Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams was the most significant figure in English church music during the first half of the 20th century and the most important English composer of his generation. He distinguished himself as a composer who found inspiration in earlier English music, particularly the country’s folksongs. He was the son of the vicar of Christ Church, Down Ampney, but the family moved to Surrey (near London) in 1875 upon his father’s death. He studied piano, violin, organ, and theory as a child, and switched to the viola upon entering Charterhouse School. He studied with Parratt, Parry, Stanford, and Wood at the Royal College of Music before entering Cambridge University. He received the Bachelor of Music in 1894 from Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1895. That year he returned to the Royal College of Music, where he became lifelong friends with Gustav Holst. Vaughan Williams was awarded the Doctor of Music in 1901 from Trinity College. His studies outside England took him to Berlin in 1897 to study with Max Bruch and to Paris in 1908 to study with Maurice Ravel.

Vaughan Williams [was the musical editor] for three important collections of church music: The English Hymnal (1906); Songs of Praise (1925 and 1931, with Percy Dearmer and Martin Shaw); and the Oxford Book of Carols (1928, with Percy Dearmer and Martin Shaw). Among his compositions are 14 original hymn tunes. He is remembered by the larger musical world for his symphonies, operas, ballets, orchestral music, chamber music, songs, and film music.

Vaughan Willams wrote the famous Introduction to The English Hymnal (1906) in which he stated that the book contained "the best hymns in the English language" and ventured the epic statement that "good taste is a moral rather than a musical issue."

In addition, Vaughan Williams did extensive research into English folk music and this resulted in many folk tunes being rescued. He arranged several as hymn tunes and used them in the The English Hymnal :

KINGSFOLD (O sing a song of Bethlehem, UMH #179)
KING'S LYNN (O God of earth and altar, H82 #231)
FOREST GREEN (I sing the almighty power of God, UMH #152)

Vaughan Williams also wrote several original hymn tunes which which appeared in the The English Hymnal and which have become halmarks of the 20th century:

RANDOLPH (God be with you till we meet again, UMH #673)
DOWN AMPNEY (Come down, O love divine, UMH, #475)
SINE NOMINE (For all the saints, UMH #711)

Vaughan Williams continued to write new hymn tumes after the publicaction of The English Hymnal, including:

KINGS WESTON (At the name of Jesus, UMH #168) -- 1926

[From Sing with Understanding, by Harry Eskew and Hugh McElrath (Nashville: Church Street Press, 2nd edition, 1995.]

See Ralph Vaughan Williams

See The RVW Society