For a composer of Vaughan Williams's international stature, there remained in the early 1990s many gaps in performances and recordings of his work. The operas were almost unknown – The Poisoned Kiss was unrecorded in any format. Even the symphonies – surely Vaughan Williams' most enduring legacy as a composer – had never been performed as a complete cycle in London. There was no memorial to the composer's life at his birthplace in Down Ampney, or anywhere else.

Against this background, three people – Stephen Connock, Robin Barber and John Bishop - came together determined to do something about the relative neglect, to make a difference to appreciation and knowledge of RVW. They formed the RVW Society in July 1994 as a registered charity. Membership grew steadily and ten years later – the Society had signed up its 1,000th member. Due to the influence of the world wide web the Society continues to grow and has seen overseas membership rise sharply.

There has been excellent progress with performances and recordings of RVW. To date we have been influential in two performances of all nine symphonies in the concert hall, an important opera festival (The Vision of Albion) and for stimulating world première recordings of lesser known works, such as The Poisoned Kiss, The Death of Tintagiles, A Cotswold Romance and The Pilgrim Pavement as well as new versions of The Pilgrim’s Progress and Sir John in Love.

The formal aims of the Society are:

•	To substantially widen the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, both in Britain and abroad.
•	To encourage the performance of RVW's music, in particular the lesser known works.
•	To illuminate understanding of the composer's music through a deeper knowledge of his life, including the social, economic and cultural context which shaped it.
•	To provide members of the Society with an opportunity of sharing experiences and knowledge of the life and music of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Membership benefits include:

•	An acclaimed Journal published three times a year, for discussion of the life and works, reviews of new recordings, concerts and articles by leading experts.
•	The Society is active in promoting the music in concerts and lectures. Guest speakers are arranged for special events.
•	The membership pack includes a 28 page select discography and full details of our constitution.
•	Advance information of future concerts.
•	Discount purchasing of RVW related materials and discounts on books published by Albion Music Ltd, a subsidiary of the Society.