Only article I could find about today's 50th anniversary of his death.
Posted on 08/26/2008 9:01:36 AM PDT by Borges
Looks, as everyone knows, can be deceiving. Consider Ralph Vaughan Williams - well-fed and rather rumpled in his favored thick, three-piece suits; hair usually a bit mussed. One wag thought that the eminent English composer suggested a farmer "on his way to judge the shorthorns at an agricultural fair."
He was actually an urbane fellow, fond of partying in the big city. And his private life had the complicated stuff that, in different times, would have galvanized the tabloids (invalid wife, decades-long affair with a much younger woman he eventually married when he was 81, etc.).
Sounds can be deceiving, too. Some people hear nothing but the equivalent of pretty postcards in the works of Vaughan Williams, just a lot of souped-up folk songs. Another English composer, Elisabeth Lutyens, went so far as to dismiss her colleague's efforts as "cowpat" music. Ouch.
Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of Vaughan Williams' death, which provides as good an excuse as any to get reacquainted with the reality about his music, its extraordinary richness and breadth.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Only article I could find about today's 50th anniversary of his death.
Classical Music PING
His The Lark Ascending is one of the most beautiful violin pieces I’ve heard!
Ralph Vaughan Williams is a fine composer.
Anyone who would denigrate his beautiful compositions is an ignoramus.
I very much enjoy his Fantasia on Greensleeves too.
I wonder how his wife was invalid.
The Lark Ascending played by Hillary Hahn is one of my favorite pieces of music. I think many people have heard it and like it even if they don’t know the composers name.
Thanks for the ping. I’ll have to look for that one.
I was just about to mention it and you beat me to it. That and Lark Ascending are two of my favorites. I also like the English Folk Song Suite.
Thanks for the ping. I’ve never heard of him.
i have been hearing him on our classical music station KVOD in denver. just picked up a cd by him this morning.
A few can be heard on Yahoos Choir site here
The BBC radio 3 has a program called "The Choir" and hardly a week goes by without some selection from him. On the anniversary of his death the entire show was devoted to him. He is much loved there. He and John Rutter are two of my favorites. "The Choir" is on hiatus until next month and won't be listed in the lineup until next month.
Other favorites by RVW: Norfolk Rhapsody, English Folk Song Suite, Symphony No. 3, Serenade to Music (orchestra version), In the Fen Country, Flos Campi.
Today my local classical station WCPE (TheClassicalStation.org) is also featuring a lot of RVW.
There are several brilliant hymns of his in the 1940 Hymnal, notably ‘Hail thee, Festival Day’ and St. Patrick.
Sir Adrian Boult conducting?
Good stuff!
Also give a listen to an early Vaughn Williams choral piece, Toward the Unknown Region, an exceptional setting of Walt Whitman.
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