia on Greensleeves / Two Hymn-Tune PreludesVaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson1
1990The Composers Conduct - Holst: The Planets Symphony No. 4Gustav Holst & Ralph Vaughan Williams1
1990Wolf-Ferrari / Strauss / Vaughan Williams / BarberWolf‐Ferrari, Strauss, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Barber; Humbert Lucarelli, The Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Donald Spieth1
1991Symphony no. 4 / Symphony no. 6Vaughan Williams; New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult1
1991A London Symphony / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas TallisVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult2
1991A Pastoral Symphony / Symphony no. 5Vaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult2
1991A Sea Symphony (1968 recording)Vaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir, Sir Adrian Boult, Sheila Armstrong, John Carol Case2
1991A Sea SymphonyRalph Vaughan Williams; Choral Guild of Atlanta, L'Orchestre Des Jeunes De La Communauté Française De Belgique, Helen Bickers, Randi Blooding, William Noll1
1991Fantasia on Greensleeves / Oboe Concerto / The Lark Ascending / Fantasia on a Theme By Thomas TallisVaughan Williams, Consort of London1
1991Mass in G minor / Festival Te DeumVaughan Williams; Holst Singers, Hilary Davan Wetton1
1991Oboe Concerto / English Folksongs / Suite Partita / Fantasia on "Greensleeves" / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas TallisVaughan Williams; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley, Jonathan Small1
1991Symphony no. 6 / The Lark Ascending / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas TallisVaughan Williams; BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis, Tasmin Little3
1991Serenade to Music / The Lark Ascending / Fantasia on Greensleeves / English Folk Song Suite / In the Fen Country / Norfolk Rhapsody no. 1Vaughan Williams; Sir Adrian Boult1
1991Symphonies nos. 5 & 6Vaughan Williams; Philharmonia Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin1
1991Serenade To Music / Sinfonia AntarticaVaughan Williams; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, Vernon Handley1
1991Symphony no. 9 in E minor / Piano ConcertoVaughan Williams; London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, Howard Shelley1
1991Symphony No. 8 / Symphony No. 9Vaughan Williams; Sir Adrian Boult, London Philharmonic Orchestra1
1991Song cycles by Vaughan Williams and ButterworthRalph Vaughan Williams & George Butterworth1
1991Tallis Fantasia, The Lark Ascending, Greensleeves Fantasia, In The Fen Country, PartitaRalph Vaughan Williams1
1992A Sea SymphonyVaughan Williams; Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Leonard Slatkin1
1992A Pastoral Symphony (no. 3) / Symphony no. 4Vaughan Williams; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley1
1992Flos Campi / Suite for Viola and Orchestra / The Running Set / Hymn Tune PreludesRalph Vaughan Williams; Bournemouth Sinfonietta and Choir, Norman Del Mar, George Hurst, Frederick Riddle1
1992Greensleeves Fantasia / The Lark Ascending / Serenade to Music / Tallis FantasiaVaughan Williams; Sir Adrian Boult2
1992On Wenlock Edge / Job: A Masque for DancingVaughan Williams; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, Richard Lewis1
1992Toward the UnknownVaughan Williams; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus1
1993A London Symphony / Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas TallisVaughan Williams; Philharmonia Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin1
1993Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 / Flourish for Glorious JohnVaughan Williams; Philharmonia Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin1
1993Sancta Civitas / Dona nobis pacemRalph Vaughan Williams; Yvonne Kenny, Philip Langridge, Bryn Terfel, Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox1
1993Williams: Greensleeves / The Lark Ascending / Oboe Concerto / Delius: Summer night on the river / On hearing the first Cuckoo in SpringVaughan Williams, Delius; English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman, Neil Black1
1993Symphony no. 2 "London" / The Wasps (Overture)Vaughan Williams; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kees Bakels2
1993Ralph Vaughan Williams / Gerald FinziRalph Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi; Quink Vocal Ensemble1
1993A London Symphony / Symphony no. 8 in D minorVaughan Williams; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley2
1993Silent Noon: Songs of Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams; Ruth Golden, Levering Rothfuss, Thomas Woodman, Nancy Bean1
1993Symphony no. 5 / Concerto for Two PianosRalph Vaughan Williams; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin1
1993Sinfonia Antartica / Five Variants of Dives and LazarusVaughan Williams; Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, Leonard Slatkin, Linda Hohenfeld1
1993Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4Vaughan Williams; Philharmonia Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin1
1993Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5Vaughan Williams; BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis1
1993Songs of Travel / On Wenlock Edge / Orchestral SongsVaughan Williams, Elgar, Butterworth; Thomas Allen, Robert Tear, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle, Vernon Handley1
1993Toward The Unknown Region / Dona Nobis Pacem / O Clap Your Hands / Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Refuge / Four HymnsRalph Vaughan Williams1

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