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MOS Composer of the Month: Previous Page, Next Page, Index |
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Composer of the Month - February, 2006 Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958
Ralph Vaughan Williams was the beneficiary of one of the best musical educations available in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At age eighteen he entered the Royal College of Music, where he studied under Charles Villers Stanford, and from there went to Cambridge, where he studied history and music. From Cambridge he returned to the RCM and continued his studies. However, he was in no hurry—he was not published until he was thirty years old. He was finally noticed by the music world in 1909 when he conducted the premiere of his Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and Sea Symphony (No. 1). Success continued with A London Symphony in 1914, but then the war intruded. Eschewing privileges owing to his age and education, he volunteered as a private, initially serving as a stretcher bearer. In one of the great ironies of life, his continued exposure to the sounds of war led to his loss of hearing later in life. After four years of service, he was appointed Director of Music for the First Army, and began his return to the world that he would eventually shape as no one else in twentieth century England. One of his contributions to the literature of British music was his transcription and arranging of traditional folk music. The advent of affordable sheet music written by professional composers was beginning to lead to a rapid decline in traditional folk music. Beginning in 1904 he began to travel throughout England, listening to the singers, and writing down what they sang. These songs found their way into his first opera, Hugh the Drover. In spite of his atheism, Vaughan Williams' influence on the literature of sacred music was profound. From 1904 to 1906 he edited the English Hymnal, contributing some of his own compositions, most notably For All the Saints, traditionally sung on All Saints' Day. His Christmas Cantata Hodie and his collaboration with Percy Dearmer and Martin Shaw on The Oxford Book of Carols have been major contributions to the Christmas season. In 1952 he wrote a marvelous arrangement of The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, a piece that has been performed in two MOS concerts celebrating music of the royalty. The MOS Chamber Singers will include his Serenade to Music in their 2006 concert on Feb. 12 and 19. Composed in 1938 on the occasion of the jubilee of conductor Sir Henry Wood, another great influence on British church music. Serenade is based on Act V of Shakespeare's A Merchant of Venice. Ralph Vaughan Williams died in his sleep in 1958, the year after completing his Symphony No. 9. He will long be remembered as the most influential composer in twentieth century England. For further reading on Ralph Vaughan Williams: Click here for more information about the MOS Composer of the Month feature.
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MOS Composer of the Month: Previous Page, Next Page, Index
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