Ralph Vaughn Williams

The London Proms are currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of the death of Ralph Vaughn Williams (1872-1958). Somewhat neglected for the past decades, the music of Vaughn Williams was enormously popular when I was in high school and university in the 1950's. Compositions I particularly remember are the London Symphony, and "On Wenlock Edge" for tenor, string quartet and piano. This I performed twice, most notably at Yale with Donovan Wold. We celebrate Bartok and Kodaly for their efforts in collecting folk songs, roaming the countryside, finding singers who could remember the old tunes they in turn learned from their ancestors. Vaughn Williams did the same for English folksong, basing a great deal of his melodies on these wondrous memodies...as he said so eloquently "When I hear them I feel something deep within myself that makes me an Englishman".

Vaughn Williams died in 1958, the year before I came to London. I remember impressive performances of his choral music, and orchestral works, especially those conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, at that time very old and at the end of his long career. His music is so ideal for introducing people to classical music, with its haunting melodies and lush string sound.

It is interesting to live long enough to enjoy the revival of works of art that have lost their audience, only for them to awake and find a new one. English music does not alway transport well away from its shores. I think of Elgar's great choral masterpiece "The Dream of Gerontius" which the English revere, yet it is rare to hear a performance in the USA.I remember hearing Guirne Van Zuylen working with a Welsh tenor on the part of Gerontius over a period of weeks in 1959. It was a very moving and enlightening experiece. Perhaps Benjamin Britten has fared well with his operas, and of course we often hear Elgar's "Enigma Variations" and "Cello Concerto". But other great composers, for instance Frederic Delius, have not fared well. There is longing, melancholy, and restrait in all this music...and for that reason it perhaps goes against the grain for so many. But for those of us who love it, it is unique and breathes the very soul of England.Listening at this very moment to Leonard Slakin conduct Vaughn Williams Symphony No. 6 makes me realize I now recognize music from this period in English musical history easily (mid-century). The aftermant of the Second World War is felt in so much of it.."Peter Grimes" with its overpowering choral moments, and again, the Sonata for Piano by Howard Ferguson are two strong examples.

I remember a comment made to me by Jennifer Vyvyan, a wonderful soprano associated with many first performances of Britten's music. She recalled as a student at the RAM going to all the performances she could manage to hear Britten's premiere performances of "Peter Grimes"... having to stand for many of them. She said that after the dark days of the Second World War this work was like a beacon of light, drawing everyone towards it.