Book Description
Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of the greatest English composers, held strong views on many musical subjects which he did not hesitate to express in plain, vigorous prose.National Music and Other Essays contains, in book form, all Vaughan Williams's writings that he thought worth preserving,
including essays on the theme of nationalism in music, the evolution of the folk song, and the origins of music, as well as pieces on individual composers and their works, such as Beethoven, Holst, Bach, Sibelius, Bax, and Elgar. Throughout, his common sense combines with a true composer's
sensitivity to produce writings of an enduring interest and originality.For this edition, Michael Kennedy has written a new introduction and has added various essays on a wide variety of subjects. ... Read more

Book Description
In addition to his great prowess as a composer, Vaughan Williams was a man of strong character and unflagging energy, who lived a long, full life. He was at the centre of musical events in England for sixty years, a period which for sustained musical achievement is probably unequalled in the history of this country.Ursula Vaughan Williams's intimate and detailed biography of her husband used much material not hitherto available to scholars to produce a balanced and judicious portrait. It is now made newly available as a Clarendon Paperback. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Splendid biography!
Written by his wife, Ursula, this is as authoratative as it gets. Filled with details, annecdotes, facts, histories and stories with a warmth that invites us to know and understand RVW as a person and as a composer.

I came to this book after reading many books about Gustav Holst. In doing so, I quickly learned of his friendship with RVW. The two were great friends. In this book, you get another perspective on that friendship and friendship with others. RVW was a kind, open, down-to-earth individual.

This is a remarakable biography about a remarkable human being. I'm glad he lived and wrote the music he shared with us all. This book helped me to understand the man and his times and his music. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description
This is the authoritative account of Vaughan Williams's musical life - the story of a great composer's career, and at the same time the story of music in England over half a century and more. Kennedy considers the principal works in chronological order, outlining the main features of each and discussing details of the music's structure, often illuminating his point with a musical quotation. He also provides a good deal of biographical data, and so builds up a picture of the composer, as well as providing thumbnail sketches of many of Vaughan Williams's friends and colleagues. Kennedy's extensive knowledge of Vaughan Williams's output also enables him to refer back and forth across the works to pick out lines of development and influence. The book includes a full classified list of Vaughan Williams's works. Michael Kennedy has provided a new preface. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

*The* standard study of Vaughan Williams's music.
I've known this book for over thirty years.Kennedy approachesVaughan Williams's catalogue both widely and deeply, with plenty ofmusical examples.Since I'm a Vaughan Williams headbanger, a book like this is my equivalent of hagiography.Kennedy assumes (correctly) that Vaughan Williams is one of the major composers of this century, and not just in England, and thus discusses works in a clear-eyed way, without special pleading, emotional ginger-up, or hysterical proselytizing.He gives us the musical "facts" of a work and shows, in purely compositional terms, why it's wonderful -- the most convincing argument of all.I've almost worn out my copy through reading and re-reading.When I listen to a Vaughan Williams work, I usually have the book handy.A classic of music writing.--Steve Schwartz ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Ralph Vaughan Williams, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 4093 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
The book comprises a selection of some 750 letters of the composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, selected from an extant corpus of about 3,300. The letters are arranged chronologically and have been chosen to provide a cumulative pen-picture of the composer in his own words. In general the letters reflect VW's major preoccupations: musical, personal and political. It was not VW's way to discuss his inner creative processes but he does discuss his music, once it had been written: for example there is much to illustrate the process of 'washing the face' of his major pieces before, and after, they had reached the concert platform. There is correspondence with collaborators such as Gilbert Murray, Harold Child and Evelyn Sharpe who provided texts; with his publishers (mainly OUP) about printing scores and parts; with conductors such as Adrian Boult and John Barbirolli about performances. He was in regular correspondence with fellow composers such as Gustav Holst, George Butterworth, Gerald Finzi, Herbert Howells, John Ireland, Alan Bush and Rutland Boughton. There were his pupils: Elizabeth Maconchy and Cedric Thorpe Davie amongst others.A series of close personal friendships is well represented: his Cambridge contemporary and cousin Ralph Wedgwood, Edward Dent, and latterly Michael Kennedy. Above all there are insights on his lifelong devotion to his first wife, Adeline, and his growing friendship with Ursula Wood, who was to become his second wife.In general the book paints a self-portrait of Vaughan Williams not only as a great composer but as a large-minded and public-spirited personality who towered over the British musical world for forty years. ... Read more

Book Description
This revised edition of the standard catalogue of the music and writings of Vaughan Williams includes all known published and unpublished works, with full details of instrumentation, revisions, and first performances.There is much new information on the location of manuscripts and sketches, and there are many corrections to the information and dates given in the existing text.The volume includes a bibliography of the literary writings of Ralph Vaughan Williams compiled by Peter Starbuck, and an appendix of folk songs collected by Vaughan Williams. ... Read more

Book Description
This monograph is based on four lectures which the venerable and distinguished British composer delivered at Cornell University. He explains the nature of rhythm, the relation of folk music to the composer, why we make music, the social foundations of music, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

estimable teaching
This little 61 page book is comprised of a revision of five lectures given by Vaughan Williams at Cornell and Yale universities in 1954.The subjects covered are Why do we make music and What is music, How do we make music, What are the social foundations of music, The folk-song movement, and finally a deft little summary of sorts entitled Making your own music.

Vaughan Williams reveals his deepest beliefs about music in these few pages, beliefsone finds richly abiding in his musical works.He is uncompromisingly English throughout - clear and spare and jubilant at the truth music affords - all done with subtlety, clarity and inventive thought.Mendelssohn used to say that the meaning of music was too precise for words, and perhaps this English composer has successfully defied that conclusion with these forthright essays.

Citing Tovey that Bach never wrote for unaccompanied chorus (something that hadnt strictly speaking occured to me), Vaughan Williams quotes from 'St John's Passion' then chases Bach's true intentions over a page and a half finally concluding that perhaps what Bach really intended is actually realized in performances of his keyboard music played on a modern piano, not "the nasty jangling of the harpsichord to which he was condemned for filling in his continuo".

Biting and bright, these essays reveal Vaughan Williams the composer as much as anything I can think of short of the music itself.A useful and invigorating few pages. ... Read more