RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 1872 - 1958
Ralph Vaughan Williams was an English composer, organist, conductor,
musical and public figure, collector and researcher of English musical folklore.
His musical compositions include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and
religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies,
written over sixty years.
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. 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" was successful and has been frequently staged.
He was honored with the prestigious Knighthood but declined to accept it. In1935 he was recognized with the Order of Merit.
His musical compositions are popular in the UK, Russia and many othercountries.
"Portrait of
Ralph Vaughan Williams"
Author Rinat Kuramshin
Ralph Vaughan Williams conducting the Boyd Neil Orchestra. London, 1953
R. V. -Williams and L. Hancock, conductor of the Covent Garden Orchestra. 1951
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Royal College of Music