The Cambridge Companion to Vaughan Williams Cambridge Companions to Music

An icon of British national identity and one of the most widely performed twentieth-century composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams has been misunderstood as much as he had been revered; his international impact and enduring influence on areas as diverse as church music, film scores and popular music has been insufficiently appreciated. This volume brings together a team of leading scholars, examining all areas of the composer's output from new perspectives, and re-evaluating the cultural politics of his lifelong advocacy for the music-making of ordinary people. Surveys of major genres are complemented by chapters exploring such topics as the composer's relationship with the BBC and his studies with Ravel; uniquely, the book also includes specially commissioned interviews with major living composers Peter Maxwell Davies, Piers Hellawell, Nicola Lefanu and Anthony Payne. The Companion is a vital resource for all those interested in this pivotal figure of modern music [Publisher description] Chronology Introduction Alain Frogley and Aidan J. Thomson Part I. 'Who wants the English composer?': Forging a Path, 1890–1925: 1. The composer and society: family, politics, nation Julian Onderdonk 2. Vaughan Williams's musical apprenticeship Byron Adams 3. Becoming a national composer: critical reception to c.1925 Aidan J. Thomson Part II. Works by Genre: 4. History and geography: the early orchestral works and first three symphonies Alain Frogley 5. The songs and shorter secular choral works Sophie Fuller 6. 'An Englishman and a democrat': Vaughan Williams, large choral works and the English festival tradition Charles Edward McGuire 7. Folksong arrangements, hymn tunes, and church music Julian Onderdonk 8. Music for stage and film Eric Saylor 9. Chamber music and works for soloist with orchestra Christopher Mark 10. The later symphonies Julian Horton Part III. Activism, Reception, and Influence: 11. The public figure: Vaughan Williams as writer and activist David Manning 12. Vaughan Williams, Boult, and the BBC Jenny Doctor 13. Fluctuations in the response to the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams Michael Kennedy 14. Vaughan Williams and his successors: composers' forum Peter Maxwell Davies, Piers Hellawell, Nicola LeFanu and Anthony Payne in conversation with Aidan J. Thomson Select bibliography Index of Vaughan Williams's works. An icon of British national identity and one of the most widely performed twentieth-century composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams has been as much misunderstood as revered; his international impact and enduring influence on areas as diverse as church music, film scores and popular music has been insufficiently appreciated. This volume brings together a team of leading scholars, examining all areas of the composer's output from new perspectives, and re-evaluating the cultural politics of his lifelong advocacy for the music-making of ordinary people. Surveys of major genres are complemented by chapters exploring such topics as the composer's relationship with the BBC and his studies with Ravel; uniquely, the book also includes specially commissioned interviews with major living composers Peter Maxwell Davies, Piers Hellawell, Nicola Lefanu and Anthony Payne. The Companion is a vital resource for all those interested in this pivotal figure of modern music.