The Cambridge Companion to Vaughan Williams

A comprehensive reassessment of this towering figure of twentieth-century music, examining works, cultural context and reception in Britain and beyond.

Alain Frogley (Edited by), Aidan J. Thomson (Edited by)

9780521162906, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 November 2013

358 pages, 47 music examples
24.6 x 17.5 x 1.8 cm, 0.73 kg

' All the essays here are valuable and often insightful … A really fine book about a great composer and a great man.' Classical Music

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.

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.

Subject Areas: Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups [AVH], Western "classical" music [AVGC]