Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) was an English composer who drew on folk song, Tudor church music, and landscape to create a distinctly English musical voice.
In Depth
Vaughan Williams collected hundreds of English folk songs directly from rural singers, and this research profoundly shaped his compositional language. His Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, scored for double string orchestra, is one of the most atmospheric works in the English repertoire. His nine symphonies range from the pastoral (No. 3, with its wordless soprano solo) to the terrifying (No. 4, a violent, dissonant work that shocked audiences) to the mystical (No. 5, begun during World War II).
His opera The Pilgrim's Progress, the massive choral work A Sea Symphony, and orchestral works like The Lark Ascending and the Fantasia on Greensleeves have made him one of the most beloved of all English composers. He studied briefly with Ravel in Paris, an experience that refined his orchestration. Despite his establishment reputation, he was artistically adventurous to the end — his final symphony (No. 9), composed at age 85, includes exotic percussion and modal harmonies that sound remarkably contemporary.
Vaughan Williams asked "Is it too late to learn?" when he went to study with Ravel in Paris at age 36 — he was already an established composer, but the lessons transformed his orchestral writing.